Sharp County record., 1880-10-14
Saving Seeds.

of course, exert a great influence IN the
outcome of a crop, but in no small de-
gree does the result depend upon the
quality of the seed put into the ground.
However favorable all the surroundings
and conditions of any crop may be, if
inferior seed is planted every intelligent
farmer knows that the yield will be in
ferior in quantity and quality to what
might have been obtained with better
seed hence the Importance of procur-
ing fresh, large, fine seeds, if the best
returns are to be expected.
The vitality of seeds has been the sub
iect of much experiment and investigs-
ton. Under favorable conditions many
kinds of seed will retain their germinat-
ing power for a long time but this is
not the case under ordinary circumstan-
ces. The seed is a reservoir of the most
nutritious part of the vegetable, con-
tanning vastly more of nutrition than
any other portion of the plant. Nature
deity and wonderfully protects the
germ, and surrounds it with pabulum
necessary to sustain it after germina-
tion takes place until the radical or root
begins to take up nourishment from the
soil. 1t is easy to see that the more
vitality and strength there is in the seed
the better it will grow after terminating,
and the more vigor will be given to the
radical and plumule, or both upward
and downward growth, In planting or
sowing only sound, plump, and we'll
matured seeds should be selected, We
know one farmer who, for the last fifty
years has taken particular pains IN saw
ING his seed. Formerly it was his habit,
Just before wheat harvest, to 60 through
his standing wheat and cut off the
strongest and longest heads he could
find, thus filling number of sacks.
These were subsequently threshed and
screened, and sowed the following year.
In this way he kept up the quality of
his seed and it paid him well. All seed
wheat should be put through the fan
ming mill, screening out and blowing
out all light and small kernels; or it is
well to steep it in brine strong enough
to float an egg, rejecting all seeds that
float.
While some seed may retain their
terminating power for an almost indeti-
mite period at considerable depth in a
dry soil, or even under very favorable
conditions of moderately dry atmos-
phere, it is well known that exposed to
humid atmosphere they soon begin to
deteriorate. 1t is necessary, therefore,
to place seeds that are intended for
planting in a dry, cool place. So far as
low temperature is concerned. expert
ments have shown that, provided a seed
has been saturated with liquid, the de-
gree of cold it will bear without injury
is unlimited. These facts are of no
little Importance to the farmer, in saw
inc and taking care of such seeds as he
desires to use for coming crops.
There is quite as much reason for
treating seeds intended for the repro
duction of their kind judiciously and
carefully, as there is in exercising care
and Judgment in improving or keeping
up high standard of excellence in the
live stock branches of husbandry. The
best produces the best continually.
There may be and are, sports in the
reproduction of all animal and vegeta-
BILE life, but the rule that like produces
like cannot be gainsaid
In regard to the duration of vitality
in seeds, wide difference exists in diff
ferent kinds of families of plants. The
life of those that bear oily seeds are
short as compared with others. The
seeds of the radish have been known to
grow when seventeen years old, and it
is of record that rye one hundred years
old has terminated. 1t has been claimed
that the mummy" wheat grown some
what extensively a few years ago in
Ohio and elsewhere in the United
States, was obtained from seed that had
lain in the Pyramids of Egypt thou
sands of years; but we have always
considered the statement as apochry-
phal. However, it is not impossible
that some seeds from which the air is
excluded, with other conditions favor
able, may retain vitality for a long time.
1t has been found by trial that the aver
age vitality in some seeds of some OF
our cultivated plants is as follows :
Artichoke, five years broad bean, six ;
beet root, five; cabbage, five; carrot,
four; cucumber, five; lettuce, five ;
corn, two; melon, five; onion, two ;
parsnip, two peas, four or five; radish,
tive spinach, five; egg plant, seven ;
endive, nine; parsley, three; straw
berry, three.
The reasons for or explanation of the
difference between the duration of Vi
tality in these and other seeds are not
devoid of interest, but this is not nec-
essary to our present purpose. The
saving Of certain kinds of seed now is a
matter which demands attention and
the necessity, so far as future crops are
concerned, of care and Judgment in
their selection and keeping, impels us
to thus impress its importance upon
our readers. rs.-Prdirie Farmer.
Mr.. HolvOake, the Englishman, in