The Morehouse clarion., 1881-09-02
OUR SOUTHERN LETTER.
Importance Of Carefully Selecting the
Seed for Any Crop, Especially
Of Cotton.
rHome g. Farm.l

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crops. Most of our Southern farm
ers do not realize how much the
out-turn of their crops depends
upon the quality and origin of the
seed planted, and only very few be-
stow any intelligent care upon its
Improvement and preservation.
Many of those who do appreciate
the Importance Of the matter, and
give it any thought, lack the energy
necessary to achieve success, and
are content to make spasmodic in
vestments every few years in ad-
vertised seeds, improved at a dis
tance by some more enterprising
man-seeds grown in climate
quite different from that in. which
they are to be planted. They fre-
quently buy, at very exorbitant
prices, small quantities of ''prolific
corn'' or prodigy cotton" seed,
which in year or two, from care
less inattention, 6eteriorates until
its product is no more valuable
than that they originally had. By
intelligent care, our farmers can
make their seed as prolific and re-
liable as any that can be bought; !;
and more valuable to them, because
it will be acclimated, which is never
the case with that brought from a
different section Of the country.
Like will produce like in plants
as in animals. Farmers are often
careful in breeding their stock and
poultry, and carefully eliminate all
inferior or sickly specimens in the
efforts to keep up or improve their
standard; but in regard to their
field crops, which are of much
more Importance and to which all
kinds of stock are only subsidiary,
the utmost indifference is mani
tested as to the origin, improve
ment, or even preservation Of the
seed. Many who do know the i'm
portance Of planting the best seed
do not fully understand the process
of thorough selection necessary to
obtain what they want. This Sc.
lection should commence as soon as
the plants begin to blossom. With
corn the best section of the crop
should be chosen in June, and
when the tassels appear the stalks
should be carefully examined, and
from all those that have no cal
shooting forth the tassels should be
broken, because these on such bar.
rem stalks furnish pollen that fruc.
| titles the silk of Jther stalks, and
every grain fructifed by such pol
len will, in its turn, produce a bar
rem stalk.
All farmers know that in an av-
erage Southern corn field one-third
of the stalks are practically barren,
and on many Of those fruitful, the
cobs are deficient in grains. II,
therefore, the tassels are persist.
emily removed from the barren
stalks, the seed corn will be fructi.
fed only from the fruitful ones,
and the next season thereafter there
will be marked decrease in the
number Of barren stalks, and in
crease in the number Of grains or
each cob; and from TINS process
alone the yield will be considerably
increased. At the time of harvest,
the seed should be selected from
the field, before the main crop is
gathered; and the ears taken from
only the stalks that produce two, OF
more; and at the time OF planting
in the ensuing spring, these should
again be examined, and only the
largest, and those having the great
est number of grains shelled to-
seed.
The selection OF seed cottor
should be made according to simi
lar principles. Early in June tina
section of the field having the fines
plants should be set apart, and il
u tho stand vell thinned. so aS h