The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1883-05-12


When a farmer prepares his soil with |
care and manures and fertilizes 1T with
liberality, and sows his seed and then
waits in vain for the harvest oi his hopes,
his loss is q very serious ore, but vet one
to be borne with patience and equanim-
ity II the loss is due fJ events which are
unavoidable and up. comfortable, as when
the season Is too dry or storms lay his
crop low. bu.s when he finds his losses
10 oe que 10 poor, imperfect or worth
less seed' put upon him unawares by q
careies 8 or dishonest dealer, then, If ever.
tner q Is q time when man '.does well
u be angry and to lose patience, this
may perhaps be considered, justly, as
such a time. And such occasions are
neither few nor far between. But per-
haps some unsympathizing person may
say why does not the purchaser OF the
seed look out for himself. Caveot emptor
is maxim of the law and a settled prin-
ciple of Jurisprudence. 1t means 1.-THE
buyer must look out for himself" But
all the general principles, ever OF 'cold
blooded law" are moderated and modi-
fed BY circumstances, and 30 is this.
For it is an equally settled principle that
when seller makes q representation to
a purchaser, either by actual words or
by the customs of ordinary trade, he is
bound by them, and the purchaser is not
bound to take any unusual precautions
to secure himself. When one goes to a
grocery store and asks for pound of
butter or of sugar he is not bound to an
alyze what he receives, and If he finds
that he has got oleomargarIne, or snine,
in place of butter, and there is sand in
the sugar, he has his legal remedy be-
cause he has been swindled. So when
he purchases cabbage-seed or sweet
corn, and he linda them to be dead and
worthless, or not of the kind he asked
for, he has his remedy, too. Unfortu-
nately, it is a very poor and unsatisfac-
tory one, being merely the return OF his
money, and no recompense for his
wasted time, or lost crop, or use OF the
ground.
And therefore it is that the farmer
who buys seed must look out for himself
with the greatest care, for, as is usual,
"he has to pay for all, even in this case.
as in everything else in the world. being
q sort of multifarious Atlas, with the
whole world ON his shoulders and look
ing to him for its support. This is very
seasonable time for consideration OF
this subject, because nearly every farmer
is thinking of buying seeds soon for his
spring sowings and paintings. And the
sooner the better, because the sooner the
seeds are procured the sooner they can
be tested in good time, 30 that If found
worthless they may be returned and re-
placed. It is provision in the hands OF
every man, and If it we're exercised gen.
orally the business of selling old, dead
and adulterated seeds would very soon
come to an end. What becomes of all
the old seeds left over from year to year
-unsold? From circumstances which
come to light occasionally we can
scarcely believe they are burned as they
should be, because It is very well known
that seeds very quickly lose their vitality
and become useless. Some seeds are
worthless the second year, and all very
rapidly deteriorate, producing, when
they do terminate, weak plants, which
may soon die or. if they live, are I'M
productive; or in the case Of biennial
plants, a. carrot or cabbage, they are
apt to run to seed the same year they are
sown.
| But we must hasten to explain how
seed NAV be tested. There are several
methods, and it is well that more than
one should be tried. First, . selection
should be made from the seed itself. A
pinch should be taken from here and
there out of the lot and mixed together
in the hand. One hundred or any less
number of seeds are then set apart out
of these for trial. OF these ten are taken
for duplicate trial. This is made =
soil. A shallow box, as a soap beEs Il
filed with fine soil, leveled and snHoothet
over. A narrow1ine is made by pressing
the edge of thin lath in the soil, anf
the ten seeds are dropped into this row
one inch apart and covered. A small
marked stick is put at the end OF thu
row. A memorandum is kept of thu
date of the sowing. The box IL put in I
suitable place and the soil kept moist b.
regular waterings. It watched closely
and by and by the spires win appea
above the surface. 1t will be . matte
; of interest to note each morning thu
growth of the previous day and night
When q sufficient time has elapsed tn
result may be noted in full. What is |
sufficient time can hardly be certain. .
some new varieties of tomatoes we sowe'
in pots month ago the young plants ar
still appearing, while the majority hav
been up two weeks. But it will be rarel.
necessary to wait more than two week
} to be sure Of the proportionate goodness
| of the seed thus sown! But while thi
test is in progress the otheris made. Thi
: is to spread piece of dark wooden clot
3 folded in. a dish, and between the fold
r to spread the other ninety seeds. Thes
, are the small seeds; Of larger ones, 9
7 peas or corn, ten or twenty may be used
The dish Is kept in warm place and tn
cloth kept moist or even wet. Or . laye
: of sand m " be placed in the dish an
D moistened and the wet cloth laid over
. to keep the erface-upon which th
3 seeds are laid. but not covered-mois
q .coH. v~nev bo av,roufod in n en-