Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-08-24
Save the Rest far Seed.

scarcely be doubt, but Just where the
boundary line is no one has yet deter
mined. We can scarcely expect to i'm
/ prove our wheat until the stalks shall
be as large as hop-poles, or the heads
| produce bushel of grain, but just how
much larger or more productive vari-
cites will be produced is one of the
! questions to be answered in the future.
That all dOmesticated plants and ami
mails possess an inherent tendency to
improve upon the care bestowed upon
them is fact so well known that it
would scarcely be worth referring to
were there not few persons in every
community who are prone to look on
the dark sides of nature, and declare
! that degeneration of species and vari-
cites is everywhere gong on, and the
nearer we reach perfection the more
rapid and certain the decline. While it
/ is certainly true that in breeding ami
mails and plants errors have been COM
mitted which were not thought of I'M
| til too late, still these can not be con-
sidered as the unfavorable results of all
attempts at progression. MANY of our
largest and highest favored fruits pro-
duce few or no seed; hence further pro-
greSs in that direction with these vari-
cites is impossible, but this does not
prove that from others which do pro-
duce perfect seed something in advance
of any yet known may be obtained. We
may reach fixed limit in one direction,
| but this Is not to he taken as the per-
lection OF the thing being experimental
with. The largest and best of our
fruits. flowers, and grains can scarcely
be called perfect, because they usually
! possess some property or characteristic
! that we would like TO have changed for
| the better. In some we would have the
size increased, in others the quality i'm
! proved, while in some there is less vigor
and prOductiveness than would be de-
| sirable. Some are t o early, others too
/ late, while there is a very large
class of plants that have not rs
| yet been acclimated or adapted
to our different soils and variable
climate. In fact, there is wide field
in which to experiment and progress.
If no change is desired in any satisfac-
| tory variety cultivated, then we have
only to select the very best for seed, in
order to keep il up 10 the proper stand
ard of excellence; but it often happens
that while we are quite satisfied with
the variety cultivated. we would have
II come on earlier or later in the season
In such cases we would select the ear
lest or latest specimens for seed, and
continue this from year to year until
the desired change has been secured
/ Our very earliest varieties of the to-
mato are not, as rule. the best in
quality, but it is impossible, by selec-
ton, to advance the later sorts without
losing anything in quality. The desir-
/ able properties of tomato are fair
SIZE, smooth surface, with evenness in
| ripening and solid flesh. In all
| Northern localities the first fruit that
ripens should be saved for seed. for it is
not possible to obtain variety that will
ripen too early where the seasons are as
! short as in our Northern States. The
same may be said of melons. for we
have to wait long enough for this fruit,
even with the earliest sorts and what
ever artificial appliances are employed
to bring them forward. The habit is
far too common to wait until the crop
of tomatoes, melons and similar fruits
are abundant before making any pro-
vision for supply of seed for another
year. This is certainly an oversight,
for it often happens that the very best
specimens as well as the earliest are
gone. and only those which may be
called good are available for seed.
With corn, peas, beans and all kinds
of garden and field vegetables there is
always more or less opportunity for Sc
Letting superior specimens for seed, and
those who avail themselves of them
usually have better luck" than those
who make no efforts in the way of care
full selections.
The principle of careful selection of
seed should not stop in the vegetable
garden, but may with profit lie ex-
tended 10 the grain field and forest In
every grain field variations in growth
and productiveness occur, and the
TURNER who has eyes educated TO see
such things will be sure to find them.
Taking grain for seed from bin in
which the entire crop has been stored
may answer very well, but it is not the
way TO make progress or improve a
variety. The best and cleanest plot,
whether it be large or small, should be
taken for seed, and kept separate from
the main crop. This rules applies to
all kinds of grain, and if every farmer
would practice it we would hear less of
deterioration or the running out of va
reties.
New varieties of grain are in the
main derived from some single plant,
which, through some unknown cause.
varied from the original or parent stock.
These varieties, having been observed
and carefully preserved and propagated,
are afterward disseminated under dis
tinct names. New varieties are con-
stantly appearing in our fields, but it is
only occasionally that they attract at
tention and are preserved. In the for
ests we see that there is great difference
in the form and growth of the trees be-
longing to the same species. The fruit
or seed are also variable, and every
country boy knows that Ger a n chest
nut. butternut. hickory and similar nut
bearing trees produce much larger nuts
than others of the same kind, and per-
hapS growing in close proximity TO each
other. These differences are as perma-
nent as varieties of cultivated fruits:
consequently, in seeking q supply of
forest tree seeds, the best of each kind
should be taken instead of the first to
be found or most readily obtained. OF
course, il can not be expected that wild
any more than cultivated varieties will
come true from seed, still the chances
for producing "A superior lot of seedlings
are greater with large, fully developed
Saed than with the small and inferior
Always propagate from the best and
most fully developed. whether il be ami
male or plants; and if every one would
do this, we should make more progress
in ten years than we do now in forty.-
". Y. Sun.