Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1885-07-04
FARM AND GARDEN,
Notes On G%erminatiye Power of Seed.

tlOu. III is we'll u ODsclfc lldL seetIs
several years old often germinate, but
the percentage of those that do decreases
rapidly after a certain age. 1t is a fraud
therefore to sell seed when that age Of
decreased percentage arrives, unless the
fact is made known and prce CORES
poHdingiy reduced. Seed growers and
vendors should lie required by law to
print upon all packages the year in which
the seed were grown.-SontheTn Agri-
cuu4rist
1.-The terminal kernels Of flint maize
gave to our trials a stronger g~ermlnatlve
and vegetative power than the central
or butt kernels.
Flint corn harvested just at the point
# glazing, husked and hung up to dry,
continued the ripening process 80 that at
last it would not be suspected but that
our samples had thoroughly ripen,d in
the field.
Peas planted when at the edible ma.
turity vegetate az well as ripe seed.
A potato grated on the tomato pro
duced tubers above ground just above
the graft.
We received from f.. II. Libby, Of
Rochester, a plant of Stowelrs Evergreen
sweet corn but twelve and one-half in
ches tall, well formed, Of 4 vigorous
green, leafy, ard bearing three ears, two
Of which were well kerneled.
Beet seed from one to fourteen yeas
Of age were tested. The percentage
which germinat4d seemed to increase
from 20 at one year to 50 at five years Of
age. and then decreased to 10 at fourteen
wears. The fresh seeds began sprouting
in one day, while four were required for
The oldest seeds.
Cabbage seeds from two to seventeen
years were tested. None sprouted over
Xix years of age. The percentage which
grew was good until four years, after
which it dropped to eleven.
OF 1T samples Of onion seeds one year
old, 80 per cent. vegetated. OF Al sam
pies two years old, IS per cent, grew. OF
II samples three years old, 10 per cent
grew. Older than three years none
sprouted.
OF tomato seeds eleven samples ten
years of age terminated 70 per cent, and
two samples at fourteen years germina-
ted So per cent.
The oldest seed reported as growing
was cucumber at nineteen years. Four
teen per cent. terminated in two days.
Corn brought from a Southern to a
Northern locality is not safe to ripen.
The common Chester county penny
corn that Is grown near Philadelphia will
not ripen 200 miles further north. Usual
" Northern-grown corn succeeds best in
a Southern locality and improves very
rapidly. No other plant can be i'm
proved more by cultivation and selection
of seed than corn, and it is advisable to
select the best seed in ones own neigh
borhood, get the best possible, and by
good cultivation and manuring to I'M
prove the quality and yield as far as pos
sible, persevcring for some years, and
gradually cnlargiug the size and ~increas-
ing the yield. The same Is true as re-
CARDS oats; but as oats do better in a
cooler climate 1t is well to get fresh seed
from a Northern locality. Canaa,, Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick are noted for
the size and weight of their oats.
MANAGEMENT OF HEAVY CLAYs.-
Though vegetable matter is highly
important for heavy clays, it does not
follow that green manuring is always
helpful to immediate fertility. We have
known large growths of fodder corn and
Hungarian grass plowed under late in the
season, when the wheat crop following
was rather injured than benefited. In
some cases 1t makes the soil too porous,
thus causing it to absorb and retain a
large amount of water, which alternately
expands and contracts by freezing and
thawing. In other instances the green
manure plowed under late in. the fall
turns sour, forming a greenscum OF
the surface "A common Indication that
acid is being generated to poison al
vegetable life. When green manure is
rlowed under early in the season, how.
ever, 1t never fails to produce gooc
results. Its fermentation not only in
creases heat. in which heavy soils are
deficient, but it disintegrates the particle
of soil and thus makes available mucl
plant food that would otherwise hav,
been locked up in the clods. Whileit i
true that these green manures give bacl
10 the soil no mineral elements nos frs
taken from it, yet the fact is undoubtet
thai soils Astounding i'll clay will endur
this exhausting process longer tlan an.
others That which heavy soil most SUI
fers from is a system of cultivation an
cropping which exhausts their due pre-