The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1894-12-02

farmer may add to the profit and I'M
|teresr Of his work by taking pains in
this matter of selecting seeds. ToEbe
gin with the principal crop: Seed corn
should be selected before the corn is
cut if possible, and if this is not done
Tut should be looked after when the corn
is being husked. Typical ears, perfect
should be selected and placed by them
selves. The best way to keep seed corn
is to hang it up in the smolxe-house
and let it get smoked when the hams
shoulders and bacon is being smoked.
This cures 1T completely and the smoke
prevents worms and other pests from
destroying it in the hill after it is
planted.
Wheat for seed should be selected
from the heaviest grains, and this can
be accomplished by carefully cleaning
it with a heavy wind from a good fam
ming mill. Blow over every grain that
you possibly can, leaving only the
plumpest for seed.
Other grains may be prepared in the
same way and with very satisfactory
results
In selecting garden vegetables I do
not try to raise my own cabbage seeds,
for the trouble of doing so more than
counterba.ances the cost when bought.
| Ra1ishes the same, except for the win
| ter varieties. In saving peas for seed
I do not use the earliest ones and save
seeds from the fag end of the crop, but
stake off part of row and let the
whole ripen, saving the earliest few by
| themselves for seed another year. This
| insures a crop as early as the earliest
and from seed that I can be sure of.
| In saving beans for seed take great
care to pick out the most perfect ones
and by continuing this for a number OF
| years I have made a great improve
ment on marrowfat and black wax
| beans, the only two varieties of bush
beans that 1 grew until L got bush
Emas two years ago Lima beans are
a good crop to grow and I save seed
from the earliest pods.
| Carrot and parsnip seeds are saved
only from the central whorls and beef
seeds are grown from only perfect
specimens of the variety chosen.
| Even in potatoes there is a choice. II
potatoes of a certain shape are chosen
each year the variety will slowly con-
form to that shape. The ideal potato
| is a fiat oval because it cooks evenly
| all the way through. A round ball-like
potato must be cooked too long to gel
it cooked through, and either falls tic
pieces or becomes water soaked anC
unpalatable.
In saving flower seeds-and I grow
a lot of them-I select the best speci
mems from the thriftiest plants anG
save the seeds. If there are any plants
in the beds that produce false coloreG
| flowers I pull them up and throw then
away. Petunias are very apt to spor
back to a du,l purple or dirty white
and all plants with solid colored flow
ers should be thrown away as soon as
the bloom betrays them, as they will
fertilize flowers from plants that pro
duce the most brilliant colors an(
seeds from these the next year will bt
off color. / have grown petunias veal
after year by following this plan anC
every year have a fine display of them
Verbanas and zinnias may be kept a.
| the highest standard by selecting seeds
from the best and balsams respond
readily to care in this matter
There is harly a plant grown but car
be kept producing its kind or improv
| ing upon the original by care in select
ing, and it is something to be proud o.
to be able to have varieties of field OF
garden seeds that are reliable beyond
a doubt, and 1 have never found any
difficulty in disposing. of any surplu:
that I might have at prices that paiC
for all the trouble5I had with them. 1
is one of the small economies, to bt
sure, but these are days of small say
ings, and we should be consistent al
along the line.-William Burns.