Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-10

II II the custom Of ali seed deaierr
not to warrant any seeds, This ID All
right, tO<a certain extent. There arc
hawks all over the country, who. n
the seed merchants did not print a dis-
claimer on All their seed paclages.
would probably buy seeds for no Other
reason but to involve the dealer FINN
whom they purchase in q lawsuit. n
for some reason or other the seeds disa
not terminate. A great many dealers
who have greenhouses test all their
seeds before putting them into their
stores They may have seeds left over
from last season. which they think
they cannot afford to discard, and IL =
fair proportion Of them germInate In
their glass houses. will label them O.
X.
Now. consider this testing Of SEED.
a waste OF time and labor, IL not az
seeds. IL I know my seed Is fresh.
there Ii no need of testing the same
1t will terminate. The question, how
ever, is not will the seeds germinate
but. will they be the foundation for
good crop? To illustrate: My neigh
Dor is a great onion grower: he knows
that twO-years-old seed is not safe.
Still he has a good quantity Of old
seed. and he Is anxious to test 1t. Ac-
cordingly he makes a hotbed ana
plants a quantity of it, and also OF new
seed. The old seed germinated, but not
very freely: he had counted the seeds
he planted. and found that about two-
thirds OF them had sprouted. He
showed me the result. He thought II
he sowed the old seed and sowed II =
little thicker he might get good crop
from it. told him to throw the seed
on the dung heap, or he would ruin his
reputation as a grower of big onions.
What makes you think so?" he asked:
ted him to look at the result Of the
new seed he sowed beside the old The
former were more than double the size
Of the latter and they always would
be the leaders. He was convinced: but
to fully satisfy himself he transplanted
them. and by the time when those
grown from fresh seed were as big as
fists the others were no bigger than
hickory nuts.
This test of the onion seed applies to
other kinds. II you want to grow
ca bbages for exhibition, be sure thai
your seed is from last seasons growth.
But where cabbages are sold by num-
Der instead of by weight. 1t is not al
ways desirable to have too large heads.
and seed two or three years old will
give better results. A radish to be
crisp and tender must grow rapidly
Be sure that your radish seed is of the
freshest. A weevil-eaten bean will not
terminate, but a weevil-eaten pea will.
Still when you SOW peas. don't expect
anything from those with holes In
them. for although they may sprout,
they will never amount to anything:
perhaps not grow tall enough to BIOS
som.
l might go over the whole list. but
these. few examples ought to satisfy
anybody that it is not always a test
of the quality of the seed. because 1t
terminates in the Westinghouse or hot
bed. If growers or dealers know the
ages of their seeds they sell. and never
send out seeds that are more than a
year old, there will be no need of test
ing. Still they are justified in not
giving any warranty with their goods.
for reasons above mentioned. But
they should warrant anything they
send out to be true to name.-Chas.
Everding. Conn. in N. e. Homestead.