The Savannah morning news., 1902-01-20
THE FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO AGRI-
CULTURIST AND HOUSEWIFE.

0 AM hOOsE w At
Seed Saving in the SOuth-MOneS in
the seed Business-Sweet Potato
CuIture-PreparntiO for Water
meIons-Himts ON How to Raise
Turkeys.
1t is sad to contemplate how little
care and interest is manifested by the
average Southern gardener and farmer
in the saving of seeds of those crops
that he plants every year. This negli-
gence is at the bottom and at the same
time the explanation for much of the
failure that the farmer and gardener
makes of his work year after year.
The European cutivator and our
own Northern growers regard the saw
ing of seeds as one of the most essen
tial features of his work and do all
they can to provide the best of seeds
for the next years. crops. Here in the
South the very large majority of far
mers and gardeners treat the matter
with such a degree of Indifference that
oftener than not they are compelled
at the very last moment to stir around
and provide themselves with seeds to
start their most important crops. Even
the cotton farmer exhibits very little
interest in saving good seeds of this,
his most important crop. Instead of
saving his seeds from his second pick
ing over of the crop and putting these
aside for use next year he is likely as
to Let he los mo Of 40
| season be the source of his seeds for
another Year 1t is well known that
many of these seeds are imperfect, are
small and immatured and far from
likely to produce a strong healthy
plant.
AS with cotton so with corn With
many it is just a matter of accident
| that when the time comes to plant
| they have really a good quality OF
| seeds. Seeds saved from perfect ears
| from a well grown, healthy stalk Many
| at the last moment have to stir around
| end look up seeds from some neighbor
| or send off to some scotsman 500 miles
| away. There is no doubt about it, the
South is suffering to-day from the
| negligence to value this matter at it's
full worth. Our cotton is yearly yield
| ing ,25 per cent. less per acre than it
should just simply from not using first
| class seeds that every one could save
| with very little trouble. This lack of
consideration for small things is eX
Inhibited all along the line and it is tell
| ing NIGHTLY ON the profits of farming
and gardening.
There are few seeds that the
| southern trucker and farmer, especial
| ly the trucker, cannot save to adVan-
| tage, but they are few comparatively
OF course we should save our cotton,
| the very best. We can save much
the larger part of our garden seeds
Seeds of bi-ennials such as turnips
beets, onions carrots, cabbage and a
few other minor vegetables we cannot
| save advantageously, but all the more
| important ones we can easily save.
! The beans, the peas, tomatoes, egg
! plants, squashes garden corns, pea
nuts chufas, sorghums, millets, our
bur clover and crimson. The saving
of all such seeds would signify a great
economy, aggregating millions OF dol
lars.
Every year thousands Of bushels Of
pea-see6s are allowed to- go to waste
in the fields. This year it seems that
these pea -seeds will be in demand
along in the spring at Sl.5O or even 81
a busIlel For the next ten years there
| will be fine profit IN these seeds.
Some farmers, we fear. will find them
selves without seeds to plant.
This saving of all kinds of seeds We
should look to hearafter as we have
never done before. There is money
| in it.