The Savannah morning news., 1902-02-24
The Importance of Good Seeds.

Apropos to our frequent remarks on
this subject lately the Farm and Ranch
has this to say concerning it:
Facts are frequently very strange
things" stranger than fiction" as we
are told. We could state a. large num-
ber of facts, which for features of ex-
travagant hyperbole, would tax the Gre
dulity of simplicity's self, as much as
the masterpiece of Cervantes. But a
single strange fact will serve to illus
trate the theory, and that is all we
shall attempt in this brief article.
Every farmer knows, if he knows any
thing worth mentioning that good
crops do not come from bad seed; that
the order of nature is that like pro-
duces like: that whatever a man sow
eth that shall he also reap" that the
order of reproduction is the same in
both plants and animals; that if bad
seed will produce good crops, the scrub
stock will produce pure-bred animals,
and the men who pay high prices for
breeding stock are fools welded to their
folly. And yet there are farmers who
would never permit an inferior animal,
if he had one, to propagate his kind,
but who will plant any sort of seed
if it is only sound, and then grumble
at harvest time because his crop is
short in both yield and quality. Is
Quixote running a tilt with a windmill
than in this custom of many of our
farmers? Every farmer every year,
expects to make good crops, but ne
elects the first essential steps to pro-
duce that result. Isn't this fact as
strange as any fiction? And is il not
a fact? Farm crops are all bringing
high prices and seed will be-
come correspondingly high, probably
4IraA fEA -
staple article, and many farmers will
save few dollars by using the COM
mon market grade for seed and lose as
much in the diminished product of
one acre as the total cost of good seed
for his entire crop. This is not a new
thing. 1t is done to a considerable
extent every year. Every farmer who
feels a pride in his business should
grow his own seeds, for all staple crops
at least, and thus improve his products
from year to year. just as he would
grade up his cattle, or hogs or fowls
by introducing pure-bred males. The
only difference is, in one case i'm
proved vegetable and in the other inn
proved animal seed is used. Those
who for any reason prefer not to grow
their own seed, should purchase from
those who do, and as much care in Sc
lection should be used as il he were
buying a bred bull or boar or
cock. and the price should be a sec
ondary consideration. Every reason
that is good in one case is equally
good in the other. Did the Georgia
farmer who made more than 200 bush
els of corn on one acre select his seed
from the corn bull<ed in the crib? Did
the North Carolina farmer who grew
2.240 pounds. or five bales of lint cot
ton on an acre. take his seed "just
as they came? Do the products that
bring the highest price on the market
cme from seed taken lad scatterdum?"
or carefully selected from previous
crops bred for the purpose OF devel-
oping the highest quality as well as
the greatest yield? The temptation
viii be strong the coming season TO
plant just such seed as may be on
hand. for II viii be both cheap and
better than none" But this is
consolation that does not console, and
the day Of recokinng comes with the
harvest. n ie % fact. and q strange
one. too, that farmers give but little
pttention 90 the seed they plant This
~ a mistake thnt should not be con.
tlnued. for By its practice the farmer
at the very opening ~ the season takes
n step that viii absolutely prohibit the
best results from the seasons work.