The Tupelo journal., 1904-10-21
FARMER AND PLANTER.
CONSERVING SEED VITALITY.
All Sees should be Thoroughly RIP
ened and Care should BE
Taken In StOrinG.

Observing men are coming { realize
the importance of good seed. Where
once a certain farmer was satisfied to
go TO his crib and sort out some corr
in the spring for planting, he now So
lects his corr in the fall and carefully
Cores It through the winter, having 1t
in the best possible condition when
the fields are ready for the planter.
To be sure only a small percentage OF
the farmers of the country are observ-
ing this care, but VS. believe that the
number is gradually increasing each
year. ID,
With every farm crop there is an op-
portunity to use Fl eat are in select
ing and sorting all seed.
Even after the seed has been selected
there is need Of care. We do not pre-
tend to assume in this article to tell
inst how this care must be given, but
there are certain general qualities thai
may be aimed at in order to insure
Grst-claSs seed. In a late bulletin is
sued by the bureau of plant industry
OF the department of agriculture at
Washington particular attention is
given to several essential points. to-
gether with results that have been Sc
cured by observing them. These may
be summarized as follows:
l. The first factors determining the
vitality of a seed are maturity, weather
conditions at the time of harvesting
oud ,,otbodC ~ borvactiuo and c1Viu3
9. Immature seed sown after gath
ering usually terminate readily, but II
stored they soon lose their vitality. On
the other hand, well-matured seeds,
harvested under favorable conditions,
are comparatively long-lived when
properly handled.
,. The curing Of the various seeds
s of the utmost importance. and great
care should be taken to prevent eX-
cessive heating, otherwise the vitality
~ill be greatly lowered.
4. With special precautions Il
treatment. there IS no question that the
life OF seeds may be greatly prolonged
heyo1i that which we know at present,
though never for centuries, rs is ire
quently stated. Cases so reported can
not be taken az evidence OF the songev-
ity OF seeds.
S. 1t is known that seeds retain
their vitality much better in some sec
tons OF the country than others. n
part which climatic Influences play In
The vitality of seeds is Of much 0
importance than Is generally supposed.
s. Experiments have shown that
moisture is the chief factor In deter
mining the longevity Of seed as they
are commercially handled Seeds stored
In the dry climates retain their vital
ity much better than when stored IN
places having a humid atmosphere.
Z. The delcterious action OF moisture
Is greatly augmented If the temperature
be increased. Not infreQuently Dis Vi
tality destroyed within a few weeks Or
nonths when the seeds are stored in
warm. moist climates. If stored in a
dry climate the question of temperature
within the normal range is OF little
moment.
s. If the storage room for seeds
cOt,!Q ne Kept ury anu dC uic "aIic
tune cool the conditions would be al
most ideal for the preservation OF Vi
tality; but the difficulties to be over
come in order to secure a cry and
cool storage room render this method
impracticable.
9. Seeds that are to be sent to coun-
tries having moist climates should be
put up in alright packages. Expert
ments have shown that by the judi
cious use of bottles and parafined
packages seeds can be preserved prac-
tically as we'll in climate as in
another.
10. or a series of experiments the
average loss in vitality OF seeds kept
in envelopes in a dry room" was
21.19 per cent; trade conditions
1868 per cent: basement" 42.2S per
cent. while the loss in the case Of seeds
stored in bottles was only sos, 3.92 and
4.5l per cent. respectively.
In brief, the essential factors III Sc
curing good seed are full maturity,
thorough curing ard dry, cool quarters
for storiug.-Drovers' Journal.