American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1917-04-26

cells does not freeze as easily as the
water or even sap; but such seeds as
corn, beans, sorghum, etc, must be
protected from low temperatures
which may freeze the germ solid.
The terminating potency Of seeds
lessons with age, especially after the
fourth year. This deterioration is
due to the delicate nature OF the dor
mant protoplasm in the germ, and the
instability OF the carbon elements
composing the matrix. which become
more and more oxidized as time
passes.
Indigenous seeds do not ROT in the
ground, and may remain uninjured for
years until brought to the surface by
some agency when they to
grow. On the other hand, exotic
seeds, such as corn and other semi
tropical varieties, rot very easily with
much moisture at low temperatures.
termination Under Difficulties.
There have been several years in
the history Of dry farming when there
was not sufficient precipitation to
cause the presence of free water in the
soil which is necessary to terminate
the seed for spring crops, but there
was in each of these seasons enough
film water to keep them going until the
late rains, If the termination could
only have been accomplished.
Many farmers not knowing how to
overcome the difficulty were unable to
raise crops. On every dry farm which
has been properly titled to conserve
the winter precipitation we find a
damp subsoil In the spring, whether
the seaso is dry or not. The way
out is to plant In this subsoil. We
first soak the seed, then plow out the
row down to the moisture; plant in
the bottom Of the furrow and cover
deeply. When the plants appear
above the furrow the cultivator breaks
down the edge, and after a few work.
ing the rows fill up and become level,
the roots being established at a depth
inaccessible to drouth.
Any row crop may be grown by this
method when there is not sufficient
moisture for the usual procedure; but
the crops which would make the most
feed for stock under such conditions
are corn, sorghum or Sudan grass.
Garden Seeds.
Some of the finer Garden seeds often
fail to come thru for the same reason
as some field seeds. They sprout and
dry out. The rule for all these is to
keep them wet until you can see the
leaves. Such seeds as lettuce, petu-
MAS, carrots, etc, cannot be covered
deeply on account OF their being too
small-the sprout is not large enough
after termination to force its way
through. 1t is a great help with these
to water by hand and cover with a
gunny sack, which will keep the
ground wet for a day or two, and
repeat as often as necessary. Some
seeds, like those of the Gamma, are
slow in terminating on account of the
hardness of the shell. All of these
will sprout readily if a small hole is
filed through the outside shell down to
the white to allow the water to enter.
Tree Seeds.
The trick in raising ordinary decid-
uous trees from seed, such as the
locust, Russian olive, boxelder, catal-
pa, etc, is to obtain the seed from the
tree as soon as ripe and plant imme-
diately. A good percentage usually
comes up the following spring. The
raising of evergreens from seed re-
quires expert work and it is better to
buy the young trees than to waste time
trying to raise them. In tree seeds as
we'll as in alfalfa and all c%loyers, ETC.,
extra hard specimens are always found
which sometimes will not terminate
for months or ever years. These of
course could be nicked or sand paper
ed to reduce the thickness of the
shell but since the percentage is usu-
ally small it would hardly be worth
while.-Western Farm Life.