Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-04-03
What About Your Planting Seed?

What About Your Planting Seed?
The season of the year is at hanc
when our farmers will undertake tC
plant millions of acres of land to va
rious food and producing
crops. They are faced by a huge un
dertaking, and the returns by Which
they will be rewarded will be deter
mined largely by the sagacity will
which they plant. OF course l real
ize that many factors enter into The
production OF every crop. These, ul
course, should receive the attention
and consideration which they merit
On this occasion, however, l am pri
.narily concerned about the question
of planting seed. The kind and the
%erietp which we shall select, for
4 IL stance, and the ancestry which
+ s!es back of it. The Bible says, "As
8 ys sow, so shall We reap" No more
- important maxim was ever uttered
: for the guidance Of our farmers than
this. Of course, various interpreta-
tons can be put upon this proVerb'
but / take it to mean, in the sense
III which I am applying 1t, that IL
we plant infertile or scrub seed, we
should naturally expect to harvest
an inferior or scrub product. II is
beautiful theory that makes all
men free and equal, but it has never
worked out to be true in practlce' L
: is exceedingly fortunate that such
= has not proven to be the case Iot'
. il it had, we would have been quite
without leadership. AS it Is, the MS
tory and progress which society has
made during the centuries since ms
tory began has resulted from the
leadership accorded humanity by the
sunerminds of a few individuals,
and it is likely that this will CON
tinue to be the case through the
ages which are yet to come.
In the plant world, as in the case
of the human being there are COM
.paratively few dominating or very
superior types. When mankind mas
heen hlclzv enough to discover one
of these by some fortunate com
. bination of circumstances and put 1t
: tn work for his benefit. substantial
nroeress has ALWAYS been recordeo'
Hence. it is of the utmost 1mpot-
lance that we diligently seek out,
discover. and utilize only the pest
kinds of parent seeds for utlllzatlon
as the progenitors Of that when we
exnect to multiply and use Tor plant
Ing purposes. o;,+ ~ view.
an, certain that the character VI
saad selected may influence the
Weld ,ner acre of given crop TO d
verv considerable degree. he
sistsnce to disease and quahty are
also matters greatly affected by the
choice of seed. Moreover, unless
one obtains a good and perIecs
stand, the crop will prove dlsaif
nointmenr ut harvest time "hy
waste whole years effort therefore
Through the mistaken policy OF say
ing something on the cost OF the
nIanting seed? It is literally case
1of stonping up the head Of the par
rel and opening the bung at the DOT
tom and still trying to 1e!ude one
self into the fact that the precious
linuid stored in the barrel mas peet
Retained, property preserved ana
safeguarded.
OF course I realize that there IS
not purebred seed enough TO 90
arol1nd because we are still not EN-
phasizing the industry of SEED preeu-
inc to ANYTHING like the degree
which Is desirable. But it Is certain
that practically every individual
conoerned in planting crop TINS
wear can do something towards I'M
Proving the seed he will plant. Sure
~ he can determine whether 1t IS
yiable or not by very slmple
nrocess. I refer, of course, to the
use Of the sand tray, In Whlch
grains selected at random from the
sacks or containers as well as from
the ears Of corn may be. accurately
tested as to the readiness with
which they will terminate and the
percentage OF living plants which
one may be expected to obtain there
from. An earthen ware saucer or
pan filled with an inch or so OF SAND
and kept properly moistened and IN
which the grains to be tested are
inserted will tell the tale in the
course of a few days. If 80 per cent
and upwards of the seed tested I'M
4 der these conditions do not sprout,
what can one expect to happen
under field conditions. which would
he much less favorable and where
many agencies might combine to
destroy considerable percentage OF
the best seed one could undertake TO
secure for planting?
Leu us IlUL put lllIo L1lC SOAA "AAA
year any seed which is not free from
disease in SO far as we can ascertain
that fact before hand or which is not
Isfdtle. 1 have seen fields planted
every kind and description OF
VFop in which the stands was not
lover 80 per cent and where this con-
dition was chargeable more nearly to
the character of seed planted than
anything else. Does it seem rea'
1sonable that this could have hap
pened in our country? Is 1t true
that many of our farmers condemn
themselves to perjury through the
use of bad seed? Is it possible that
man will take an acre Of land
carefully prepare and tertilize it
and then plant an undesirable type
of seed therein? regret to say that
this is the rule rather than the ex
ception.
I believe the out-turn of crops II
Georgia this year could be increased
$500 per acre simply through the
- foil tN1, nnd