334 Transactions op the 



weather. It has been well and truly said, " that drainage makes cold 

 land warmer, wet land drier, dry land wetter, and heavy land lighter." 

 The principal object to be attained by the introduction of sand and 

 manure, is to open the pores, as it were, of the soil and keep them open; 

 and this object is still more perfectly attained by the proposed drainage. 

 It enables the soil to breathe, and thus extract from the air the moisture 

 as well as the fertilizing gases, and distribute them among the rootlets of 

 the growing plants, just as the lungs of the animal extracts the oxygen 

 from the -air and diffuses it through the animal system. Soil thus pre- 

 pared will thereafter require only an annual top dressing and good cul- 

 tivation to render it almost incredibly productive. 



SELECTING GOOD SEED. 



"We presume that most farmers will, when they have fairly initiated 

 the garden system in this State, raise and save garden seeds for their 

 own use. It will pay them to do so, provided they understand the true 

 principles of reproduction and exercise the necessary care and patience 

 to practice upon them. 



In the animal kingdom it is a well established rule, and one that is 

 generally understood, especially by stock growers and farmers, that 

 "like begets like." This rule holds equally good and is equally impor- 

 tant in the vegetable kingdom. In selecting the vegetables from which 

 seed is to be saved for replanting care should always be had to choose 

 only the very best samples. For instance, if you propose to save beet 

 seed, you should select the best shaped and best grown beet, one possess- 

 ing all the characteristics of color, form, fineness of grain, and all other 

 properties which it may be desired to reproduce. 



Then care should be taken to plant the beet in such soil and location 

 as will secure to the seed the best possible chance to grow and mature 

 in the most perfect manner. From the seed thus carefully grown nono 

 but the best should be saved for planting. The same care should be exer- 

 cised in regard to producing the seed of all other vegetables. By so 

 doing and by. the interchange of seed between different countries and 

 different localities in the same country all our crops of vegetables and 

 grains may be much improv 



It is the present practice of most of those farmers who cultivate gar- 

 dens, whether as professional gardeners or only for their own tables, 

 to buy all their seed from the various seed stores in the towns and vil- 

 lages. This practice has one advantage — it secures an interchange from 

 one locality to another; but we find that as a general rule those who 

 produce the seeds so sold neglect a strict compliance with the acknowl- 

 edged rule of reproduction above referred to. Their seeds are sold by 

 the pound, and the more pounds the more dollars. 



Without desiring to < e the business of any one enterprising- 



seed man, we would recommend that each farmer, as soon as possible, 

 inaugurate the practice of producing his own seed of all kinds. He 

 may then interchange frequently with his neighbors and friends who 

 exercise the same care with himself, and he may thus improve all his 

 crops from year to year. In the long run we think this will be found 

 the most economical plan, as we shall never be subjected to the trouble, 

 expense, and vexation caused by planting dead or poor seed, and being 

 under the necessity of replanting and suffering the loss of time thereby. 



