ONLY ONE CORRECT STANDARD. 19 



ideal in a person's mind is something that one cannot impart 

 to another person. Now, this is all right so far as some vege- 

 tables are concerned, — for instance, onions, carrots, beets, 

 and all other plants where the seeds are propagated from roots 

 grown the previous season with a proper selection, — because 

 there has been a provision made for the male as well as the 

 female, so that the flower of the plant may not be crossed by 

 an inferior male. 



But how is it with corn, and many other plants that pro- 

 duce their seed the first year ? Take corn as an illustration. 

 A person following the directions generally approved goes 

 into his field, and selects his seed-corn from the earliest and 

 best ears, and thinks he has done the best thing : his seed 

 would be probably a little better than an average of his whole 

 crop. 



What provision has been made for the male ? Is not the 

 seed just as likely to be crossed with a poor or inferior male 

 as with any thing else ? It seems to me that it is. Now, let 

 us go one step farther. Suppose some one with an ideal in 

 his mind of what the best corn should be, both in the stalk 

 and the grain, should go into the field before the pollen is 

 matured, and cut out all the male organs not answering to 

 his ideal, then you have provided for the sire; and then 

 we shall secure a better standard than now. 



A gentleman here in Hingham, whom I regard as the best 

 authority on vegetables in the country, recently told me, that, 

 in talking to farmers about seeds, he advised them not to set 

 too high a standard, saying that was where he had failed. 

 I have thought of his remark carefully, and must say that I 

 can see only one correct standard. 



Now, the same care and skill that one would use, were he 

 attempting to breed a fine animal, is requisite in breeding 

 seed, remembering that the principle that like produces like 

 is as surely correct in the vegetable as in the animal kingdom. 



Having procured the seed, the next thing to be done is the 

 planting. There is such a diversity of crops, and the dis- 

 tance apart of the plants and of the rows, and the depth 

 which the seed should be planted, vary so much, that I will 

 not undertake to state any particular, but only a few general 

 rules. 



First, Have straight rows of a uniform distance apart. 



