242 ' * THE WHEAT CULTUETST. 



duct of the previous year. Therefore, when seed wheat 

 or seed rye is obtained from seed stores, or from any 

 other source, if the grain were not raised the previous 

 year, a handful of the kernels should be tested, before 

 the grain is sowed in the field, for the purpose of deter- 

 mining whether the seed will germinate. There is no 

 reliable rule concerning the vitality of any kind of seed 

 grain. In one instance, every kernel of seed may vege- 

 tate, when it is ten, or more years old. On the con- 

 trary, a large proportion of seed only three and four 

 years old, may, and may not vegetate. 



Large vs. Small Kernels oe Grain for Seed. 



" Yet, the success is not for years assured, 

 Though chosen is the seed and fully cured, 

 Unless the peasant, with his annual pain, 

 Renews his choice, and culls the largest grain." 



Dryden's Virgil. 

 * 



We perceive by the suggestions in the preceding coup- 

 let, which was penned several hundred years ago, that 

 the importance of choosing the largest kernels was 

 understood in those days, as well as now. But, whether 

 the precept was observed in selecting seed, is a question 

 involved in some doubt, as cultivators of the soil are 

 exceedingly apt to neglect the saving of all kinds of 

 seed. Besides this, many intelligent farmers and gar- 

 deners contend that it makes no difference whether the 

 small kernels of the tip end of an ear, or any others, be 

 planted ; and, to prove it, they refer to experiments re- 

 corded by C. L. Flint, secretary of the Massachusetts 

 Board of Agriculture, in which it is stated, that it has 

 been proved by experiment that the yield of Indian corn 



