GOOD SEED. 515 



the necessity of growing all plants designed for seed-productions apart from all others, that 

 it may be kept as pure as possible. It would be well for farmers living in the same neigh 

 borhood, or adjoining farms, to agree to plant the same varieties for this reason. &quot;When 

 different varieties are grown on the same farm, such as pop corn, sweet corn, and the kind 

 constituting the regular corn product, these should be planted as far apart as practiable. 



Special Cultivation Essential. Plants for producing seed should not only be 

 planted apart from all others, but should receive special cultivation, in order to maintain 

 their high standard and prevent deteriorating; also, to improve, if possible, upon the variety. 

 The benefits of cultivation have already been referred to in regard to all agricultural pro 

 ducts, in comparing the improved and long-cultivated plants with the wild typos from which 

 they originated. This difference is equally striking in horticulture. No one but a botanist 

 would recognize the small and single blossom of the wild rose, or the coarse flower of the 

 wild dahlia from the tablelands of Mexico, with its single row of petals, as kindred to the 

 beautiful and rare products of the skillful gardener s art; and yet this great difference is all 

 due to cultivation, combined with careful selection. &quot;When a better class of plants are to be 

 developed, as those possessing special characteristics in a more marked degree than has been 

 attained, care must always be exercised in selecting those that possess the desired qualities 

 most prominently, whether it be for special color, fragrance, beauty of form, size, or other 

 qualities. It is only by this means that certain characteristics can be perpetuated and more 

 fully established. In the cultivation of seed, the locality selected should not only be apart 

 from all other plants with which it may become mixed, but the locality chosen should be that 

 to which it is well adapted, whether with regard to the soil, degree of heat and cold, sunlight 

 and shade, shelter from winds or other influences adverse to its proper development. 



The soil should be well tilled, and of the degree of fertility adapted to the plant that is 

 grown, while frequent and careful culture should be given of such a nature as is also suited 

 to its most perfect growth and maturity. During the progress of the growth of the plants, 

 all injurious insects should be kept from them, and the weak and sickly plants carefully 

 thinned out, leaving only the most healthy and vigorous ones to mature and ripen their seed. 

 All foreign growths, such as weeds and grass, should be kept down, and the surface of the 

 soil frequently stirred to increase the growth and productions of the plants. Those plants 

 that produce suckers, such as corn, for instance, should have these inferior growths removed 

 as they make their appearance, for if allowed to blossom and shed their pollen, they will 

 thus fertilize the fine ears of corn as readily as the blossoms of the most perfectly developed 

 stalks. This will be sure to deteriorate the quality of the product; too much importance 

 cannot therefore be placed upon their removal before blossoming. It often happens that 

 when planting even the largest and finest looking ears, where this precaution has not been 

 taken, the farmer will be greatly disappointed in the result, the crop produced being in every 

 respect an inferior one. This is caused by the kernels of the fine, large ears having been 

 fertilized by the blossoms of one of these inferior growths, and deterioration naturally 

 follows. If every farmer would take such precautions, the average corn crop of the country 

 would be greatly increased. 



Harvesting and Storing. It is very essential that seed should be harvested before 

 the appearance of the frost, and if possible, when sufficiently ripe, before a long rain storm. 

 If allowed to remain exposed several days to a rain, some kinds of seed might be seriously 

 injured by sprouting, while others might become shelled out and wasted. All seed should 

 be well ripened before gathering. It should not, however, be allowed to remain in the field 

 after becoming sufficiently ripe for harvesting. A slight neglect in this respect will, with 

 some kinds of seed, often cause the loss of nearly the entire crop. 



Some plants ripen their seed very unevenly. With such, the time for harvesting will be 



