130 AGRICULTURE FOR COMMON SCHOOLS 



shape and appearance so well as he does large seeds like 

 wheat and oats. 



Genuineness. — By genuineness is meant trueness to name. 

 When a farmer buys a certain variety of grain he wants to be 

 sure that he is getting the true variety. The seeds of different 

 varieties of the same grain usually look much alike. For 

 example, one cannot often tell by looking at the grain what 

 variety a sample of wheat or oats is. It very often happens 

 that two varieties get more or less mixed in the threshing, so 

 that the resulting crop from such seed will be still more 

 mixed. Two corn varieties will mix when the pollen from 

 one blows on the other. Sometimes the mixed seed is not 

 objectionable, but it is if the farmer wishes to sell his seed for 

 pure varieties. 



Vitality. — By vitality we mean whether or not the seed 

 will grow. The vitality of seed is affected most by its age. 

 It is not safe to plant seeds of our garden crops after they are 

 more than one year old. Most field crop seeds, like corn, 

 wheat, oats, and clover, are good for two years and even 

 longer if they have been carefully stored. 



Seed which has been harvested before it is fully ripe is not 

 so good as fully ripe seed. It will germinate more quickly, 

 but the young plants will not be so strong as those from well- 

 ripened seed. 



Grain intended for seed should be kept in dry, cool places. 

 It should not be exposed to wide ranges of temperature, or 

 be kept where it is damp at one time and dry at another, as 

 often happens where corn is stored in rail pens or poorly pro- 

 tected cribs. Corn well dried out will stand a temperature 

 of as much as fifteen degrees below zero before the germ will 

 be injured. 



