'IHE WHEAT CULTURIST. 235 



CHAPTER III. 



How TO SAVE SEED WHEAT. 



"Oft have I seen the chosen seeds deceive, 

 And o'er degenerate crops the peasant grieve, 

 Save where slow Patience, o'er and o'er again, 

 Culled yearly, one by one, the largest grain." 



DRYDEN'S VIRGIL. 



JUDGING from the suggestions previously recorded, in 

 regard to seed wheat, one would suppose that we might 

 dispense with all details relating to the manipulations 

 of saving the seed. But I consider the manipulations 

 more important than anything I have recorded, as the 

 directions herewith given are an epitome of all the rest. 

 If a farmer will follow the directions here recorded, 

 when securing his seed wheat, from year to year, he 

 will feel so well satisfied with his efforts to "produce 

 a bountiful crop of fine grain, that he will never suffer 

 himself to resort to the slip-shod and unprofitable and 

 unfarmer-like manner, which prevails all over our coun- 

 try. 



Let it be borne in mind that earliness of maturity is 

 the most important consideration in saving seed wheat. 

 Of course, then, seed should never be taken from a 

 locality where the crops are backward in regard to 

 maturity. 



It is not only important to select for seed, the grain 

 that matures first on one's own farm, but from those 



