104 AGRICULTURE. 



VI. SEEDS. 



SEED-TESTING FOR THE FARMER. 



iSy the late Gilbert H. Hicks, of U. S. Department of Agriculture.* 



Not less important than good soil and suitable cultivation 

 is seed of the best obtainable quality. In no feature of 

 farm practice is niggardly economy or lack of proper atten- 

 tion more productive of disappointment and loss than in 

 the failure to provide proper seed for sowing. The market 

 gardener is fully alive to this fact, and makes the purchase 

 of desirable seed his foremost care. He wants not only 

 seed which will grow, but also that which will produce an 

 even stand and yield a large crop of the very best vegetables. 

 The matter of paying a few cents or even a dollar extra 

 per pound is to him of no significance, since he knows by 

 long experience that the increased value of his crop will 

 far outweigh the extra cost of the seed. 



With many farmers this care in the selection of seed is 

 often lacking. Frequently the land is all tilled and ready 

 for sowing before the seed is bought. It is then too late 

 to give it a careful preliminary test, even if the owner de- 

 sired to do so. This results very often in a poor stand, 

 perhaps in a failure of the crop, or in the scattering of 

 hordes of weeds all over the farm, which usurp the place 

 of the cultivated plants, and cost infinite trouble in their 

 eradication. This is especially noticeable in the case of 

 the clovers, grasses, and other forage plants. No matter 

 how poor the seed turns out to be, after once sown it is too 

 late to secure any redress from the seedsman. Besides, 

 there are very few places in this country where one can 

 get seed tested in order that its real value may be ascer- 

 tained before sowing. It becomes, then, a matter of great 

 importance to the farmer to provide himself with some 

 simple but efficient means for testing his seed before it is 

 sown. 



All seed which is to be used for spring sowing should be 

 procured whenever possible in the previous fall or winter. 



* Revised by A. J. Pieters. late liotanist in Charge of Seed and Plant Intro- 

 duction, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



