152 THE BUSINESS OF FARMING 



Nature does not gather her seeds, she protects 

 them with certain coverings and surroundings, ma- 

 tures them upon their mother plant stems or 

 vines, subjects them to moisture, sunshine and 

 cold, and yet they grow with strength and vigor, 

 and reproduce in profusion. 



A simple illustration proves these facts. In 

 early spring we often see ears of corn in our 

 stock fields that have escaped the harvest. These 

 ears of corn would be plowed under and when 

 heat, moisture and other agencies had done their 

 work, every grain upon these ears would send 

 forth a strong, vigorous plant. 



Understand that the author is not advocating 

 the saving and caring for seeds to be left to Na- 

 ture, but he is trying to emphasize the truth that 

 seeds must be matured in order that they be pos- 

 sessed of strong vitality. 



4th. There Must be Uniformity of Seed. Some 

 authorities claim that this trait of seeds is the most 

 important; that seed may be strongly marked as 

 to germination, strong vitality, productiveness, 

 etc., yet if it lack in uniformity it is utterly worth- 

 less for seed purposes. 



By uniformity we mean uniformity of type, 

 color, time of maturing, etc. Seed unevenly ma- 

 tured means that in many crops we have the plants 

 showing in the field all stages of maturity. Blos- 

 soms and maturity will appear at the same time, 

 which can result in nothing else than loss. By 

 uniformity we mean that the seeds we plant must 

 be so alike in all the essentials required of good 

 seeds that they will send forth plants that will 

 mature their crops at the same time. If you 



