CHAPTER VI 



SEED SELECTION, BREEDING AND SEED 

 GROWING 



Getting the best seed. — Farmers as a class real- 

 ize nowadays that none but the best seed must be put 

 into the ground if they are to expect most profitable 

 results. Careful seed selection means even more with 

 beans than with wheat, oats or corn, for in addition 

 to the advantages generally admitted in the use of 

 strong, carefully bred seed, beans from a varietal stand- 

 point have strong likes and dislikes. In some cases 

 these are carried so far as almost to suggest capricious- 

 ness. A variety will succeed in one section in a cer- 

 tain soil and in the same section on slightly different 

 soil will prove a failure. The bean grower must take 

 these conditions as he finds them and humor the crop 

 in its whims. Thus the importance in knowing not 

 only the breeding of the seed but the likes and dislikes 

 of the respective varieties. 



The next question is : How can the farmer know or 

 learn these varietal peculiarities for his immediate 

 conditions? Here is where too many make a serious 

 mistake. A farmer must not assume that because a 

 variety succeeds on neighbor Brown's farm that 

 it will succeed on his, even if the land in both places 

 seems to be the same. The only safe way is for every 

 man to try out several varieties for himself. This 

 testing of varieties is clearly explained in Chapter III 

 of this book. 



