150 PROPAGATION OF PLANTS 



hand, but it will always pay in the end. Pick out such plants as 

 you wish to reproduce and select your seed from them. In select- 

 ing seed corn we may consider the size of the ears of corn, the size 

 of the individual grains, the number of ears of corn on each stalk, 

 the percentage of blades and stalk in the plant, and other points of 

 this kind. 



We must also consider the yield, and the ability of the plant to re- 

 sist drouth, inclemency of the weather, and insect pests. Mr. Abra- 

 ham Fultz, about 1862, while passing through a field of bearded 

 wheat in Pennsylvania found three heads that were beardless. 

 He planted the seeds from these and found that the resulting crop 

 was not only beardless but very productive. By saving all the 

 seed and planting them again from time to time he soon had an 

 ample supply of this new variety of wheat, which has long been 

 famous under the name of Fultz wheat. 



Variation in climate produces marked effects in the structure 

 and habits of plants which sometimes may be turned to good 

 advantage. Northern-grown potatoes on account of the shortness 

 of the growing season mature early and do not lose this tendency 

 when planted in Southern latitudes. For this reason we find it 

 advisable frequently to secure our seed potatoes from Minnesota, 

 Ohio, and other Northern States. When this is done we generally 

 have more thrifty plants and better yields. 



Age of Seed. As a rule seeds do not germinate well when they 

 are more than a year old, but some seeds retain their vitality for 

 three or four years or even longer. Onions and parsnips do not 

 retain their normal vitality for more than a year, and the seed 

 after that time germinate very poorly. Maize and some of the 

 larger grains retain their vitality for a much longer time. Varieties 

 of maize have been found in the old tombs or Indian mounds of the 

 United States, Mexico, and Peru, which some experimenters have 

 succeeded in germinating, in spite of the great age of the seed, 

 but such instances are rare. When time and conditions are favor- 

 able teachers should secure a quantity of seed, and plant samples 

 of the same every year for a period of years and note the decreasing 

 vitality of the seed from time to time. The results obtained with 

 different seeds will be very interesting and instructive. In mak- 

 ing your experiments see (1) that in each case the embryo or the 



