34 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTUR-^L SOCIETY. 



it slioulil be in proper condition for any crop. I think all land 

 should be plowed in the fall. 



The selection of the seed is very important and requires consider- 

 able care and attention. Seed is different from any other article 

 to purchase. Each farmer or market gardener should lay out a 

 plan of his place so that he will know just how much territory he 

 will plant to certain crops. Then he can tell how much seed it 

 will take of the different kinds and can make out his order to the 

 seedsman for the necessary quantity, estimating the quantity by 

 the amount of land to be planted. There are many different 

 ways of purchasing seeds; some will shop around, buying one kind 

 in one store and another kind in another place, one kind at one 

 time and another kind at another time. Some pay cash and some 

 get trusted until the seed is sown and the crop matured. In the 

 latter case it not infrequently happens that the purchaser will go 

 to the seedsman in the fall and find fault with some kind of seed 

 that did not do well in order to get some reduction on the bill, 

 whereas in reality the blame should be placed on climatic condi- 

 tions or the method of planting. There are also quite a number 

 of people who buy at the lowest price, thinking that what they save 

 on their seed bill is so much off on the expense account. The 

 seedsmen know these customers and know how to treat them. 

 They will always have trouble with their seeds for the reasons I 

 have mentioned. But there are those, and they are nearly always 

 the prosperous ones, who make out their order, take it to the seeds- 

 man in whom they have confidence, and tell him that they want 

 the best he has regardless of price. Such men never have any 

 trouble with their seeds and the seedsman does all he can for them. 

 With these men the seeds are always satisfactory and also the price. 



The cultivation and care of the crop is the main thing after the 

 planting is done and should be attended with great care, because 

 on this depends in many cases the success or failure of the crop. 



The amount of fertilizer necessary for each crop depends upon 

 the crop to be grown and the condition of the soil. Here we have 

 to take into account the preceding crop and how the soil was treated 

 for that crop. An application of twenty cords of fine stable manure 

 per acre is sufficient for almost any crop grown. Stable manure 

 has been proved to be a complete manure, but if a second crop is 



