SEEDAGE 



pared soil in the open, may be as great as 50 per cent. 

 Viability varies with seasons and other conditions. 

 While it is true as a general statement that the older 

 the seed the less the viability, yet the reverse may be 

 true within narrow limits. Sometimes lettuce and 

 melons that germinate only 50 per cent in December, 

 germinate 70-80 per cent in April. 



In order that seeds shall germinate, they must be 

 supplied with moisture and be given a definite tempera- 

 ture. The requisite temperature and moisture vary 

 with the diilerent kinds of seeds, and thev are to be 



determined only by experiencf. 

 in any medium which supplit s 

 tions. Although seeds are mil 

 ground, such practice is not ui ' ' 

 They may be planted iu cocoaim 

 medium. However, thi- -r'niml i 

 sites for germination. ::ud ii .il- 

 for the young plantlet wh.ii t' !■•■: 

 and, furtliermore, thf iil.'iiits arc ii 



planted 

 I iu the 



many 





eeds, 



rapid 



certain when the seeds 



sown in cocoanut fiber 



other medium, for the 



conditions may be more imi- 



forr 



is fairly 



ger 



pie 

 plants are transplanted to 

 the soil. The depth at which 

 seeds siiall be sown de- 

 ends on many conditions. 



Iantr,l ,lr, .,„.,■ n,aii in the 



til L((ual to twice the 

 diameter of the seed is an 

 old gardeners' rale. This 

 applies well to the sowing 

 of most seeds under glass 

 when the soil is well prepared and is kept watir.d, Imi 

 in the open ground three to four times tiiis .Itptli i^ 

 usually necessary. The finer and nioistii- ilu- scil. thr 

 shallower the seeds may be planted, other tliiiitrs Ik-Ih;,' 

 equal. Better results in germination are secured when 

 the seeds are sown in a specially prepared seed-bed. 

 The conditions may then be better, the gardener is able 

 to protect the young plants from cold and from insects 

 and fungi, and he is enabled also to economize time and 

 labor. In transplanting from the seed-bed to the field, 

 the gardener unconsciously chooses only the best plants 

 and thereby the crop is improved. The seed-bed may be 

 in a forcing-house or hotbed, or in the open. If it is in 

 the open, it should be near the buildings, where it can 

 be visited frequently and where water may be applied 

 as needed. If the bed is to be used late in the season 

 when the soil is naturally dry, it is well to cover it the 

 previous spring or fall with a very heavy coating of ma- 

 nure. This retains the moisture, and the leaching from the 

 manure adds plant-food to the soil, there- 

 by enabling the young plants to 

 an early start. When the seeds are to 

 ped and the 

 surface is then in ideal condition. In the 

 handling of voung plants in seed-beds, 

 one must t.ike pains that 

 the |)];uits arc not t.". thick 

 and tliat llicv.loiM.i suffer 

 for lii;lil, cIm- 

 become ".Irawii 

 practically wortliless. Ir 

 greenhouses and hotbeds 

 it is well to handle common vegetables and flower seeds 

 in gardeners' flats (Fig. 2293). These flats are easily 

 handled, and the soil is so shallow that it can be kept 

 in uniform conditions of temperature and moisture. The 

 seeds of some of the finer and rarer kinds of ornamental 

 plants require special treatment. These treatments are 

 usually specified in the articles devoted to those plants. 

 Details of the handling of very delicate seeds are well 

 discussed in the article on Orchids. 



AS! 



that i 



of which those of melons, pumpkins and cucumbers are 

 examples, retain their vitality unimpaired for a number 

 of years, and gardeners do not ask for recent stock. 

 Seeds of corn salad should be a year old to germ inate well . 

 Very hard, bony seeds, as of haws and viburnums, often 

 do not germinate until the second year. In the mean- 

 time, however, they 

 should be kept moist. 

 Seeds of most fruit and 

 forest trees should be 

 kept moist and cool, 

 otherwise they lose vi- 

 tality; yet if kept too 

 moist, and particularly 

 IcH. close or warm, they 

 "ill spoil. Nuts and 

 liar.l seeds of hardy 

 plants usually profit by 

 I'ciiiij liiiii. .1 in sand 



..1- -:i\'. ni]-i -iicii prac- 

 tice is known techni- 

 cally as stratification. 

 L. H. B. 

 Seed Breeding. -The 

 marvelous industrial 

 and commercial devel- 

 opment wh ich has char- 

 acterized the latter part 

 of the nineteenth cen- 



marked than in the art 

 and practice of seed 

 ffrowinsr. Whatever 

 luav liavc been their 



ilitcllc.-ti.al l.clicf.mOSt 



as if seed was indeed 

 essential to the pro- 

 duction of a crop, but 

 only in the way that 

 water and manure are 

 essential. The only 

 question was whether c 

 might be desirable that the seed all be of some particu- 

 lar kind so that the crop would ripen all at once, but 

 beyond that the breeding of the seed was given very 

 little consideration. It is only within a few years that 

 a majority of even good cultivators have come to recog- 

 nize in their practice the fact that the possibilities and 

 limitations of a crop are as positively determined by the 

 seed used as is the character of the fruit of an orchard 

 by the trees of which it is composed. There have al- 

 ways been exceptional men, who fully appreciated the 

 importance of seed selectioTi nitfl In-ccrljni.', which they 

 practiced within their own ;:■.•• • - nrr- a supply 

 for their own use, btit c nal seedsmen 



formerly gave little heed I" . :. ., I lireeding, be- 



ing quite content to "rnc,|r ,,iii i,:i mns or poorer 

 plants rather than to select atid IncM only from the 

 best. Now, every seedsman who values Ms r'-piitation 

 maintains more or less extensive sl.ick sicd lanns. 



pies and with the same soit of skill and care that is 

 used in the breedini: of aninials. 



The general nicilio.l followcl js Cn-^t to form a clear 



a variety and wlna: i i ■ !!> i i lani of that sort should 

 be. Then a few i ' i ' n -which come as near 



this ideal as possii i and the seed of each 



saved separately. 1 ; : , i. lots are planted the 



next spring in coiiti;;iiMU. L,|..rk-, and the plants given 

 an opportunity for their most perfect development. As 

 they approach maturity the lots are carefully examined. 



the seed 



;ild 



It 



