168 The Principles of Vegetable -Gardening 



seeds are grown in France, and Lima beans in Cali- 

 fornia. 



Only when a man is making a specialty of some 

 vegetable, and lives in the place in which the seeds 

 can be produced most advantageously, can he afford 

 to grow his own seeds; and even then it is a question 

 whether it would not be better and cheaper for him to 

 delegate the business. The man who desires to secure 

 the very best results in the growing of some specialty 

 should know where his seeds are grown, particularly if 

 his business success depends on the crop in question. 

 He should not buy his seed indiscriminately in the 

 general market. There are particular strains of 

 all leading varieties of vegetables which are better 

 for certain markets and conditions. These strains are 

 likely to be most useful in the geographical area in 

 which they are bred. Seeds of these strains are often 

 sold as "market -gardeners 7 private stock." Under 

 general conditions and in other geographical regions, 

 these private stocks may be of no advantage, but in 

 special places and for particular purposes they may 

 make all the difference between success and failure; 

 and yet the differences in the resulting crop might be 

 of such a character that they could not be definitely 

 described in a seed catalogue or in an experiment 

 station bulletin. When a man is making a specialty 

 of any crop, one of the first things to be done is to 

 exercise the greatest care in the purchase of his seeds 

 and to be willing to pay an extra price for a strain 

 which will satisfy his own conditions. In the old 

 time it was considered to be sufficient if one saved his 



