54 VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



ceptionally good conditions that exist in a sitting room or 

 greenhouse will 'not grow readily when planted outdoors, so 

 that in testing seeds it is very important to note the vigor of 

 the sprouts. Seeds that start strongly in the house may be 

 safely planted at their proper season outdoors, while those 

 that start only weak sprouts in-doors may be worthless for 

 outdoor planting. An instance bearing on this occurred a 

 few years ago at Chester, N. Y., where an onion grower 

 planted seed three years old which germinated fairly well in 

 his conservatory but failed to grow outdoors, while fresher 

 onion seed sown at the same time grew perfectly. 



The Curing and Storing of Seeds are matters of much import- 

 ance and greatly influence their germinating qualities. Seeds 

 should be thoroughly ventilated while being cured, or they 

 mould or sprout, either of which seriously injures their value. 

 Seeds of some kinds will sprout several times before entirely 

 losing their germinating qualities, but they lose much of their 

 vitality by so doing. Moulded seeds may sometimes retain 

 their vitality unimpaired, but if to be offered for sale their 

 dark color is objectionable, for it must always be regarded as 

 an evidence of neglect in curing. It is important also to pre- 

 vent seeds, especially tropical seeds, as those of melons, 

 squashes, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., from being frozen 

 until fully dry. The freezing of green or half cured seeds in- 

 jures their vitality and often destroys it. This is well known 

 in the case of corn where the seed taken from an ordinary 

 crib in the spring often fails to grow, while seed corn from the 

 same crop properly cured in a dry warm room grows perfectly. 



Seeds are much influenced by the temperature and 

 humidity of the place in which they are kept. A dry place is 

 absolutely necessary for successfully keeping garden seeds, 

 and if warm so much the better for tropical seeds. The tem- 

 perature and conditions of a good living room are almost 

 ideal for storing all kinds of garden seeds. Most if not all 

 our garden seeds are unimpaired by even severe freezing 

 while perfectly dry. In a moist place garden seeds lose their 

 germinating qualities much quicker than when they are kept 

 dry. 



Changing Seed. — There are locations so well adapted to cer- 

 tain particular crops, that some varieties seem to lose nothing 



