252 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



Another point, and one of great importance, is tlie careful 

 guarding of Yarieties from intermixture. So easily is the ferti- 

 lizing property of one plant carried to another, by insects and by 

 the wind, even to a considerable distance, that great painstaking 

 is necessary to prevent the contamination of nearly-related vari- 

 eties. It would seem as if this danger was particularly difficult 

 to guard against in large seed-growing establishments, especially 

 wliere tliey are contiguous to one another, and where one cannot 

 control the arrangement of the grounds of his neighbor. We 

 have never seen this difficulty more completely obviated, than 

 has been done by Mr. James Gregory, of Marblehead. 



A singular custom has prevailed among the inhabitants here, 

 from the earliest times, of holding extensive tracts of land, most 

 of it too rocky for cultivation, in common, and using it for pas- 

 turage. Nearly in the centre of one of these large lots, the 

 people, in the early history of the town, enclosed a small portion 

 and set it apart for the benefit of their minister, who made use 

 of it as a pasture for his horse. Of late, not being used for 

 this purpose, Mr. Gregory has secured it for a seed-garden, 

 where, by a judiciovis selection and abundant manuring, he is 

 almost sure to raise his seeds in their greatest purity and 

 perfection. 



Another point requiring attention by the careful seedsman is 

 a proper selection of specimens from which to grow his seed. 

 He should have a thorough knowledge of the characteristics of 

 different varieties, and should take care that none but the most 

 genuine forms of each are preserved for seed-plants. The com- 

 mon practice among farmers, who sometimes save their own 

 garden as well as field seeds, is very faulty. Instead of making 

 their selections from the earliest and best ripened specimens, 

 they will take what happen to be left of cucumbers, summer 

 squashes, beans, corn, tomatoes, &c., expecting from these to 

 obtain a supply for the next year's planting. So, instead of 

 selecting for the next year's seed-plants, at the time of gathering, 

 those roots that are the most perfect in their structure, and that 

 correspond most nearly with the particular variety they wish to 

 perpetuate, they put the whole into the cellar, and plant out the 

 next spring such as they happen to have left. What wonder 

 that, with such management, gardening becomes a discouraging 

 and disagreeable business. The professional seedsman has no 



