THE PLANT 67 



Earliness of maturity is another quality which it is often desirable 

 to cultivate, especially in fruit and vegetables. An extra early 

 tomato or peach is more profitable as a market crop than one which 

 ripens a week or ten days later. 



Seeds, then, should be selected from healthy, 

 productive plants having the desired qualities. 

 They should be dried carefully, stored in a dry 

 place, and protected against extremes of cold 

 and heat. 



Cleaning Seeds. Seeds are cleaned by fan- 

 ning or sifting them to remove chaff, dirt, weed 

 seeds, and all small and immature seeds. From 

 large, vigorous seeds a larger yield of more 

 vigorous plants is secured. Seeds, especially 

 purchased ones, should be examined for pu'ri ty 

 and tested for vi tal'i ty before planting in the 

 field. 



Purity. Purity means that they are seeds 

 of the desired kind, free from dirt, weed seed, 

 and chaff. Seeds very different in kind can 

 be readily separated. It is easy to distin- 

 guish beans from wheat, or black peas from the right is from a heavy 

 white ones. It is difficult to distinguish seeds s< 

 that resemble those with which they are mixed, as chess, or 

 cheat, and oats, or very small ones, as some weed and grass 

 seeds. 



Vitality. Vitality is the ability of a seed to sprout and pro- 

 duce growth. There are many things which affect vitality. Age 

 is one. The seeds of most agricultural plants will not germinate 

 after they are a few years old. Seeds that are gathered before they 

 are ripe have low germinating power. Those that are stored in a 



