SEED SOWING SUGGESTIONS 17 



able enthusiasm, which latter quality, alas, in too many eases 

 becomes evanescent before the crops come to maturity. Much 

 seed is annually lost by improper conditions of the soil at sowing 

 time, by seeding far too thickly, and not infrequently sowing in 

 drills in which chemical fertilizers have been scattered and not 

 properly incorporated with the soil. Seedsmen are annually 

 blamed for many " crop failures " which are traceable to seed sowing 

 in drills too heavily fertilized, in which the chemicals have not been 

 properly mixed with mother earth. 



Points of merit to be considered about good farm and garden seeds 

 are: that they are able to produce vigorous or normal plants, that 

 they are true to strain or name, and carry no impurities or adul- 

 terations. In the case of grass seeds adulterations are still too 

 abundant, but conditions, thanks to government inspections, are 

 steadily improving. Whether seeds have virility depends in great 

 measure on the condition of the plants producing them, also on their 

 age and the way they have been grown and stored. 



Certain seeds like melons, beets, carrots, rape, squash, turnip, 

 and cabbage have good germinating qualities for five or six years, in 

 fact, 10-year-old seeds of some of these will grow, and I have in mind 

 a case which came under my own personal notice 35 years ago, when 

 I had occasion to sow seeds of a one-time favorite melon named 

 Munro's Little Heath in a hot-bed; the seeds had been kept for 

 over 18 years yet they germinated well and the melons fruited 

 satisfactorily. On the other hand sweet corn, millet, parsnip, 

 wheat, onion, soy beans, peas, and oats have lost their power of 

 germination in large measure in two or three years. 



Much of the success or failure in seed sowing depends on the 

 proper preparation of the beds for all outdoor crops; a really 

 vigorous start is a long step towards a good crop. The correct 

 preparation of the soil has for its main object a good seed bed, the 

 increasing of root pasturage, and the amelioration of the soil 

 chemical!}' and physically. If seeds germinate freely it should be 

 in close contact with a thoroughly pulverized and later firmly 

 settled soil. Both hand and horse tools are available in plenty 

 for pulverizing the soil. The drier it is at seeding time, the more 

 necessary it is to firm well by rolling or some other method, in 

 order to secure a good germination. 



There is an immense variety of seeds with widely varying needs. 



