LUTHER BURBANK 



steps of seed planting and the nurture of seed- 

 lings, which are substantially the same for all 

 types of vegetables, and which are among the most 

 essential of the processes of practical gardening. 



CHOICE AND CAEE OF SEEDS 



It is obvious that no success could attend the 

 effort at plant development unless seeds are prop- 

 erly chosen and properly cared for. After experi- 

 ments are under way, you will of course gather 

 seeds from your own plants, but at the beginning 

 of your experiments you must secure seeds from 

 some other source. Mr. Burbank especially cau- 

 tions you to procure your supplies from some 

 reputable seedsman, so that you may have fair 

 assurance that you are making a good beginning. 

 It is obviously foolish to begin with poor varieties, 

 when you might with equal ease have good varie- 

 ties from which to select. Study seed catalogues, 

 then, and decide on a certain number of species 

 with which you wish to experiment, and secure 

 seeds of the best available varieties of the species. 



Mr. Burbank himself regards the care of seeds 

 as among the very most important phases of his 

 work. The seeds of his choicest varieties are kept 

 over winter in boxes in a room of his own dwell- 

 ing, where they are directly under his eye, and the 

 method of dealing with these seeds in the early 

 springtime is one to which he has given a vast 

 deal of attention, and regarding which he has per- 

 fected a plan that insures the best possible results. 



[46] 



