FACTORS ESSENTIAL TO PRODUCTION 17 



Home Production of Seed. — Some people try to save their 

 own seeds. This can be done without much trouble in the case 

 of certain vegetables, provided only one variety of each vegetable 

 is grown. Otherwise there is serious danger of crossing, resulting 

 in seed that will produce a mixture of vegetables of uncertain 

 quality (Fig. 5). Also, unless extreme care is taken in the selection 

 of the seed plants, departure from the desired type and deteriora- 

 tion in productiveness and quality are likely to take place in suc- 

 ceeding generations. When only a small quantity of seed is needed 

 it is cheaper to buy than to raise it. On the whole it is usually 

 much more satisfactory for the home vegetable gardener to pur- 

 chase his seeds from a reliable seed firm than to try to grow them 

 himself. 



Fig. 6. — Good and poor types of cabbage of the same variety. 



On the other hand, commercial vegetable growers, especially 

 those who make a feature of some particular crop, often find it 

 desirable to produce their own seed. This is most likely to be 

 true if the grower desires to use a special strain of seed that it is 

 difficult or impossible to procure on the market. It is not unusual 

 for a grower of some special crop to develop a strain of his own that 

 is better adapted to his conditions and his market than any he 

 can buy. Under such circumstances, a grower can ill afford not 

 to produce his own seed. 



Factors Essential to the Production of Good Seed. — However, 



no one should attempt the production of vegetable seed without 



a full realization of certain features involved in the producing of 



reliable seeds. To produce good seeds of any vegetable it is 



2 



