Proceedings of the Farmers' Club. 447 



Saving Good Seed. 

 The regular paper of the day was read by Mr. S. E. Todd, as follows : 

 " In an old book, which has survived tlie downfall of kingdoms, the 

 wreck of nations, and the crash of worlds, many of whose precepts 

 were penned by hands calloused with the industry of virtuous life, 

 we find allusion to sowing good seed, from which it seems to be safe 

 to assume that ages ago tillers of the soil cherished some correct 

 notions with regard to good seed, in order to be able to produce a 

 satisfactory crop. In still another book of ancient origin, which con- 

 tains an interesting chapter on various agricultural topics, we find 

 the following suggestions : 



" Some steep their seed, and some iu cauldrons boil ; 

 With vig'rous nitre, and with lees of oil, 

 O'er gentle fires, the exub'rant juice do drain, 

 And swell the flatt'rin.2; husks with fruitful grain, 

 Yet, the success is not for years assured. 

 Though chosen is the seed, and fully cured, 

 Unless the peasant, with his annual pain, 

 Renews his choice, and culls the largest grain." 



Everything in the vegetable kingdom, as well as in the animal, 

 from the most delicate flowers to the stately monarchs of the forest, 

 is controlled and regulated by laws that are as unalterable as the grand 

 laws which control fiie rolling spheres. Seeds germinate, plants spring 

 into life, trees and vines bend beneath an abundance of luscious fruit, 

 and the broad fields are crowned with a golden harvest, all in con- 

 formity to established laws that are as reliable as the vicissitudes of 

 the seasons and the changes of the year. One must be forever anni- 

 hilated and go out of the Creator's universe, if he would dwell where 

 everything around him is not controlled by a wise and good law. 

 And it is the business of the tiller of the soil to investigate tlie plie- 

 nomena round about him, and to make himself familiar with the 

 intricate operations of the numerous laws by which sustenance is 

 provided for the human family, for the beasts of the field, and the 

 fowls of the air. As the husbandman becomes more and more familiar 

 with the operations of the laws that affect the gi'owth and perfect 

 development of the products of the field, and as he learns to conduct 

 his labors in accordance with those laws, he finds the labor of his 

 hands more bountifully rewarded. On the contrary, as he blunders 

 along through life without knowing whether his efibrts luxrmonize 

 with the grand laws with which he has to do, he meets with irrepara- 

 ble losses and sore disappointments. And all these discouragements 



