482 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



SELECTING SEEDS. 



It is perhaps well known to many farmers that 

 one of the most certain methods of accelerating 

 the ripening of vegetables, is to select, annually, 

 the seeds of the most forward. Corn, wheat, pota- 

 toes, indeed, every variety of vegetable produc- 

 tion, may in this way be advanced in forwardness, 

 and with actual benefit to the crop, both as re- 

 gards size and value. The following, from the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural Society's Papers, de- 

 monstrates not only the practicability, but the 

 high importance, also, of this rule. The account 

 was communicated to the Trustees of the Society 

 by a gentleman of well known veracity — Mr. 

 James Freeman, Sept. 1st, 1805 : 



"To ascertain whether the ripening of seeds 

 can be forwarded by sowing those which are the 

 earliest ripe, I have made experiments, all of 

 which have been successful, on several varieties. 

 It will be sufficient to mention only one : 



In the year 1801, I planted the 'case knife' 

 bean. The pods first formed, commonly those 

 nearest the roots, were reserved, and when about 

 the quantity of a peck were ripe, they were gath- 

 ered on the same day. The largest and fairest of 

 the seeds were planted the next year, and the 

 first formed pods reserved as before. The same 

 method has been pursued without any variation 

 till the present year ; by means of which, while 

 the bean has not deteriorated in quality, the ri- 

 pening of the seeds has been forwarded twenty- 

 six days, as will appear from the following table: 



Planted. Gathered. No. op Days. 



1801 May 20 Sept. 9 112 



1802 May 11 Au^'. 21 102 



1803 May 10 Aug. 8 90 



1804 May 8 Au?. 4 88 



1805 May 6 July 31 86 



In concluding his account of this interesting 



experiment, Mr. Freeman remarks : 



"As in the second and following years I antic- 

 ipated the time of planting the seeds, (by which 

 means fourteen days have been gained in addi- 

 tion to the twenty-six above mentioned,) to de- 

 termine what effect later planting would produce 

 by giving the seeds more advantage from the heat 

 of the summer, in 1804 and 1805 I put into the 

 ground a quantity of seed about a week later than 

 that which was first planted. The event which 

 took place is exhibited in the following table : 



No. OP Days. 



, 88 



, 35 



"As very little time has been gained in the 

 present and preceding year, I suppo.se I have now 

 reached, or nearly reached, the '/ic plus ultra.'' " 



That is, that his trials would not carry him any 

 further. 



"We have many farmers who have acquired an 

 enviable notoriety for their liberal and judicious 

 efforts to elevate the character of the agricultural 

 profession, both by practical experiments and 

 written precepts, who state that they have ad- 

 vanced the period of maturation in certain seeds, 

 simply by selecting for seed, the ears of corn, or 



1804. 



1803. 



Planted. Gathered. 



May 14 Aug. 8. . . 



May 13 Aug. 6. . . 



heads of seeds, which were first ripe. Where 

 corn Mas originally by no means retnarkable 

 either for size or forwardness, it not only became 

 early, but the number of ears was greatly in- 

 creased, and their size large and well developed. 

 In cold climates, where early frost frequently 

 proves injurious or fatal to the corn crop, accel- 

 erating the maturation of the grain in this way, 

 would obviate much trouble, and not unfrcquent- 

 ly, heavy losses. The selection of seed is by no 

 means difficult, as it can be done as soon as the 

 corn begins to ripen ; a few bushels of ears be- 

 ing sufliicient to supply a large farm. Wheat, 

 peas, beans, barley, oats, rye, and indeed every 

 description of grain, may be selected in the same 

 way, and with equal facility and ease. Those 

 only who have had practical evidence of the ad- 

 vantages of this course can appreciate the grati- 

 fying results consequent upon its adoption. There 

 is probably no vegetable cultivated as food for 

 man and beast which such a course will not mod- 

 ify, to some extent, for the better. 



THE CHECK REIN. 



When Stewpyd harnesses his horse for dragging 

 brick up a grade, the horse's head is pulled back 

 towards his tail and anchored there by the sense- 

 less and merciless check rein. The arrangement 

 is unnatural, the animal is constrained by it. He 

 must inevitably lose strength by it, for it disturbs 

 the vital force, and induces an unnatural action 

 in the muscles of the head, neck, shoulders and 

 m.outh. There is actually less energy and vigor 

 left for the limbs and chest than there would be 

 if the useless contrivance was jerked off and 

 thrown over the nearest fence. If reason cannot 

 teach this promptly to any man, just let him try 

 the experiment by putting a martingale upon 

 himself and go to wrestling, or putting a check 

 in the jaws of a boxer that shall extend down his 

 back to his belt. 



Who beside the British use the check rein, sav- 

 ing their general imitators, the Americans ? The 

 French do not use it, the Germans do not, the 

 Indians and Spaniards of South America, who 

 literally live on horseback, and are perfect horse- 

 men, do not, the Spaniards of Europe do not, nor 

 do the Turks. The most observant and most 

 natural people in the world are free from this 

 mischievous error. It is strange to us, that the 

 English and ourselves did not, years and years 

 ago, reason upon the constantly witnessed fact, 

 that when a check rein was loosed at a tavern- 

 stoop or in a stable, the poor horse always 

 stretched out his neck and hung down his head. 

 That was his language for saying that the strap 

 hurt and wearied him, and that he was heartily 

 glad to be relieved from it. 



The genius that first proposed the mechanical 

 feat of lifting himself up by the breeches, must 

 have been the author of the theory that the check 

 rein held the horse up and kept liim from falling. 

 The mechanical action in the two cases mu.st be 

 precisely the same. If the reader will reflect for 

 a moment, he will see that no suspending power 



