SEEDS AND SEEDING IO7 



quality and of guaranteed standard and is willing 

 to pay the necessary increased price for the same 

 should likewise have the opportunity. 



After testing the seed and determining the per- 

 centage of impurities present and the amount of 

 seed that should grow under ideal conditions, the 

 problems of proper 

 planting now present 

 themselves. The 

 soil is the medium 

 in which the neces- 

 sary conditions for 

 germination are se- 

 cured. The three 



essential things to ^ qne-horse fertilizer distributor 

 be provided are 



proper amounts of moisture, temperature and 

 free air or oxygen. These can be supplied in the 

 proper degrees only by soils in good mechanical 

 condition, thoroughly well prepared and worked 

 at the proper time. It is especially important that 

 a deep, fine seed bed with a comparatively smooth 

 surface be provided as described in Chapter III. 

 The smaller the seed the more important is this 

 preparation. It is often said that a laboratory test 

 for vitality is of little value, and that such tests 

 should be made in the soil. A second thought will 

 show anyone why this is absolutely unreliable and 

 impossible. One person will plant in well-prepared 

 soils under proper conditions, while another will 

 plant the same seed in poorly prepared soils, too 

 wet or too dry, or at the wrong time of the season, 

 and secure poor results. This will evidently 

 not be the fault of the seed. The only practical 

 and satisfactory method is to determine what the 



