SAVE THIS YEAR'S SEED FOR NEXT YEAR'S GARDEN 31 



the early morning, to prevent shattering. 

 Place plants in a dry, well aired place until 

 seed are hard. Shell and spread in a layer 

 until dry. 



Sweet Corn — Select the ears just at 

 maturity and while on plants, as plant must 

 be considered as well as the ear. The plant 

 should be free from disease and preferably 

 have two or more good ears to the stalk. The 

 distance between joints should be short and 

 the ears set on short, strong shanks. Ears 

 should be nearly cylindrical and should taper 

 but slightly from butts 

 to tips. They should 

 be well filled out, with 

 husks tightly folded 

 over ears. Pick ears 

 from plants maturing 

 at nearly the same time, 

 uniform in size, strong 

 and well rooted. Me- 

 dium sized ears are 

 best. When fully ma- 

 ture strip down husks 

 and string up 10-15 

 ears in a dry shady 

 place so as to dry out 

 ears quickly. 



Cucumbers and 

 Summer Squash — 

 Select desirable fruits 

 when in the usable 

 stage. Allow them to 

 remain on vines until 

 ripe, as indicated by 

 change of color or 

 hardening of surface. 

 Remove the seed from 

 the ripe fruit and wash 

 free of pulp. Spread 

 in a thin layer in the 

 sunshine to dry, stirring 

 frequently. A quart 

 or less should dry satisfactorily in a day. 



Eggplant — When fruit is opened for 

 food, select the best formed seed, wash and 

 dry. 



Lettuce — Plants for seed should be 

 started early enough so that seed setting 

 and ripening does not occur during the 

 hot weather. With heading varieties it 

 may be necessary to cut across the tops 

 of the heads to allow the seed stalks to 

 push through. When seed heads turn white 

 and open, cut or pull the plants, put heads 

 in paper bags and hang in a dry place until 

 seed are ripened and drop out of heads, or 

 la)' the plants on a table in a dry airy place. 



Potatoes— Select productive seed hills, as 

 nearly free from disease as possible. Potatoes 

 should be true as to variety, which means 

 that a late variety should not he substituted 



Fig. 12 — To remove 

 kernels when prepar- 

 ing to plant or to test 

 seed, insert knife be- 

 tween rows and pry 

 sideways. 



Fig. 13 — Hubbard squash. A 

 good type winter squash for 

 seed. 



for early variety if the crop is to be harvested 

 early. Early varieties cannot be substituted 

 for late varieties as they are not as productive. 

 Seed potatoes should be kept dormant in a 

 dark, cool place until planting time. The 

 production of 

 long sprouts, or 

 wilting, will re- 

 duce the vigor. 

 Rub off the long 

 sprouts before 

 the potatoes are 

 planted. 



Radishes — ■ 

 Select the finest 

 roots and cut off' 

 all but a few 

 central leaves. 



Put the roots in 

 a moist, airy 

 place for a short 

 time and then plant them with the crown 



an inch below the surface. When seed 



ripen, cut plants and lay on paper exposed 



in the sun. When the outside covering is 



dry, then rub out seed, dry and store. 



Tomatoes — Gather fruit from selected 



plants when a little 



over ripe, but not de- 

 cayed. The seed may 



be freed by one of 



two methods. One of 



these is to crush the 



fruit, and force through 



a sieve, and then put 



the seed in a coarse 



cloth and press out 



pulp under water. 



Another method is to 



crush fruit, put in a 



container and allow to 



ferment for two or 



three days, stirring 



once in a while. The 



seed settle and the pulp 



which rises may be 



poured off. Wash the 



seed in clear water 



an dry. 



Winter Squash, Pumpkin, Muskmelon, 

 Watermelon 



When fruit is opened for food, select the 

 best formed seed, wash and dry. 



SEED MATURING IN TWO YEARS 



Such vegetables as beets, carrots, parsnip, 

 salsify, cabbage, etc., which require one season 

 in which to grow will produce seed in the 

 secon i year. Seeds of beets, carrots, cauli- 

 flower, turnips and late radishes are not often 

 grown satisfactorily in the home garden. 



Fig. 14— Seeding 



plants of onion in blos- 

 som. They should be 

 staked. 



