Seeds for the Garden 133 
best plants are left standing for seed, both parents will be 
good. 
The biennials (plants that blossom in the second year 
from seed and then die) require more attention than the 
annuals. In the more northern parts of the United 
States, to secure seed of the beet, carrot, cabbage, and 
turnip, the roots must be carefully stored over winter 
where they will not be frozen, and replanted the following 
spring. This treatment may be difficult for the average 
gardener, because he may not have a proper storage 
place. Plants of salsify and of parsnips, however, can 
be left in the ground over winter, and in the spring some 
of the plants with the best roots may be transplanted 
to a convenient place and left to mature their seeds. 
Seed of crosses do not breed true, and if varieties of 
the same plant grow near each other and bloom at 
the same time, they usually cross. This is especially 
true of corn, beets, various members of the cab- 
bage tribe, cucumbers, melons, tomatoes, and lettuce. 
Thus, cabbage will cross with kohl-rabi; any two sorts 
of cucumbers may cross; and all sorts of muskmelons 
can hybridize. But cucumbers will not cross. with 
muskmelons, as is commonly believed. If only one 
variety of a given vegetable sort is grown in a garden, 
there is, of course, no chance for crossing with other 
varieties unless another garden is near by. 
Early and late varieties that bloom at different times 
have no opportunity to cross. The first ears of an early 
corn, like Golden Bantam or Malcolm, are not usually 
crossed with late varieties growing in the same gar- 
den. In a few of the garden crops, peas and beans 
