SEED. 



SKKD-Doiun. See Pappus. 



SEED-FeJel. See Pericarp. 



Seed, in ylgrkulturr, the grain or other produfi of a 

 plant, whereby the fpecies is propagated, upon its being 

 (own or put into the earth. 



It may be obferved, that the choice of the feed intended 

 to be fown, is an objeft of greater importance than many 

 farmers feem to imagine. It is not fufficient that the fineft 

 grain be chofen for this purpofe, unlefs it be likewife clear 

 from weeds. In procuring feed, it fhould, therefore, be a 

 rule with the farmer to purchale or referve fuch as is the 

 mod full, plump, found, clean, and healthy, whatever the 

 fort may be ; as it is perhaps only in this way that crops 

 ef really good corn can be enfured. And this praAice is 

 ftill more obvious, from the circumftance of its being in 

 fome meafure the fame with plants as with animals, that the 

 produce is in a degree fimilar to that frcm which it ori- 

 ginated. It is not, however, merely on this principle that 

 fuch grain as is fmall, Ihrivellcd up, and imperfeftly fed, 

 fliould be rejefted as improper for feed, but as containing a 

 fmaller proportion of farinaceous matter, and being thereby 

 lefs proper for affording that degree of nourifhment which 

 is neceffary to the young plants, during the period of the 

 firft ftage of their growth. Where (hrivelled-up and im- 

 perfeftly ripened feed is fown, in general but a little of it 

 vegetates ; and that which does, moilly fends forth plants 

 of a weak and feeble kind, that afford only a lean and lleely 

 fort of crop. Befides, there are other circumflances wliich 

 ought to be taken into the accoimt, in providing of feed 

 corn ; fuch as that it be new, and recently threfhed from 

 the ftraw, and that the flcin be clear and thin ; for it is 

 found that grain which is frefh, and only juft threfhed out, 

 is in a much more proper flate for quick vegetation, than 

 fuch as has been long kept, confequently Icfs liable to perilh 

 in bad feafons ; and that where the rind or fkin is of a 

 bright colour, and thin, a much larger proportion of fine 

 farinaceous or mealy matter is yielded from the fame quan- 

 tity of grain, which renders it of courfe more valuable to 

 the cultivator. This is particularly the cafe in wheat, and 

 the fame thing probably takes place in other forts of corn. 



And the writer of the Synopfis of Hufbandry has (hewn, 

 by fome experiments, that wheat, after being kept fix or 

 feven years, though there may not be any perceptible dif- 

 ference in its appearance from fuch as is new, is wholly unfit 

 for being made ufe of as feed, on account of only a fmall 

 portion of it being capable of vegetating ; a circumilance 

 that may probably, in many cafes, be owing to the grain 

 being more difpofed, under fuch condition?, to take on the 

 putrefaftive fermentation, or become rotten, than to the 

 abforption of oxygen, which is believed to be effential to the 

 procefs of vegetation in the early it age, as ftated by Mr. 

 Gough in the Klanchefler Traiifaftions ; and befides this 

 effeft, where the moifture and juice of the grain is much 

 taken away, as is the cafe in keeping it for a great length 

 of time, the plant? that are produced from it may even be 

 lefs vigorous and luxuriant, as happens in gardening to fome 

 kinds of feeds, as that of the melon, which is frequently 

 kept for feveral years, in order to effeft this purpofe in a 

 more perfeft manner. 



On thefe accounts, therefore, it muft be evident that, on 

 fuch principles, grain, in order to fecure perfeft vegetation, 

 fhould not be placed too much out of tlie influence of the 

 atmofpheric air ; and that the bed of mould, or earth, in 

 which it is depofited, be in as fine a powdery ilate as pof- 

 fible ; as, under fuch circumftances, the air is more uni- 

 formly admitted, and the feed, from being in a more equal 

 temperature, and more equally fupplied with moifture, ii 



expofed in the moft favourable circumftances to the com- 

 bined effefts of the caufes that have been found to promote 

 the fprouting, growth, and profperity of the young com 

 plant, as has been fully Ihewn by Mr. Gough, in iiis ex- 

 cellent paper on the vegetation of feeds. And there (hould 

 likewife be a conftant attention, that no fuch grain as is in 

 any way difeafed fhould ever be made ufe of as feed corn ^ 

 as the fowing of this f irt of feed, though it may have been 

 advifed by fome cultivators, who have not been fufBciently 

 cautious, or who have placed too much confidence on the 

 efficacy ol Jlcepj, can only difappoint the views and hopes 

 of the farmer, by propagating more widely fuch maladies, 

 or producing fcanty crops of good grain. 



A great many different methods have been purfued, in the 

 view of fecuring fuch gr.'.in as is healthy and proper for the 

 purpofe of fowing ; but that which is the moil readily exe- 

 cuted is probably that of felcfting from among the corn 

 plants, while they are growing in tlie fields ; as in this war 

 an opportunity is afforded of choofing fuch heads or ears of 

 the plants of different kinds as are the mofl perfeft, the 

 mofl forward, and mofl vigorous in their growth, and 

 which contain fuch feeds as are the mofl plump, and full, 

 and the bell ripened. Thefe benefits or advantages may 

 hkewife, in fome meafure, be attained in the mofl valaable 

 forts of grain, by having them picked over by hand, after 

 being threfhed out ; but this is a tedious praftice, and not 

 fo certain of having the feed from tlie moil healthy and beft 

 ripened plants, as the above and fome others : therefore, to 

 have the mofl perfeft forts of feed, and at the fame time the 

 mofl healthy and proper for vegetation, the mofl vigorous 

 plants fhould be felefted, as well as fuch as are the moft 

 forward and early in refpeft to the feafon ; and that thefe, 

 while they are growing, be fo preferved, that they may not 

 be injured by having weaker plants of the fame kinds near 

 them ; as the art of having good feeds does not, it is con- 

 tended by an experienced farmer, depend fo much upon 

 obtaining new feeds from places at a confiderable ditlance, 

 as upon coUefting and rcferving the befl feeds or roots of 

 our own produftion. Dr. Priellley, in a paper in the firft 

 volume of Communications to the Board of Agriculture, 

 has remarked that this method of praftice has been had re- 

 courfe to, in confequence of its having been found that 

 though vegetables of all kinds are extremely liable to 

 changes, in refpeft to tlie times of their maturation, or 

 ripening, and other properties, the befl feeds never fail to 

 produce the befl plants. It is hkewife remarked, in addi- 

 tion, that in the preferving of feed grain, by coUefting it 

 in the ears from the flacks or fheaves, there may, however, 

 be difadvanlages in the way of leffening the produce, by 

 choofing the largcft ears, which have rarely more than one 

 upon a ilalk, and by taking fuch as become ripe at different 

 periods. 



It is obferved that many different modes have been pro- 

 pofed for afcertaining the goodnefs of grain or feed-corn ; but J ; 

 the farmer generally depends upon the appearances that it " ■ 

 exhibits, preferring fuch as :s full, plump, and well fed, and 

 that has a certain brightnefs and clearnefs, without any 

 fhrivelling or fhrinking in the hufli or external coverings ^ V 

 But it may perhaps be afccrtained with greater accuracy by " 

 other means, as the weighing of a certain meafure or quan- 

 tity : and from its being well known that grain or feeds, on 

 being immerfed in fluids, leave the more light and impcrfeft 

 floating on the furface, while the better and more perfeft 

 fink to the bottom ; folutions well faturated with faline 

 fubflances, from their gravity being much increafcd, be- 

 come ufeful in afcertaining the goodnefs of the corns, as 

 none but fuch as are perfeftly found fink in them. And 



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