SEE 



The (hape and weight of feeds direft how they are to be 

 fet ■ moft of them, when they fall, lie on one fide, with the 

 fmall end towards the earth ; which fhevvs that pofture to be 

 befl to fet any Itone or nut in ; if they be heavy, fow them 

 the deeper. Acorns, peaches, &c. are to be fown two or 

 three inches deep. See Semination. 



There is a common method of trying the goodnefs of 

 many forts of feed, which is by putting them in water ; and 

 thofe which fink to the bottom are efteemed good, but thofe 

 that fwim on the furface are rejeded. This rule, Mr. Miller 

 obferves, is not univerfal ; for having faired the feeds of 

 melons which floated on the furface of water, they were 

 wadied from the pulp, and keeping them two years, they 

 grew very well ; but the melons they produced were not fo 

 thick-fleflied as thofe which he obtained from heavy feeds of 

 the fame melon. Tiie lightnefs of many forts of feeds he 

 afcribes to their not having been fufficiently impregnated 

 by the farina foccundans ; and, therefore, care (hould be 

 taken that this operation be properly performed, by not ex- 

 cluding plants that are in flower from the external air, or 

 even by afliiting natme in conveying the farina of the male 

 flowers to thofe of the female. Miller's Gard. Diftionary, 

 art. Seid. 



Seed, Change of, a term ufed by the farmers to cxprefs 

 the common, and, as they fuppofe, neceC.ary cuilom, of 

 changing among one another the feed of their lands, as wheat, 

 and the like ; it being a received opinion, that the leed pro- 

 duced on one land will grow better on another than on that 

 which produced it, though the fame fpecies of plant be 

 fown. 



Seeds, in their natural climate, do not degenerate, unlefs 

 culture has improved them ; they then indeed are liable, upon 

 omiffion of that culture, to return to their natural itate again. 

 Whatever benefit arifes to the farmer from the changing of 

 the feed of the fame fpecies, is from caufes which are them- 

 felves the effefts of different climates, fuch as heat and 

 moillure, which may vary very much in the fame neighbour- 

 hood. 



Laurembergius has carried this notion of degeneracy and 

 change from the foil, fo far as to affirm that wheat will, in 

 fome places, degenerate into rye ; and in other places, rye 

 will be exalted into wheat by the foil ; but thofe who are 

 acquainted with botany know, that a horfe miglit a; foon be 

 changed into a bull by feeding in an improper pafture, as 

 one plant degenerate into another by fault of the loil. 

 TuU's Hufbandry, p. ii6. See Change o/" Sfc^. 



Seeds, Steeping of, in prolific liquors, is a praftlce that 

 has occafionally prevailed, and it is not of modern invention. 

 The Romans, who were good hufbandmen, have left us 

 feveral receipts for fteeping of grain, in order to incrcafe 

 the powers of vegetation. In England, France, Italy, and 

 in all countries where agriculture has been attended to, a 

 variety of liquors has been recommended for this purpofe. 

 The praftice is founded on a prefumption, that, by filling 

 the veffels of the grain with nourifhmg liquors, the germ, 

 with its roots, would be invigorated. On this fubjett Dr. 

 Hunter obferves, that all his experiments demonftrate, that 

 fteeps have no inherent virtue ; having fown more than once 

 the fame feed, ileepcd and unfteeped, all other circumltances 

 being alike, he never found the leaft difference in the growth 

 of the crop. When, indeed, the light feeds arc flcimmed off, 

 as in the operation of brining, the crop will be improved, 

 and difeafes prevented ; but thefe advantages proceed from 

 the goodnefs of the grain fown, and not from any prolific 

 virtue of the ileep. In this opinion many rational farmers, 

 determined by their own experience, concur. Duhamel 

 fpcaks in the ftrongeft terms againit the practice of fteeping, 



SEE 



fo far as it fuppofes an impregnation of vegetative particles. 

 Dr. Hunter, having fprouted all kinds of grain in a variety 

 of lleeps, allures the farmer, that the radicle and germ never 

 appeared fo vigorous and healthy, as when fprouted by ele- 

 mentary water ; whence it appears, that the feed requires bo 

 alTiftance. 



Upon the whole he concludes, that as no invigorating or 

 fruftifying liquor, however pompoufly introduced, has ever 

 flood the tefl of fair and correft experiment, it may be laid 

 down as an etlablifhed truth, that plump feeds, clear of 

 weeds, and land well prepared to receive it, will feldom 

 difappoint the expeftations of the farmer ; and upon thefe 

 he fhould rely for the goodnefs of his crop. Hunter's 

 Evelyn's Silva, p. 15, '&c. 



Seeds, in Pharmacy, &c. The medicinal feeds, efpe- 

 cially thofe imported from the Indies, Levant, &c. are 

 feverally defcribed under their refpeclive articles ; which 

 fee. Among thofe ufed with us, the principal are, the four 

 greater hot, and the four greater cold feeds, as they are 

 called. The firll are thofe of anife, fennel, cumin, and 

 carraway ; the latter, thofe of gourd, citrul, melon, and 

 cucumber. 



The chief ufe of the four cold feeds is for the making of 

 emulfions, cool refrefhing drinks, paftes for the hands, and 

 oils ufed by the ladies for the complexion. 



Seeds, in Agriculture, a term applied to young grafl'es, 

 or to lands newly laid to grafs, in many cafes. 



Sket>- Furrow, the furrow or ploughing on which the 

 feed is fown, or put in. It is ufual, in the lalt ploughing 

 before fowing, to have the furrow lefs turned than in other 

 cafts. See Ploughing. 



SERV-Grafs, a term ufed to fignify cultivated herbage, 

 or grafs, railed in oppofition to natural grafs. See yirti- 

 Jicial Grasses. 



Seed-Z.;/i, a fort of balket, in which the fowcr carries 

 his feed, in order to low it. It is fometimes written feed- 

 leap, or feed-lop. 



A great improvement has lately been made on th,^ com- 

 mon fowir.g-bafket, by a farmer at Maiden, in the county 

 of Eflex. He has contrived it in fuch a manner, that the 

 bottom is a wire-fieve, which fifts out the feeds of needs 

 from the grain, in the motion of fowing ; a cloth bag being 

 attached beneath, for the purpofe of catching them. 



SEFi)-Room, the room or place where garden feeds are 

 kept and preferved in, either for the purpofe of fale, or 

 future ufe in fowing and railing crops. Rooms for this 

 purpofe fhould have but little fun, be perfeftly free from 

 all forts of moifture, and be fitted up with every kind of 

 convenience for receiving, hanging, and keeping all defcrip- 

 tions of feeds. 



In the arrangement with other garden buildings, the 

 feed-room Ihould have a place as near the hot-houfe and 

 fruit-room as poflible ; but where there are no other build- 

 ings, it may have any fituation which is ready and con- 

 venient for depofiting the feeds. 



SEET>-Seam, the interftice between two plats, as left by 

 the plough ; alfb the channels made by floating, drill- 

 ing, &c. 



Seed- IVeeds, fuch weeds as arife from the fowing or dif- 

 pcrfion of their feed?, and which do not propagate thera- 

 fclves by the roots. See Weeds. 



Seed, Amber, Anife, Lac, Line, Miijlard, Worm. See 

 the refpeSivc articles. 



Seed of Pearl. See PeARL. 



SEEDLINGS, among Gardeners, denote fuch roots of 

 gilliflowcrs, &c. as come from iced fown. Alfo the young 

 tender flioots of any, plants that are newly fown. 



SEEDLY, 





