THE 



CHILD'S GARDEN 



Plans for Next Year's Seed 



YOUR garden ought to give you not 

 only flowers and vegetables but 

 some seed for next year. 



Certain seed I would always buy because 

 we get far better results from the choice 

 seed of a good seed house than from the 

 seed of our very small gardens. So I 

 think I should always plan to buy my 

 lettuce, radish, and beet seed each year. 

 Perhaps it is better to buy all vegetable 

 seed except corn, squash, pumpkin, and 

 melon. 



From corn I would certainly save seed 

 ears. This is the way to decide upon the 

 seed. When you have a particularly fine 

 sturdy corn stalk, with good firm full ears 

 of corn on it, plan to save ears from this. 

 Tie a string around the base of the ear 

 you think is the finest. When you see 

 that string you know that that is the ear 

 you are saving for seed. From this, next 

 year you will get corn like this seed or 

 parent stalk, as we call it. 



Let us now think of the flower seed. 

 I suppose the two things most to be desired 

 in flowers are beautiful color and hardy 

 specimens, in view of seed selection. 



So when you see a beautifully colored 

 sturdy nasturtium blooming do not pick 

 it but do as you did with the corn, tie 

 a string loosely around the stem and leave it. 



Perhaps you have visited a nurseryman's 

 gardens. As you walked through the hun- 

 dreds of blossoming rows you saw here 

 and there a flower stalk with a string tied 

 carefully about it. It is tied quite close to 

 the head so that it can be seen plainly 

 by all. The gardener told you that he 

 had chosen this string- tied flower for seed. 

 You see this is the proper way to label 

 chosen blossoms. 



Now, if you had further asked the gar- 

 dener why he chose this particular flower 

 from all the others, he would have told 

 you this: First the flower was of a particu- 

 larly good color, second, it was remarkably 

 large, and, third, this plant bore a great 

 number of blossoms. You cannot always 

 find all these fine points in the same plant. 



In this month of August suppose you 

 do the same. Choose carefully, keeping 

 ever in mind just what you desire to get 

 from each particular chosen blossom for 

 another year. 



AUGUST IS THE BEGINNING OF REAL RE- 

 SULTS IN OUR GARDENS— RESULTS MEAN 

 OPPORTUNITIES— TO GIVE AWAY IN GAR- 

 DEN SPOILS IS BETTER FAR THAN SAVING 



Con ducted by 



ELLEN EDDY SHAW 



New York 



Do not — of course you will not — pick off 

 the blossom as soon as you have strung it. 

 That string merely means, save! hands off! 

 Cut off the stalk after the blossom has 

 withered, faded, and fallen. 



Without doubt the most satisfactory 

 flower seed to save is that of the nasturtium. 

 But even with these it is wise to buy a 

 few new seeds each year, or else good color 

 runs out. These seeds are very easy to 

 see and pick off. They may be picked 

 while yet green. You must dry them, and 

 dry them long and thoroughly, in the sun. 



Do the drying in this way: Place the 

 seeds in a tin or box cover so that one seed 

 is not on top of another. Put in a sunny 

 window until the green seed has lost its 

 green color, and is withered. Then put 

 away in a box or envelope for next year. 



Another way of drying is to spread seeds 

 on papers in the attic. Place these papers 

 on the floor by a sunny window where light 

 and air do the work of drying out. Turn 

 the seed often to prevent molding. 



Such seeds as those of the zinnia, bachelor's 

 buttons, sunflowers, and other late blossom- 

 ing plants may be left until nearly frost- 

 time for gathering. Then pull the old 

 flower head entirely apart so that the seeds 

 may fall out. After this spread the seeds 

 and dry. 



Sunflower seeds take a long time to dry 

 out, or to season. 



Boxes are good to pack large seed away 

 in. If you fear mice eating them, tin boxes 

 will settle the case. 



After all, seed envelopes are best. In 

 these one may place many or few seeds. 



"A 



-7i*- 



This envelope, four and one-naif inches by three is 

 a most convenient size 



25 



A nice assortment of these envelopes of 

 seed makes an acceptable Christmas gift. 



Why not make seed envelopes now. 

 There are plenty of rainy days and some- 

 times dull evenings when work would be 

 a pleasure. 



These envelopes may be made of any 

 white paper, wrapping paper, or perhaps 

 you have something colored you would 

 like to use. 



Here is a pattern of such an envelope 

 with directions for making: 



After placing seeds in envelopes, seal, 

 and print clearly on the front of the en- 

 velope, a little above the centre, the name 

 of the seed therein and the color, if you 

 have a selected color. It will look like this: 



ZINNIA [Dark Red] 



Some one may ask, "How can you be 

 sure of one color?" Of course, this has 

 to be planned for ahead. Suppose you 

 have a garden of mixed zinnias and wish 

 next year to have a bed of dark red ones 

 only. Then put strings on the dark red ones. 

 And if you have put strings on no others 

 your color scheme is sure. Or you may 

 work out a system of labeling which will 

 enable you to tell colors. I think with 

 nasturtiums you would have no trouble in 

 keeping track of color. 



Directions for Making Seed 

 Envelopes 



CUT paper 75 inches by 5I inches; 

 place it the long way of the paper 

 going from front to back of the desk, or 

 table at which you work. 



Measure from the upper left corner 

 down if inches, and place point 1; 3 J inches 

 farther down place point 2. Measure 

 from the upper right corner down if inches 

 and place point 353! inches farther down 

 place point 4. 



Measure from the upper left corner 

 toward the right ij inches and place point 5; 

 3f inches farther toward the right place 

 point 6. Measure from the lower left corner 

 toward the right i| inches, and place 

 point 7; 3f inches farther toward the right 

 place point 8. 



Draw dotted lines through 1 and 3, 2 

 and 4, 5 and 7, 6 and 8. 



Measure \ inch toward the right from 



