The Garden Magazine 



Seeds and the Man 



SEED is scarce this year, but it will be 

 scarcer next. This statement is made on 

 the authority of experts who have care- 

 fully considered the prospects as they 

 affect the whole world. Ordinarily the grow- 

 ing of seeds at home is not to be recommended, 

 because much better seed can be pro- 

 duced by experienced plant breeders 

 having large fields to work with. This 

 year is an exception, and home garden 

 makers are being urged to produce 

 during the coming season a certain 

 portion of the seed which they will 

 need for the following year. 



Professor W. T. Macoun, Horticul- 

 turist at Ottawa Experimental Farm 

 says that by selecting two beets, two 

 parsnips, two turnips, three celery 

 plants, five onions, two cabbages, and 

 two carrots for growing seed, more than 

 enough for the average garden will be 

 produced. These vegetables must be 

 selected from those now in the cellar, 

 the best specimens being chosen. The 

 space required for beets, cabbages, 

 carrots, parsnips, and turnips to de- 

 velop in, is 2x3 feet, for celery 1x3 

 feet, and for onions 2 feet x 6 inches. 

 One row of seed plants across the end 

 of the twenty-five foot plot will take 

 up little room, and will be sufficient 

 to grow more than enough of the seed 

 that will be required for at least these 

 seven kinds of vegetables. 



A single beet should produce from two 

 and a half to five and a half ounces, or 

 from fifteen hundred to nineteen hundred 

 seeds. The beets should be planted in the 

 ground so that the top will be slightly under the 

 surface. When the flower stalks are thrown up 

 it will be desirable to tie them loosely to a stake 

 to keep them from being broken down. The 

 seed will be ready to harvest when it begins to 

 turn brown. If it is then cut and tied up for a 

 few days, it will dry out sufficiently so that it 

 can be easily threshed with a light stick. 



A single head of cabbage will produce more 

 than enough seed for the average garden, but 

 it is necessary to plant two, as the flowers 

 of one must be crossed with those of another 

 in order to get well-filled seed pods. The 

 crossing is done by bees or other insects. 

 About one third of the head should go into 



the ground, and it is well to make a slit with 

 a knife crosswise over the top so that the 

 seed stalks will have a better chance to push 

 out. If the gardener has stored cabbages in 

 the ground outdoors during the winter, they 

 probably have the roots left on. Such heads 

 are all the better for planting, as they are 

 less likely to rot. Only the roots need go into 



The Food Administration says: 



Use FRUITS, VEGETABLES, and POTA- 

 TOES abundantly. 



Explanation — These foods are healthful 

 and plentiful, and, at the same time, partly 

 take the place of other foods which we must 

 save. Raise all you can for home use. 



The Government has no intention of ever 

 taking an ounce of the home-made preserves 

 or of the home-grown products kept in pantry 

 or cellar. 



Use local supplies; this saves railroad trans- 

 portation. 



Report to the nearest Food Administration 

 officer the name and address of any person 

 discouraging the production or saving of food. 



be cut off before the onions are planted out. 

 Put the bulbs about six inches apart in the 

 rows, and an inch or two below the surface. 

 It's a good plan to bank up the plants a little 

 as the tops grow, to give them support. 

 Take off the seed balls when the seed stalks 

 begin to turn yellow near the ground. Spread 

 out the seed balls until they are dry, and thresh 

 out the seed as quickly as possible. 



If these directions are followed, it 

 will be an easy matter to save an 

 abundance of seed from these biennial 

 plants. Of course it is a much simpler 

 matter to save the seeds from the 

 annuals likepeas, beans, corn, squashes, 

 and melons. Although this line of 

 garden work is new to most amateurs, 

 it is well worth the attention «of all 

 garden makers at the present time, as 

 a real war measure. 



We Americans, as a group, know all 

 too little of the art (which in the old 

 world is common knowledge) of seed 

 raising. The individual can do much 

 to help himself with the simpler things, 

 thus leaving the technically trained 

 professional seedsman more opportun- 

 ity to devote his attention where it 

 will be most beneficial. 



the ground, the leaves resting on the surface. 

 When the pods turn yellow, they should be 

 dried and threshed out. 



Carrots, parsnips, salsify, and turnips are to 

 be handled in the same way as beets, although 

 the seeds may not ripen so evenly. With car- 

 rots, in particular, it is necessary to make sev- 

 eral pickings to get all the seed as it matures. 



Three celery plants are chosen as a matter 

 of precaution, as celery plants are likely to 

 become diseased when planted out in the 

 spring. Set the plants about the same 

 depth as they stood in the fall and harvest 

 the heads as soon as the earliest seed begins 

 to drop. If all the seed is not ripe, the plants 

 can be hung up to dry. 



Onions sprout very easily, even in the 

 cellar, as all housekeepers know. If such 

 sprouts are found in the spring, they should 



123 



Facing the Fruit Situation 

 Squarely 



TT IS high time that the home gar- 

 ■*■ dener gets away from his habitual 

 indifference toward the planting of 

 fruit trees. Fruit is food, but unlike other 

 food, it is not and never can be produced 

 with time-table precision. The average vege- 

 table can be grown to edible size in so many 

 days. Animals are turned into food after so 

 many months of fattening. But before fruit 

 trees bear they must attain age and come 

 into bloom; the flowers and newly set fruit are 

 subject to many attacks by frost, insects, and 

 disease. If constant vigilance be not practised 

 to counteract all these unfavorable influences, 

 fruit of every kind may be a luxury. 



In normal times, during normal seasons, the 

 world at large produces enough fruit to give 

 everybody a taste — at a price. We, in this 

 land of plenty, have always had more than 

 our share. Will it continue? It all depends 

 on the attitude adopted by us toward fruit- 

 tree planting this spring. Right now is the 



