Seeds Are As Gold This Tear f. f. rockwell 



Making the Most of What You've Got Because of Seed Shortage — Every Seed Contains a Plant — Try to Get a 



Perfect Plant from It 



IN THE present crisis, seeds are in fact 

 more valuable than gold; for seeds can be 

 turned into food, and gold alone can 

 no longer be transmuted, at will, into food. 

 And food is the great essential, the one thing 

 that must be placed ahead of everything else. 

 Therefore the slogan of every gardener, this 

 year must be make every seed count! 



This year there is not only no seed to 

 waste, there is actually not enough to go round ! 

 And the seed waster and the seed hoarder 

 are just as reprehensible as the food wasters 

 and hoarders; in fact more so. Any one who 

 fails to do his best to get a fully developed, 

 perfect plant from every seed he uses, is a 

 social slacker. He should be afraid to look 

 his fellow commuters in the face when he 

 meets them on the morning train; or she 

 should be ashamed to face her friends at the 

 Red Cross or the knitting circle. 



13 UT we have not been wasting seeds all 

 -*"* these years in mere wantonness. Hereto- 

 fore oversowing was the cheapest way of'assuring a 

 full stand of plants. Seed was so cheap that 

 planting more than was really needed, and 

 then pulling out and throwing away the 

 surplus plants, was the most inexpensive way 

 of making sure of getting all the plants that 

 were wanted. To proceed on that basis this 

 year would be little short of criminal. Of 

 course we still want to make sure of getting 

 a full stand of plants in every row. But we 

 can do it by planting more carefully. 



Make Every Seed Count! 



TpVERYONE who has a garden to plant 

 *-* this year should take the following 

 steps to make every seed count: 



1. Test all seed carefully, so you will know how thickly it must 



be planted to give a full stand, (see below) 



2. Prepare a -perfect seed bed, so that every seed planted will 



have a hundred per cent, opportunity to germinate. 



3. Do not plant too early, wait until conditions are right for a 



high per cent, of germination. 



4. Plant carefully, so that seeds will be evenly spaced and 



covered to a uniform depth. 



5. Use plants instead of seed, where possible, as seed will go 



farther if started and transplanted, than if sown where 

 the plants are to grow. 



6. Pre-sprout seeds that are likely to germinate poorly, such as 



melons, cucumbers, squash, lima beans, etc. 



In ordinary times many seeds are sown from 

 ten to a hundred times as thick as the plants 

 should stand in the row! This is done because 

 gardeners, from experience, do not expect 

 all the seed they sow to come up. The only 

 way to know how thickly you must plant 

 seed to expect a good "stand" is to test it 

 before planting, especially if it is seed you 

 have carried over from last year, or grown 

 yourself. I do not mean by this that even 

 with a test you can figure out the exact 

 number of seeds to plant, because allowance 

 must be made for other factors. But testing 

 your seeds will be removing one of the un- 

 certainties. If only 50 per cent, germinates 

 you will know that you must plant more 

 thickly than if 80 per cent, germinates. The 

 methods of seed testing have been described 

 heretofore in The Garden Magazine. 

 Briefly, you can use either the "soil test" or 

 the "blotter test"; the latter is preferable if 

 you have a frame or a sunny window where 

 you can maintain an even temperature of 

 fifty degrees or so minimum. 



Blotter test. — Put an exact number of seeds on a moist 

 blotter, placed on a plate or saucer, and cover with a second 

 plate or saucer of about the same size; add water as necessary 

 to keep blotter constantly moist, not soaking wet; keep in warm 

 place; remove seeds as they sprout; and figure out percentage 



of germination. (Remember that equal results cannot be 

 expected when seed is sown out of doors.) 



Soil test. — Prepare flat as for sowing seeds (see Garden 

 Magazine for March), using light soil, half leaf mold or humus; 

 sow exact number of seeds, to usual depth; cover flat with 

 loose fitting glass. One to two dozen samples of seed can be 

 tested in a single flat; the seeds are put on thickly as they are 

 removed as soon as they germinate. 



Why Poor Gardeners Have "Poor Seed" 



jDROBABLY 90 per cent, of the seeds 

 •*■ sown in home gardens are planted on 

 ground that is not as thoroughly prepared as 

 it could be and should be. Without doubt 

 this is the biggest single cause of poor germi- 



Sow seeds carefully for they are in limited supply this 

 year. Use freshly turned fine soil and cover properlv 

 (see page 128) 



Remember to thin out early enough and transplant when 

 possible. It is not an economy to let food plants crowd 

 one another 



nation. The gardener who puts seed into 

 poorly prepared soil this year will be a deliber- 

 ate seed waster. It is not enough to 

 thoroughly plow or spade and harrow or rake 

 the garden; that is preliminary work. Seed 

 should be planted on a freshly prepared 

 surface, raked over until it is smooth and fine 

 and wholly free from lumps of soil, trash and 

 stones. There is only one way to get soil in 

 that shape — work at it. But these requisite 



135 



conditions can be given only when plenty of 

 fresh, loose, fine soil is available for marking 

 the drills and covering the seed. So don't 

 waste seed this year by planting on a half 

 prepared seed bed. 



*^S**To stand a full chance of sprouting, every 

 seed should have the soil packed firmly about it, 

 not be covered too deep; and have no obstruction 

 above _ it to prevent its " coming up " after it does 

 germinate. 



^TEMPERATURE also must be con- 

 A sidered. Another prolific cause of poor 

 germination has been planting too early. To 

 gain a few days on having our first vegetables 

 ready for table, we have been willing — and 

 rightly so, when seeds were plentiful and 

 cheap — to sacrifice seeds for earliness. But, 

 it will not be good citizenship to do that this 

 year! 



TO MAKE EVERY SEED COUNT 

 delay those first extra early plantings of peas 

 or corn or beans, on which you have been wont to 

 "take a chance," until you feel reasonably safe. 

 But you need not sacrifice earliness if you 

 really must have it. The use of some of the 

 numerous excellent plant forcers and plant 

 protectors, and of nitrate of soda or some 

 other stimulant, will probably make up for 

 any time you lose, and also help to save 

 seed. The continuous row forcers make it 

 possible to plant first sowings extra early 

 without risking seed and results. 



Plant Carefully This Year 



"XXTE HAVE been very careless about 

 * ' planting heretofore, because it was 

 cheaper to waste some seed in careless plant- 

 ing than to take the time to plant with real 

 care. The two important things to aim at — 

 are even distribution of the seed, and uniform 

 depth of covering. With seed of good germi- 

 nation — 85 or 90 per cent, or more — and 

 careful planting — seeds sown as thinly as the 

 following amounts should give a satisfactory 

 "stand": Except^where noted a foot of row 

 is the unit. 



Asparagus, 12. 



Bush beans, 6 to 10. 



Lima beans, 5 to 8. 



Pole beans, 4 to 6 to hill. 



Beets, 15 to 20. 



Carrots, 25 to 30. 



Celery (for plants) 40 to 50. 



Cabbage (for plants) 25 to 30. 



Cabbage (in hills to remain) 



5 or 6. 

 Cauliflower (for plants) 35 to 



40. 

 Chard, 8 to 10. 

 Corn (in drills) 2 to 4. 

 Corn (in hills) 4 to 5. 

 Cucumbers (in hills) 8 to IO. 

 Kohlrabi, 25 to 30. 



Lettuce, 20 to 25. 



Melons, musk (in hills) 10 to 



12. 

 Watermelons (in hills) 8 to 



10. 

 Okra, 6 to 8. 

 Onions, 50 to 75. 

 Parsley, 25 to 30. 

 Parsnips, 20 to 25. 

 Peas, 15 to 20. 

 Pumpkins (in hills) 4 to 6. 

 Radish, 13 to 25 (small 



varieties, latter figure). 

 Salsify, 25 to 30. 

 Spinach, 20 to 25. 

 Squash, 5 to 7. 

 Turnips, 25 to 30. 



Be careful in opening up the drills, to make 

 them of an even depth; frequently, when 

 made with a hoe-handle or some other im- 

 provised tool, they will vary from a half 

 inch to an inch and a half for the same seed; 

 under these conditions it is impossible to 

 cover the seed to a uniform depth, and 

 much of it is sure to be smothered. There 

 are now obtainable for use in very small 

 gardens very simple small hand seedsowers 

 which do a much better job than ordinary 

 hand sowing. If using a regular seed drill 

 test it out for dropping before you begin 

 sowing, and regulate it carefully for depth 

 after you begin planting, as the depth of 

 sowing will depend on the condition of the 

 soil as much as on the adjustment of the 

 machine. 



