Saving Seeds from the Home Garden d. 



The Individual Gardener's Opportunity to Help with the Seed Situation 



F. JONES 



WHILE the seedsman to whom we 

 are so deeply indebted for the pro- 

 duction and maintenance of the 

 greater number of our present excel- 

 lent varieties must always be the main reli- 

 ance for the bulk of our seed supply, yet the 

 crops now maturing in the millions of home 

 gardens may well be conscripted to contribute 

 their bit in certain lines. It is practical to 

 grow seed of some plants in nearly every 

 garden; and this seed is as good as can be 

 obtained elsewhere. However, the difficulty 

 of producing seed from many kinds of plants 

 and the extra time, trouble, and space required 

 render the saving of seed from the garden 

 inadvisable under most conditions. But 

 failures of many seed crops in the seed growing 

 districts make it appropriate at this time to 

 direct attention to any means of economizing 

 on seed. 



The supplies of spinach, beet, cabbage, 

 cauliflower (and allied plants), and celery, 

 are unusually low. The production of bean 

 seed which was extremely poor in 1916 was 

 still poorer in 1917. Last season many of the 

 California crops were cut short by untimely 

 dry weather. Particularly is this true of 

 radish seed. Sweet corn was badly injured 

 by frost in the fall of 1917 and the present 

 supply is consequently influenced. Shortened 

 supply and an increased demand in 1918 

 have culminated in an actual scarcity of 

 particular lines. 



The High Cost of Gardening 



A T THE outset it is well to remember that 

 ■*-*■ a seed saved is as good as a seed produced. 

 The careful Hooverizing of left-over lots of 

 seed and storing in vermin-proof containers 

 should be practised by everyone. The total 

 loss of garden seed 

 from leaky packages 

 and from damage by 

 insects and mice 

 would be appalling if 

 the actual amount 

 could be determined. 

 Peas, beans, and corn 

 which are often de- 

 stroyed by weevils 

 and moths can be 

 mixed with air-slacked 

 lime and stored safely 

 without fear of dam- 

 age from these pests 

 or injury to the seeds. 



Plants from Which 

 Seed May Be Saved in 

 the Garden 



A S TO the plants 

 •^■^ from which seed 

 can and can not be 

 saved in the garden 

 the classification de- 

 pends largely on 

 whether or not they 

 as a rule are naturally 



self-pollinated or cross-pollinated. Self-pol- 

 linated plants come true to seed and are 

 unaffected by other varieties grown adjacent. 

 For this reason they are the kinds from 

 which it is safest to save seeds in the 

 small garden, provided, of course, fully 

 matured seed can be ripened. Plants of 

 which the seed is either all of, or contained 

 in, that part of the plant eaten, and which 

 are regularly self-pollinated, are all suitable 



Peppers 

 Eggplant 



for the home production of seed. In this 

 list are the following plants: 



Peas Lima Beans 



Beans Tomatoes 



These are grown in practically every 

 garden. I make a practice of saving seed of 

 all these except eggplant, and see no reason 

 why others cannot profitably to likewise. 

 When picking peas and beans there are 

 always a few over-ripe pods. These are 

 left on the vines and at the end of the season 

 the plants are gone over and these pods 

 saved, dried thoroughly, and shelled, the 

 largest seeds being saved for planting. Due 

 to our many rains these seeds are never as 

 bright or handsome looking as the Montana 

 or California grown seed; but they grow, 





The ear at the top shows the result of crossing of sweet 

 corn by field corn pollen. The crossed seeds are immedi- 

 ately apparent. The sweet, wrinkled seeds can be separ- 

 ated and planted without fear of their being affected by the 

 field corn 



ripen just as early, and produce just as well 

 as the same varieties obtained anew from the 

 seedsman. In the accompanying illustration 

 two varieties of peas from garden grown seed 

 are seen growing alongside the same two 

 varieties of which seed was purchased. 



Plants of the squash and melon family furnish their own bags. It is only necessary to fasten the tip of the 

 flower so that it cannot open. The flowers are of two kinds: male and female. Pollen should be applied when the 

 flowers reach the development shown in the two outer flowers. Both kinds of flowers are borne on the same plant 

 but cross-fertilization between different plants of the same variety is necessary for greatest vigor 



The first picking of the first variety to ripen 

 was made on the Fourth of July. There 

 were no significant differences in yield through- 

 out the season. 



Guard Against Occasional Pollination 



VX7HILE all the plants named in the above 

 " ~ list are regularly self-pollinated occa- 

 sional crossing does take place and must 

 be guarded against by rigidly rejecting all 



260 



off type plants or seeds which are usually quite 

 noticeable. In peas and beans cross-pollina- 

 tion takes place very rarely, and in 

 tomatoes in about two per cent of the seeds 

 produced if many varieties are grown close 

 together. Since a large amount of seed is 

 produced in each fruit of the tomato or pepper 

 it is a simple matter to enclose a blossom 

 cluster in a paper bag before the petals show 

 and pollinate the flowers by hand a few days 

 later. In this way an abundance of seed is 

 secured without any danger of cross-polli- 

 nation. 



The only work involved in saving seed of 

 tomatoes and peppers is in the cleaning of the 

 seed in the case of the former. This is easily 

 done by allowing the fruit to become slightly 

 fermented but not moldly. Squeeze out 

 the pulp and wash the seeds in a vegetable 

 strainer. Soaking the seeds in rather strong 

 lye solution removes the mucilaginous coating 

 and keeps the seeds from sticking together. 



Choosing the Plants 



\X7HEN selecting for seed the whole plant 

 * * should be kept in mind and not individ- 

 ual fruits. It makes no difference whether 

 the fruits are borne early or late on the plant 

 as long as the seeds inside are well developed. 



When saving seed from plants which are 

 more or less regularly cross-pollinated more 

 caution is necessary. It is only advisable 

 to save seed when only one variety of each 

 kind is grown or allowed to flower at one time. 



If crossing with other varieties is. prevented 

 seed may be saved from the following annual 

 cross pollinated-plants: 



Corn Spinach Watermelon 



Radish Cucumber Squash and 



Lettuce Muskmelon Pumpkin 



Though sweet corn is one of the most 

 widely crossed plants 

 grown yet seed from 

 it can often be saved 

 in the garden. There 

 is no difficulty, if only 

 one variety is grown 

 to flower at a given 

 time. But corn 

 pollen is carried sev- 

 eral hundred yards by 

 the wind and longer 

 distances by birds, 

 and crossing should 

 be looked out for. 

 Fortunately much can 

 be done in this re- 

 spect. Any sweet corn 

 seeds that have been 

 pollinated by field 

 corn are smooth and 

 starchy like field corn, 

 so sweet corn can be 

 grown adjacent to 

 field corn with im- 

 punity as far as saving 

 seed from the sweet 

 corn is concerned. 

 The scattering starchy 

 seeds on the ears can be discarded and 

 the remaining wrinkled seeds will in no 

 way be affected. Of course the quality 

 of the corn for eating purposes is im- 

 paired if many starchy seeds are present 

 so that the practice of planting sweet corn 

 as far away from field corn as possible is per- 

 fectly justified. 



If two varieties of sweet corn are grown near 

 each other the crossing that will surely take 



