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GOOD SEED 



uniform. They were as fine turnips as I ever saw. I said 

 to the grower, ''Where did you get the seed from which these 

 turnips were grown?" He replied by saying, ''I grew it my- 

 self." ''How did you do it?" He gave the history, how he 

 started with a flat turnip ten years ago. He did not like the 

 flat form and he began to select roots for seed purposes which 

 had a tendency to be round. Rapid progress was made, the 

 round roots were obtained. Then there was trouble, for the 

 roots began to take on an elongated form and it was neces- 

 sary to make rigid selection in order to retain the roundness. 

 He succeeded and was very proud of his accomplishment. 



Some time ago I was traveling on a train in Indiana. In 

 conversation a vegetable grower referred to superior radishes 

 which he was growing in the greenhouse and said that he 

 grew the seed himself. He gave the history of his efforts and 

 was proud of the results. He was getting high prices for 

 radishes because he had a superior product. 



I met a prominent cucumber man in Ashtabula. He, too, 

 said he was using his own seed. I went through his breed- 

 ing house, and realized that this was one of the reasons why 

 he was getting such great results. 



In Massachusetts, I met a very successful lettuce grower 

 who produces his own seed. 



In Pennsylvania, a man grows White Cob Cory sweet corn. 

 The results are above the average. Seed is grown in a special 

 breeding plat. 



A melon grower in New Jersey has established a reputa- 

 tion for selling unusually fine watermelons in Philadelphia. 

 He puts a label on everj^ melon, containing the name of the 

 grower and guaranteeing it to be satisfactory. He grows the 

 seed himself. I do not need to multiply examples. 



What Is Good Seed? 



At this point, I want to raise the question as to what your 

 understanding is of good seed. I used to think that seeds 

 were good when they were true to name. If a man buys a 

 variety, he wants that variety. No seedsman has a right to 

 make a substitution. 



