14 
SEED-TIME AMD HARVEST. 
Gathering and Preserving Seeds. 
BY SAM LAWRENCE. 
Much inconvenience, loss, and vexation 
are caused by a lack of good seed. Its care¬ 
ful preservation has been urged for thous¬ 
ands of years and still many persons are 
both careless and indifferent about the mat¬ 
ter. Most garden products are not perennial, 
but require annual care, and hence as each 
spring returns there comes with it the usual 
grumbling about worthless seed. This caus¬ 
es many to make good resolves for the future 
but when harvest time comes the same old 
neglect is practiced with indifference only to 
be followed by another lesson of “sad ex¬ 
perience.” 
Growing, gathering, and preserving seed 
lies at the foundation of good gardening. A 
person who can not carry out these opera¬ 
tions will never make a successful gardener. 
He will always be depending on others, and 
as a natural consequence will often get fool¬ 
ed. 
In selecting seeds my experience has boen 
that the best seed, and the greatest quantity, 
is obtained from a soil that is naturally good, 
but not excessively enriched. A very rich 
•oil in most cases develops foliage rather 
than fruit. Seed-plants should have more 
space than is generally allowed them by 
market growers. They need plenty of nour¬ 
ishment, light and air. If deprived of these 
essentials the seed will lack fullness, be de¬ 
ficient in weight, and a large percentage 
will prove abortive. 
Plants, and seeds as well, are injured by 
intermixture. In this particular few peo¬ 
ple grow plants properly or save seed judi¬ 
ciously. Different classes will not readily 
be affected by cultivation in the vicinity of 
each other but different species of the same 
class will mix with great facility. With all 
botanicallv allied plants, if to be grown for 
•eed, the best course is to sow the varieties 
well apart from each other. 
There seems to be a strange facination in 
size, but it must be remembered that excel¬ 
lence is not always known by magnitude. 
We cultivate the small fruits to their utmost 
perfection, but many of over grown vege¬ 
tables, as potatoes, beets, radishes, or tur¬ 
nips, when beyond certain dimensions, are 
almost worthless for the table. Let the 
choice be rather for smoothness and sym¬ 
metry than for size. Among the umbellif¬ 
erous plants, it is the prevailing opinion 
that the central umbel produces the finest 
seeds, yet when a sufficient amount of room 
is given, the side shoots are usually well 
developed, and where they mature in sea¬ 
son there can be no serious objection to 
them. Certain rules constantly observed 
from year to year in the selection of seed 
will make the plant dwarfish or increase in 
size. The variety can be made to mature 
earlier at expense of production, or later 
with increased yield. 
Seeds should not be gathered until fully 
ripe. After gathering, they should be thor¬ 
oughly dried and stored in dry and well 
ventilated apartments. Large quantities 
in one place should not be permitted, for 
however airy and dry the place may be they 
are extremely liable to generate heat and 
lose their vitality. Heat or cold which is 
not artificial will not injure seeds, but a 
slight dampness and a degree of heat which 
they are often in, will induce the first stage 
of germination or mould either of which is 
sufficient to destroy the vitality of them. 
Where the quantities to be kept are not too 
great, a good way is to wrap them in strong 
paper in small parcels, then enclose in a 
strong bag and suspend them from the 
1 afters in the attic, tool-house, or some simi¬ 
lar place. If cared for in this manner the 
trouble will be repaid by lessening the 
chance and making certain the growth of 
next year’s vegetables 
- ^ —■■■■■■■■■■■■— 
Canvassers Wanted! 
$ 1.60 
STOP THIEF. 
ONE Ounce to 10 Pounds. Sold at 
hardware, or sent by express for $1.50. 
Address, JONES OF BINGHAMTON. . 
BINGHAMTON, NEW YOlfe. 
TQ WANTED to SELL 
^ B CD my Novelties, Watches, etc. 
catalogue FVee. G, M . HANSON, Chicago, III. 
STEEL~yipLIN STRINGS. 175 
SHORTHAND 
tiiorougLiiy taught by 
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good situations procured all pupils when competent! 
Phonography, thoroughly learned, opens the best field 
for youngj jople. especially for educated young 1 dies. 
Send for cir’lur. W.G. CHAFFEE, Oswego, N. Y. 
