15 
SEE©»Tfl§E'Mf© HARVEST. 
quantity of each, so as to be sure of a good 
Bupply to select seed from. 
Select a dry, loamy, seasonably rich plot; 
plow well and get the soil in as good con¬ 
dition as possible; plant and give the best 
•f cultivation so as to obtain the very best 
results possible. And then from this crop 
select the very best for next year’s seed. 
Of course where you can afford it, it is 
better to secure a supply of new seed to 
plant your whole crop. Sell, or feed out 
the old stock and make a new start. Get 
good, reliable tried varieties. It is not nec¬ 
essary that they should be what we term 
novelties, many of which are but a small 
improvement over standard varieties after 
all, while you have this risk to run. Select 
good standard varieties, and then give them 
good care; then you have the whole crop 
to select good seed from. It is poor econ¬ 
omy to continue to plant seed potatoes that 
you know are not the best, simply to save 
a few cents in seeds, where you are running 
the risk of at least a partial failure of your 
«rop on this account. 
Good stock seed in any crop is fully as 
important in securing profitable results as 
good soil and good cultivation. 
Failures with Seeds. 
BY W. D. BOYNTON. 
When seeds fail to germinate, it is the 
easiest and most comfortable way to charge 
it right up to the seedsman, The seedsman 
never has a chance to defend himself, which 
makes it much pleasanter, and such a 
•ourse is much more soothing to a disap¬ 
pointed mind, than useless self-reproach. 
Besides, it shows an ungenerous spirit to 
alight your fellow-men in order to bring 
yourself into prominence. Seedsmen like 
to be advertised. They pay thousands of 
dollars for advertisements that are forgot¬ 
ten the very next year. But if you tell 
your neighbors that so-and-so’s seeds are 
worthless, they will never forget it; and 
such advertising doesn’t cost the seedsman 
a ceant. 
If you have lots of time and feel like 
doing a better service for your fellow-men 
than you are able to do in your own neigh¬ 
borhood circle, by word of mouth, just sit 
down and write a long letter to your agri¬ 
cultural paper for publication. If you have 
sown your seeds early in the spring, (all 
kinds at the same date) and a cold-, wet 
spell conies on, wait about ten days, or two 
weeks at the most, and then write your 
letter. Apply your remarks in as general' 
a way as possible, for particularizing on 
your own individual experience looks- 
egotistical, and is very wearying to the 
reader. Don’t mince matters, or try to 
soften the accusations in the heart. It 
sounds hypocritical, and always leaves 
room for a doubt. Put it strong and vig¬ 
orous without any if’s or but’s. By the 
the time your communication gets into 
print, no doubt the weather will have come 
on warm and dry, and the most of your 
garden stuff will be up; but it is not best to 
weary the publisher with another article on 
the same subject. A growl of disappointed 
satisfaction to your family will express 
your feelings as well as a column article in 
the paper. Maybe, too, the plants will turn 
out to be some other variety than you sent 
for, so it is not best to be in a hurry about 
exonerating the seedsman. 
If you buy the “seventy-four pound” 
water melon seed to plant in your bean 
patch, don’t favor it any more than you 
would any other sort. A variety that has 
to be coaxed by a good, rich soil and culti¬ 
vation, is no better than it ought to be. 
Persevere grimly in your non-attention to 
its work, and if the melons don’t weigh 
over ten pounds, (as you expected they 
wouldn't all the time) point out to your 
fellow-men the perfidity of that seedsman. 
Whatever you do, it is of no use to write 
to the seedsman for an explanation. I 
have seen it tried. You might call him all 
the hard names in the English language, 
and abuse him up and down four whole 
sheets of note paper, and just like as not he 
wouldn’t notice it; so how could you ex¬ 
pect a mild gentlemanly letter to make any 
impression upon him. 
“Winter lingers in the lap of Spring,” is 
modernized thusly: 
Winter holds Spring on his lap, 
Till she gives his pate a tap; 
Then he slowly disappears, 
Subdued, and melts away in tears. 
