12 
SEE0-TSME A130 HAE¥EIT 
Seed Corn and Melon Seed. 
That a judicious selection of seed of al! 
kinds has much to do with the future yield 
no one will deny. Nevertheless, not one 
in ten, or one in a hundred likely, pays 
any attention to it. As I have seen severa] 
articles lately on the subject, I will give 
my experience, which differs from am' 1 
have seen. One year 1 selected my seed 
CQrn from the butt of the. ear. tiding only 
the flat and misshapen grains. As soon as 
I came to flat, nice grains, I laid the ear 
down for meal. I planted my crop with 
such unsightly grains, and the result was 
that my corn silked the nearest all at one 
time, that I ever saw. and a bushel of it 
weighed sixty-three pounds. I will tell 
you why I planted the butt grains. Walk¬ 
ing by a fence, one day I saw a “poke-ber¬ 
ry” stalk, the berries of which had begun 
to ripen. The berries at the base of the 
bunch were f ully ripe, while those at the 
tip end of the same bunch were not half 
grown. I then thought that corn, perhaps, 
ripened similarly, so I examined some 
roasting ears, and my expectation was true. 
The butt grains were grown, when those at 
the silk end were not more than half 
grown. Nature teaches many good lessons. 
if our ears were not too long to heed them. 
I want such readers of Farming World to 
plant a few rows pext year with seed 
selected in the same way, and report the 
result. 
Watermelons. gourds, squashes, etc., 
form their seed differently, the bulb en¬ 
larging from the center. Any little boy! 
who has ever cut his “daddy’s” green mel 
ons, knows that the center seed of a “cut- 
seed” watermelon are larger than those at 
either end. I have followed the plan of 
saving melon seed from the center for a 
number of years, and the result is larger, 
better flavored, healthier melons. Try it. 
friends, and see if it is, or is not. the truth. 
—Farming World. 
“I was not aware that you knew him,” 
said Tom Smith to an Irish friend, the other 
day. “Know him!” said he inatono which 
comprehended the knowledge of more than 
one life; “1 knew him when his father was 
a boy.” 
Keeping the Boys on the Farm. 
We know from experience and observa¬ 
tion, that farmer’s boys are quite apt to* 
become tired of the routine of farm work* 
as it is conducted on many farms, and 
long for the day to come, when they can 
turn their backs upon the farm, and give* 
their time and attention to some occupa¬ 
tion in town or city, which they think will 
be vastly more congenial to them, than 
they have ever found farming. Some one 
has aptly said that “when a person does 
what he likes to do. and get pay for it, he 
has found his vocation.” We admit the 
truth of this? No matter how well suited 
with Ids work a person may be, or how 
congenial it is to him. if he cannot make 
the labor return him a fair compensation, 
he has a right to become dissatisfied. On 
the other hand, when a person is tied down 
to a kind of work which is distasteful and 
uncongenial to him, no matter if it does, 
return him a fair profit, he has a right to 
become uneasy and seek some employment 
which accords more nearly with his tastes- 
and increases his peace of mind. In fact, 
we believe that the congeniality of the 
labor—the privilege of “doing what he 
likes”—is of far more importance when 
judging of the desirability of a job, than 
the number of dollars and cents which can 
be got out of it. But farmers’ boys are 
quite apt to think that a great gain can 
be accomplished in both these essentials by 
leaving the farm, and in some cases, and 
under some kinds of farm management, 
we must confess that the boys’ ideas are 
about right. At the same time, we wish 
to say that there is no need of its 
being so. There is no earthly reason why 
the farm should not be made the happiest 
and most congenial place for a boy to 
spend his days that could possibly be 
selected, and theire is no reason why his- 
labors should not return him directly a 
cash profit large enough to keep him con¬ 
tented and happy. But to become so lie 
must feel a personal interest in what he 
does. He must be allowed to think and. 
plan and calculate for himself, to sow for 
himself and reap for himself. The farmer 
who will persist in always holding the 
