In former years home seed saving was extensively practiced. Nearly all market gardeners and those who supplied their own tables saved the seed of their best plants. The seed business was then but little developed, and dealers sere not so well prepared to supply the demands of an exacting public. But even as early as 1796 Marshall, in his book on gardening, advised against saving seed at home and argued that those whose business it was to grow seed could do so more cheaply than it could be done at home. Other writers on horticultural matters took different views, some even advising the gardener to save seed of all the varieties he raised.

The objections to growing one's own seed are in general that it can not be done as well, not as cheaply, by the general farmer or gardener as by the professional seedsman. Those objections have greater force to-day than they had in the time of Marshall. reliable dealers and Growers have accumulated such a wealth of experience and exercise such care that although nongenuine seed may sometimes be sold by an honest firm it is done through ignorance rather than intent, and is an exceptional occurrence.

Home seed saving is most likely to be profitable upon the farm where plenty of land is available. When space is limited, it is too valuable to be used for home seed raising unless the grower has some choice strain which he fears can not be obtained pure from seedsmen. Where land is plenty and the additional labor is the only outlet, home seed saving may be successfully practiced. With proper care most garden and flower seeds can be saved, as well as field seeds and potatoes. The danger to be avoided in seed raising comes principally under two heads - mixing of varieties and deterioration.

    If more than one variety of a species is grown on the same farm it will be difficult to keep them pure. The difficulty may be overcome in a measure by separating the plants grown from seed as far as possible. But as is shown elsewhere, natural crossing can not always be avoided within the limits of a farm. A more certain method is to grow seed of but one variety in any one year. By growing them in rotation two or three related varieties may be maintained on one farm without mixing.

As a rule, seed more than one year old will not have as good germinating power as fresh seed, but with proper care in harvesting and storing most seeds will retain a sufficient vitality to be used after two or three years. It is however, not advisable to use old seed, except when necessary. In most cases one variety of a kind will be sufficient for the ordinary kitchen garden, and where this is true the multiplication of varieties should be avoided.

Deterioration of varieties can be prevented by consistent care in selecting the seed-bearing plants. Only the best plants should be selected, and these should be raised for seed only. Too much stress can not be placed upon the folly of leaving some of the poorest plants for seed because they can not be used for anything else.

Seed peas and beans should be saved from the best plants, selected for the purpose and not from those from which a crop has been gathered. Radishes, turnips, and beets that are not good enough for table use are also unfit for producing seed. Cabbage seed grown from stump after the head has been marketed is certain to be inferior and to give poorer plants the next season than seed saved from the soundest and best heads.

In selecting the plants the grower will of course be guided by the purpose in view. If he wishes early peas, he will select the plants that yield the earliest pods; if a sound head of cabbage is wanted rather than earliness, plants having this quality best developed will be selected for seed. In every case plants showing the desired qualities to greatest perfection should be set apart. In this way a variety will not only be kept up, but may be improved. Seedsmen maintain the type of a variety by a rigid "rogueing" of their fields, that is destroying all plants not conforming to the type. Some varieties would "run out" in a few years if this were not practiced.    Another source of deterioration is inbreeding. Where the same stock is raised year after year on the same place, it is almost sure to suffer a loss of vigor if not quality. Usually this may be remedied by the occasional introduction of fresh stock. Even if the seed was grown on a neighboring farm, the conditions would be slightly different and the plants would be of different ancestry. The plants from this seed grown beside those from the home stock would cross with the latter and the result would be increased vigor and productiveness without any injury to the variety.

Only second in importance to the selection of the plants is the selection of the seed itself. Not all the seed even of a good plant should be used for reproduction. Of the seeds gathered from prime plants some will be better than others. Only the largest, plumpest seeds should be preserved. It is true that large seeds from poor plants may be worse than small seed from good plants, but the best is never too good. By saving only the largest seeds from the most nearly typical plants the stock can not fail to be improved year after year. Too much emphases can not be placed upon this matter of selection. The selection of the best seed from typical plants is as essential to continued success in agriculture as are good soil and careful cultivation.

If a farmer is unwilling to exercise care in the production of seed, he would do much better not to attempt it. It takes years to build up a good variety, but a few seasons of carelessness in saving seed will suffice to destroy it. If he will not or can not exercise care in selection and in preventing undesirable crosses, the farmer would do much better to purchase seed each year. He may occasionally get a poor lot of seed, but if he buys from reliable dealers success will be far more frequent than failure.

    Seed should be allowed to ripen on the plant when possible, but must be gathered before the pods burst. Where there are but a few pods, they can of course be picked by hand when the seeds are fully matured. Seedsmen find it necessary to harvest the crop a little before full maturity, in order to prevent loss of seed. Melon and other wet seeds should be carefully spread out to dry, after which they can be safely kept for several years. When the seed on a plant ripens unevenly, the stalk may be cut and set away in a dry shady place to mature. The immature seeds, if not too young, will ripen and be of good quality.

When the seeds have been cleaned, they could be kept in a dry place. Seeds can safely endure natural extremes of heat and cold if kept dry. The way seeds are stored materially affects the length of time they will remain good. Seeds carefully grown, selected, and stored will repay all the attention bestowed upon them. A good farmer gives constant attention to selection and care in his treatment of live stock, corn, wheat, and potatoes, but too few give to their vegetable gardens the attention that they deserve. Greater care in selecting or purchasing seed would go far toward improving the condition of the farm burden and making it provide an unfailing supply of choice vegetables for the home table.

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SEED PRODUCTION AND SEED SAVING
By A. J. Pieters
Assistant Botanist, U.S. department of Agriculture