AMERICAN SEED GROWING Cheap Seeds the Most Expensive GUY ELLIOTT MITCHELL growing of farm lies idle and he “curses en seeds may be cc important of icul tries, for unless the q i intai the iminished re ity, s iorated in qual g crop ud. reat m seed business is a promis the car-lo which he producing capacity deteriorates, in most succe tities of see what cauti bu amount ry inferior seed from some ot nsidered the | has - indus- | whereas the fa f the seed | was is me and deter-| that if applied to kinds of seed. a whole, the loss would | ¥ buyer is particu the uan years ago, |seed buyer, practiced by thus sHown simply pe vise and pound foolish This can be said Or 2 it is ve that they wil 1e), and unl y observant Tricks of Some Dealers. Another method of { who never expect to do bus ond time with the customer, is to him outright the c fine f the Ur Then came a great demand fo y were States. A Field of Seed Lettuce. Parsnip Growing For Seed. California Scenes. a = ” =8 » 4 J SONI SAT gw. Fett JT LTS zy =r ESTE are 1 ato- tate some of the vastes e world are found, where the s over unbroken rows, miles in extent, at least as far as the eye can reach. If all this industry should cease for a year and the farmer and gardener became dependent for the succeeding crop on the seeds which he.would him- self save during the year, the shrinkage in production throughout the country would amount to tens of millions of dollars, In the Olden Times. Of course, in the early days each farmer saved his own seed; possibly he exchanged seeds with one or two neigh- bors or friends. At that time there was little competition in farming, the produc- tion of the farm was used mainly for the support of the family, and the farm supplied practically all the necessities and even the luxuries of life. The earliest seed-farm in the United States is believed to have been started by David Landreth, the originator of the present big seed house. This was before the Revolutionary war, on a small farm, now included in the city of Philadelphia. It is estimated that over 250,000 acres, including land in probably every state in the Union, a: now devoted solely to growing s crops, and some of the largest growe plant annually as high as 2,000 acres. Get Good Clover Seed. The advantage of securing good ger minating seed is manifest. Take for instance clover seed which is sown on wheat-stubble in the spring. It is al ways possible to secure it at 50 cents or $1.00 per bushel below the market price quoted by the reputable seedsmen. What is the result of using such seed? It must be considered a foregone con- clusion that such seed is poor, worth even less than the reduced price. at which it i1s offered. The land has been prepared for pasture or hay, some of the fertilizer used on the wheat crop still remaining in the soil for the use of the clover and timothy, and the grass and clover seed is sown to become the de- pendence of the farmer for his hay crop. He buys cheap seed; 30, 40, 5 or 60 per cent. of it is an adulteration of seed which has been killed or is old, dead or weak clover seed. The re- mainder is good, fresh seed. If he buys this seed, likely putting off purchase until the eleventh hour, and uses it gthout testing its germinating qual- ties, he may be lucky if he gets half a stand In other words, half his land t ‘seed | { Rocky Ford seed. At the cantaloupe season various could be seen going over the Rocky Ford cantaloupe patches and disem- boweling immature and frosted canta-| loupes for their seed. This seed, it is | true, was genuine Rocky Ford canta-| loupe seed, and it would probably ger- minate 95 or 68 per cent., but it is ob- vious, its sale as first-class seed was an imposition. Nevertheless thousands of’ packages were annually foisted upon seed buyers. So if you are going to buy seed, and buying seed to a greater or less extent | is advisable, not to say necessary, it! becomes a foregone conclusion that it pays to buy good seed and therefore to | know from whom you are buying. The Government Seed Business, The Agricultural Department is busier than usual sending out millions of pack- | individuals ages of free seeds for Congressmen. It | (should be understood that this free seed | distribution, while carried out by the| Secretary of Agriculture, is no scheme | of his, but is a Congressional affair, pure | and simple. In every session there is| one or more bills introduced abolishing | what has been termed by more than one of many different expensive early an easy ler to 3 it may] jnever occur to him that he has been {It is for thi | wisest farm Re at ZAIN Pe system whe vho wants to ituents has an opport ittle package of ti st of voters a yea for fre If somebody v ith this big that the Secretary of Agric purchase in open market r seeds of grazing and forage plar the same and publish the names © sons selling adulterated So extensive is the seed business in S€eas. the United States that many seedmen go | | to an enormo {each year cata {varieties offered { expense in publishing | Home Tests of Seeds. The Departm | der t of Agri re in or- 0 determine for o aid : Iv e the ble if | near a be leit defrauding the ap seedsmen iness a sec- SEED LETTUCE AND ONIONS IN H € res verybody, lar seedmen. is one of great ma of course, d hou iterate the utable firms take gr | that their seeds are not only {good ger name. The old each grower to original crop may not appreciably second year, the crop 3 will show a marked fa off in yield. reason that some of the send regu- 1 for seed. always carry a novelties and new cribed in an ex- tremely attractive It is well enough to try these novelties, but it is ood advice to consider them as such and have the main crop to fall back upon from the standard or well-tried varieties which have stood the test of years. An examination of many of the seeds of common vegetable and forage re- veals the fact that an immense amount of poor seed is sold to American farm- ers and gardeners. Farmers as a rule are responsible for this condition, since, as has been said, many of them buy the cheapest seed in the market and trust entirely to luck for it to produce the en- tire crop. Such seed is dear at any price, and is withal one of the principal source of the hosts of bad weeds which are to be seen upon many farms. For the last few years there has been a constantly increasing outcry against larly considera The seed cata Congressman the free seed farce, and speeches have been made annually de- riding the practice, showing that it is unnecessary and unprofitable and a waste of public money; yet when it comes to voting for a measure which Flower Seed Growing is an Extensive Industry, the seeds sold by unscrupulous dealers and with it a demand for legislation. Congress and a few states have passed laws regulating the trade in seeds. The Secretary of Agriculture under an Ac of Congress has authority to, and does, EAD open irom time to A om in wi by tl seedmen 1 whether or not the This is done that i A HUNDRED ACRE RADISH FIELD. these growths are and kept for re is from November to March, and often April, when enormous quantities of seeds and bulbs pass through the buildings first in giving the many 1 Hi : | by the Nitrate Propaganda, New | 273 Bradford Building, 2 are THE BEST | } THAT CAN BE CROWN : If you want the choicest vegetables or most beautiful cers y id read E’S FARM ANNUAL FOR 1906,—s0 well known Bee : se re DE It ismailed FREE to all. Better send your ddress TO-DAY W. ATLEE BURPEE & CO., PHILADELPHIA. 15: OW TO BUILD AN “ We will send Com- INCUBATOR 3 Incubator Brooder plans ER mild your own machines at itt yone can do it. Incubator 22d Brood er Sup- ite for b PLANS " mx SHEER CO, | Illustrated & BROODER showing how to Also fine illustrated catalog of FREE pest 57 Quincy, IL ; | 1 fertilizers and how to use them, entitled Foobp For PLANTS,” is being dis uted York. A post card with your address will bring you a copy free. Nitrate Propaganda, Asdcrsoa Building, NewYork we will send this mag: also as a premium a ction collection of flower seeds, %0 varieties, FR BE E Order to-day.and be sure to getthem in time for plant WOODLAWN NURSERY, MALDEN, ASS is the title of Our New Catalogue for 1906—the most beauti- ‘ful and instructive horticultural publication of the day— 186 pages—700 engravings —7 superb colored plates— 7 duotone plates of vegetables and flowers. To give this catalogue the largest possible distribution, we make the Dbllowing liberal offer Every Empty Envelope Counts as Cash To every one who will state where this advertisement was seen entloses Ten Cents (in stamps), we will mail the catalogt.z, and also s , our famous 50=Cent ** Henderson *’ Collection of sec acket cach of Giant Sweet Peasy Giant F Pan: Radish; in acoupon envelope, , when emptied ccepted as a 25-cent ~~ ~h payment oa any order ssdupeard w amounting to $1.00 35 &37 CortianeT , ST. New York CiTY. THEY ALL WANT IT! Patent Egg Separa- Every H « Hotel, R Bakery, in fact Dr ntly separates nd white, nota cle of the latter ing in the r. Does not 3 Made from solid piece of metal. Always bright and ready for use, Sample 10 cents. fected me and enables you to breathe easily, chin large stomach and fat hips. P their patients to take wy treatment an selves are my patients. I absolutely guarantee every case. Write to-day for free tri send you free my new book on Obesity outline of my trestment; it will be sent e. a HENRY C. BRADFORD, M. D., KANCY SUPPLY cCO., 20 East 224 Street, Kew York City. Box 215, Washington, D. C. Agents wanted for these and other goods. Write for circulars and terms. large sacks and later in smaller pack-| ages by mail and express on their way | to the progressive American agricul- turist. A — P.eserving Strict Silence. In Korea the women, on their wed: | ding day, will not open their mouths | to peak, no matter what the tempta- | tion or provocation. | Sometimes this silence is continued | through the first week of married life. | Although no such custom exists in| the Western world, extraordinary cases | arz not wanting. In the early forties a New York lady unaertook, for a wager of $150, to remain mute during the month of her married life. | Her new-made h—sband, who, natur- | ally, was not in the secret, was so much incensed at his bride’s behavior, that he left her before her task was com- pleted, only to return later when ap- prised of the real reason for this un- natural silence. On one anniversary of their wedding | day a Brussels couple quarrelled so bitterly that the wife, in a passion, vowed that her husband should never | again hear the sound of hér voice, She | would there and then have left the | house, but her now penitent husband implored her not to desert him. To that extent only did his entreaties pre | vail, for she kept the letter of her oath | and never in her spouse's presence | did she unloose her tongue. An Austrian woman, whose husband was in hiding from the authorities, in. advertently betrayed his whereabouts | to a neighbor, who was secretly in the | pay of the police. As a result, he was | taken, and received a term of imprison. ment. So much did his wife take to heart this misfortune, which had been | brought about by her gossip, that she | resolved for the remainder of her life | to remain mute. She would not make an exception even in her husband’s favor, for, although she received him on his release with the utmost affec- tion, she maintained an obdurate silence till her death, three years later, Cordial Foreign Relations. Mrs. O'Riley—And are yez on spakin’ terms wid Mrs, Zylonski. Mrs. Murphy—Av course I am. She called me a thafe an’ I told her she was another. HOW TO MAKE SCHOOL GARDENS. By H. D. Hemenway. This suggestive little bock is a practical manual of school gardening for both teacher and pupil, and supplies the first adequate work of the sort in this country This volume is based on actual experience (the author is an authority and director of the Hartford School of Horticulture). CONTENTS : Introductio How to Make a Garden; Twenty-One Lessons in Garden Work—May to September; Bibliography; Lessons in Greenhouse Work; Planting Seed, Potting, etc.; Root Grafting; Lessons in Budding. Size, 5x7; pages, 107; binding, cloth; illustrations, 26. special arrangement with Doubleday, Page & Co., I am able for the present B to mae the following SPECIAL OFFER. The new Garden Magazine, 6 months, and How to Make School Gardens, $1.00 edition, postpaid, both for $1.00, . , . . . . . The GARDEN MAGAZINE is finely illustrated, and is the finest magazine cf its kind published in America. To take advantage of this special offer, orders should be sent at once to H. D. Hemenway, Hartford, Connecticut. This offer may be withdrawn at any time. ONLY ONE LIFE TO LIVE That's the Reason Why EVERYBODY should get the most out of life that they can. get it is in the Home, and MAXWELL HONEMARER MacAz omes every month in the year and tells you The place to How to Build a Home How to Make a Garden \round It How to Live In It' How to Ente tain In It How to Enjoy Life In It Some of the regular departments of the magazine are The Home Garden Music in the Home Hints to Homemakers The Home Study Health in the Home Home Etiquette Home Cooking Little Folks in the Home Home Cheer Entertaining in the Home AND REMEMBER It isn’t made with a scissors and.a paste pot. There's good ‘‘grey matter” goes into every page of it. There's human sympathy in every line of it. There 8 originality and genuine good hard common sense all through it. It gon’ patios take to tell you how to be happy on a million a year, but it does tell yo how to be happy on the modest income that so many millions live on Ww t bave a million a year to spend. And the magazine costs (0c. for One Whole Year---That's All And it's worth ten dollars for its good suggestions about life and health and homemaking. Send your dime or five two-cent stamps to MAXWELL'S HOMEMAKER MAGAZINE, 3409 Fisher Building, CHICAGO.