The best of everything should be saved for seed. Peas, beans, corn,
tomatoes, &c., should not be gathered promiscuously, finally preserving
the last that matures, for seed. Leave some of the finest and earliest
stocks, and from them save seed, not from the first or the last that
matures, but from the earliest that grows large and fair. Save
tomato-seed from those that grow largest, but near the root. Gather all
seeds as soon as mature, as remaining exposed to the weather is
unfavorable to vegetation. Dry in a warm place in the shade, but not too
near a stove or fire. Keep in paper bags, hung in a dry airy place,
beyond the reach of mice.
Trying the quality of seeds is important, as it may save loss and
disappointment, from sowing seeds that will not vegetate. A little
cotton wool or moss in a tumbler containing a little water, and placed
in a warm room, will afford a good means of testing seeds. Seeds placed
on that wool, will vegetate sooner than they would do in the soil. But a
more speedy, and generally sure method, is by putting a few seeds on the
top of a hot stove. If they are good they will crack like corn in
parching; otherwise they will burn without noise, and with very little
motion. The improvement or declension of fruits, grains, and vegetables,
depend very materially upon the manner of gathering and preserving
seeds. Gather promiscuously and late, and keep without care, and rapid
declension will be the result. Gather the earliest and best, and plant
only the very best of that saved, and constant improvement will be
secured.