The gardener will consult his judgment and his pocketbook in buying
seeds, as there are many varieties of which, if he has a good strain,
he can save as good seed as he can buy; but the greatest care should
be used in doing so, as the quality and quantity will both rapidly
deteriorate if inferior specimens are selected from which to save seed.
Thus it will not do to take off all the best ears of corn, or the
tightest heads of lettuce, using the nubbins and runts for seed, or the
next year the nubbins will predominate and the lettuce will go to seed
without taking the trouble to form a head at all.
The best plan is to set apart a section of the row of each variety for
seed, and not gather any for use from that part; here all the nubbins
and inferior specimens could be pulled off, throwing the full strength
of the plant into the finest fruits; and the same way with the vines;
one or more hills, as desired, could be kept for the purpose of bearing
seed only.
All seeds should be thoroughly cleaned and dried, and each package
should be carefully marked with name and date before storing. The
seed chest should be in some cool place where there is no danger of
frost or very warm heat, and, most of all, no danger from dampness.
It is important to have the date of saving the seed marked, so that
when all is not used it may be kept, as frequently a crop fails from
a bad season or other causes, and a new lot of equal merit cannot be
obtained, the date serving to tell how good the seed is; seed of some
vegetables retaining vitality for only two years, and others as long as
ten years.