| Show J A TREATISE ON br BY E AYERS SAYERS horticulturist no 11 VITALITY OR LIFE OF SEED many persons have given to the world tables to point out the time during which different varieties varle varie tips s of vegetable vege tabe seeds eeds retain life lite in a dormant state the grat first of 0 these was cobbett the celebrated political writer of england who has since been followed by bys evenal vegetable elsts and amateurs most of whom agree within abear a year or two on cn the various data given for seed to retah retaa lite ilie in its ils dormant state as for instance the radish the cabbage turnip etc from three to f four our years onion seed from four to six averaging a ging most seed seede from three to six year years 8 grain the batlle batile garner for las isi ia latance tance wheat is set d down own at three thre to six years upon a little Inq inquiry pIry such statements will appear to be but of little use and that they have tear seen been een made without any correct investigation we are ari daily informed of wheat called mummy wheat being produced from feed taken out of an egyptian mummy supposed to have been preserved two thousand shousan years if this la Is true which wilch I 1 lave have no doubt I 1 it t is the theory must fall to the ground or more properly speaking be grounded au on an inc incorrect supposition upon a ehtle attention att ennon ernon to the 11 subject it will be seen that providence has endowed eed seed with certain properties by which the vital part or lite lue can be retained perfect in a dormant state fora foza foda for a great number of years THE PRE preserving SERVINa properties OF TIM TUB VITALITY OR or OF seed FEED I 1 hold it as a rule with sef beds ds which contain 0 J 1 l as cabbage turnip rape tape et e r that the oil esthe is the preserving property an 1 sf s long as it is retained so long the he vitality or lif lafof ot of the seed will be retained many 5 other contain bacr laer oc or milk others contain sugart ab garstar starch cb etc et cina in a con creto crate state these ilese v r ih joany are all reserving preserving properties of the life of seed teed i and when n too much heat beat moisture water or the th like ike come in contact with seed fo so as to make the oil rancid or cause it to pass through the tho covering of the a eds it must become lifeless and decay as it were within itself indeed the very elements of beat air and end water which cause a seed to germinate when embedded in its parent earth are the cause of destroying ying the life when in contact of seed in a dormant state out of the earth semen oll olt the essence of every vegetable la Is defined by linneus to be the deciduous part of a plant containing the rudiments of a new vegetable which is fertilized by the sprinkling of the male dust it would be useless for any person to attempt to glue ghie the correct time lime or period that any vegetable seed would retain I 1 life ilfe ife under the most moat favorable sivia tion to ascertain this it would require many years of actual experiment as the seeds of the various species of plants are of different size different construction and composed of entirely dif dlf different ivrene lerent properties at the same mine time however different any species of vegetable seed may be every variety is BO so complete as to serve the end for which it was at first intended OTHER otner OS OA senda besides the essential preserving properties spoke spoken off as contained in the seed there are 0 others therb which seem to be designed for a short period from the time the he seed comes into a matured state until its proper time of planting by closel closely y examining the temporary covering over each species of seed we can genera generally I 1 ay arrice at the proper time of planting WHEN SEEDS SHOULD BE PLANTED seeds that naturally require to bo be planted io in the fall or as soon as they are matured gener ally aily a lly liy have but little covering and fall to the ground grounds soon after bein being ripe tha lettuce and onion are examples in the he garden jarden of the he seed falling to the ground soon after being ripe and it if the ground js moist the seed immediately germinates gem mates the radish and many other garden seeds are contained in pods and preserved until the spring which is the natural time for such seed to ger minate the seed of apples pears peats melons and the like ferous ferons fruit is preserved for fora a season by the pulp until the he proper time of planting the peach plum cherry and all kinds of stone fruit are preserved by the he hard shell or covering until the spring when frost moisture etc acts 1 upon the outer covering so as to 0 o expose the ker ual or seed that it may germinate when the season is sufficiently advanced all kinds of hard shell or seed as nuts of the ho haze hazel hickory walnut etc eta bava hard shells for covering to protect the ke kernet kernel inel or seed for a season until its due time of germinal germI germinating nat ng or growth much more might be said on thi this subject which I 1 defer until a future time 1 1 ossia to u plant except exiel upon ridges tha Thyr e thins ain aln are often otten balte ax an abundant in slimmer coming in violent tropical show ghow th showers erst erat and the plants would be drowned out oot unless they stood above the common level of the field the crop lir lit 1 generally tilled from four tour to 61 lix six times timea according to the season and the circumstances of the planter these are ao so numerous that the cotton crop Is justly judt just I 1 as much more precarious than corn in the first pace piece it Is 1 much more tender and easily damaged from any came cale whatever it atia is frequently cut off by frost in april and then the whole ground has hag to be replanted la lif this month months aksoy alio the cockchafer cock chaser chaffer or cut worm la is to b ba and as the plant comes through the ground grounds and remains for several days like the pea or other paie pale with but two radical leaves every one of the plants cut by the worm above or below the surface Is destroyed in august the crop is liable to injury from excessive rains making makine the plants cast their blossoms and even thein their leaves in this month also the caterpillar caterpillars ls expected pecked this worm proceeds from a small email brown butterfly alyf resembling the candle moth this moth deposits its eggs upon the leaf always ft a night or two before the full or change of the moon they hatch batch ina in a few hours atter alter they are laid laida and are so small as to be hardly visible like the silk worm they appear to linger in their first stages doing no great injury for the first eight or ten days they then become extremely voracious and like the locusts of the east sweep every thing before them promising fields of hundreds ol 01 acres in extent are sometimes strip tot of every leaf and pod in three or four days involving an entire loss of crop these destructive visitors are faid said to come as often as once in seven years all the thi bottom lands are subject to overflow and these often continue EO so late in the springs spring as to prevent the planting of cotton this was the case on hund bund hundreds reds of plantations in the valley of the mississippi last year years and the overflow has been still higher and longer protracted acte d the present season the loss of crops tor for two seasons 1 in succession succession must subject multitudes to serious tem embarrass barrass ment me nt and make many 1 when the cotton fields escape all these sources of injury they present as beautiful a spectacle as any crop clop gron grown in the country it Is a goodly sight to behold the wide waving fields of luxuriant green variegated with flowers of three colors from early in july until september and with multitudes of f pods in every stage of their growth the blossom when it first makes its appearance Is a fine yellow colors color which it holds during the day at night it changes to a crimson or red huey hues hue and on the third day turns a chocolate brown and falls off leaving a pod about a halt half inch la in diameters diameter PICKING begins soon after the pods begin to open from the first to the last of august ao cording according to the latitude and the forwardness w ward I 1 ward lard nest ness of the season this Is the most delightful and joyous season in tit the whole circle of the year upon the cotton plantation the hands where they are well weil treated entering into the sympathies of the master masters in gathering the har harvest vrest irest their ambition sabit ambli loix Is often stimulated by pay for extra work or by tasks which hold bold out the promise of leisure or some soma coveted indulgence As the days work Is 13 measured by weight it Is particularly easy to allot the work in tasks to which slaves are always partial the picking roq ulris ulra sleight of hand band and some who have th the e proper training will pick more mare than twice as much as others the tho whole force of the plantation Is brough brought tont ont la in this bus bui business iness and the work Is I 1 more bore pressing than at any other period the hands bands young and old male mala and tem female ale aie are provided with ossa burg bags hung over the neck and shoulders and open la in front into which the cotton Is put pat as tast fast as picked these bags hold as much as ava can be conveniently handled and ate aie emptied into osna otna borg sheets or large basket ba placed at convenient intervals along the rows thebe caebe baskets will hold a halt half days work or more and are carried to the ain aln honse house or place of deposit in the afternoon cleanliness in the picking Is 13 enforced upon the hand hands sas as every particle of leafor iest leaf or stalk mixed with the stapie staple injures its value the average doys days work Is not far tar from forty flye five to fifty pound in w what hat Is called a good opening in the rich bottom lands in a good sea gea ea soup gon con it would be much higher and in poor lands lauds it w would euid fuld be ire much less the fresn fresa picked cotton Is spread upon a to dry this Is usually apart of the gln gin house bouse into which the thel cotton Is Te moved removed in case of rain the scaffolds are re about four reet teet wide so that the hands can walk upon each tlde tide to turn over the cotton wh while ble ile drying after drying the short staple or upland cotton Is 13 immediately ginned and prepared for market markets GINNING she he nin gin house houge Is usually the largest upon tibe tike and aad not la the most expensive jt it usually embraces the mills mill drying ho house hoase use ase and gis gin el under the same root roof the machinery for tor bath both mill and gin ilin Is to turned by mules or horses the che arrangement Is iea very much moon after the pattern of the old fa f cloned bark mills ellla the buli bull building ling Is raised upon posts about eight feet teet high and the sweeps of the mill and of thelta thein abeln the wen open shed underneath the building jt it was a great day deLy tor for the plantations plantation when whitney sst eel his cotton gln gin toworu to work this imports important at branch of agriculture could never haye have attained its unsent ent ascend icy ancy tacy without this or some similar intention invention the tho long baus taut aal adl tedious process of hand kand cleaning tor for the short staple cotmon cotton la Is completely superseded there en a variety of gina ina laa jn in common usey uses use as the barrel barrei gin gln E etess ea gin add and WhIt whitneys abe last Is mainly depended upon uon for cleaning inythe he upland cot cotton fort the lons ions staple stapie orsel or se island being still still cleaned by band saw la Is an ingenious contil connivance vance rance for separating th tha the eseed sees rees from he fabres fibres fabre fibre and may be worked by watery waters water waler by oxen or oher animal iwer i A series eerie at of circular iron plates plit tesy tess armed with are arran arrau arranged ged upon a cylinder about three tombs of an inch apart aart As the cylinder revolves tle tl ll e teeth oraw draw the cotton wool through the openings of iroll iron straps ut of the he binand hoppers hopper in which the cotton Is placed these openings are too narrow for the seed to pass past the aton Is brushed from the teeth by brushes on nother bother cylinder after glnn ginn lugy lug fhe cotton la id carefully moukad ever over and picked of all ali 11 renu ining filing j broken seede seeds and put up in bales of about four hull buli hundred dred lourds pound each sech 4 1 1 |
