Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

WORK ON A SEED FARM. 79 SELECTING TURNIP ROOTS FOR SEED (WEBB’S). searching examination, and should one show the slightest signs of deterioration—if it falls short of the inspector’s ideal—it is im- mediately pulled up and thrown away ; the reputable firm cannot afford to save seed from such as these. But the expert goes a step further than this ; for each perfect fruit—and in a tomato this will mean colour, form, depth of flesh, and a good truss—is specially marked with a short piece of bass or of conspicuously coloured wool. Every one thus distinguished is for stock seed, and not for sale. Thus it comes about that with this care each season the variety never falls below a certain clearly defined standard; on the contrary, there is fre- quently a perceptible advance. As it is with tomatoes so it is with all kinds of flowers and veget- ables, as well as all kinds of farm crops. There is ever that strenuous searching for the ideal which spells excellent stock seeds and means the maintenance of the reputation of the house. One might think that this expensive process of examination would satisfy the most exacting seed merchant, but such is by no means the case. He must ascertain the vegetative power of every kind and variety of seed that enters his warehouse. For this purpose a sample is taken of each, and the packet is marked with the name of the variety and the source whence the bulk was obtained. These are then entered in a book in which all the particulars are repeated and a column is left blank. A certain number of seeds are sown in pots or in the open ground, or on sheets of blotting paper kept consist- ently moist, a,id as they germinate the exact number of seedlings is counted and entered in the column that has been reserved in the trial book. Here, again, a certain standard is essential, or the seeds are never sold. Then, if a customer writes to complain that such and such a packet of seeds failed to give satis- faction in germinating, reference is made to the book, and the seed merchant sees at a glance exactly how many per hundred vegetated under trial. This, of course, tends to the satisfaction of both seller and buyer. Some idea of the magnitude of the outdoor trials is given in our illustration portraying “ Five Miles of STACKING MANGOLDS (SUTTONS).