. Cyclopedia of farm crops, a popular survey of crops and crop-making methods in the United States and Canada;. Farm produce; Agriculture. Fig. 206. A corn-planter. Storing of seeds. The first requisite to the keeping of seeds is to have them well grown, from strong and healthy parents. The second requisite is to have them well cured, or free from mold and damp. Usually it is best to thresh before storing, for there is less danger from damp and from vermin, and the seeds occupy less space. The room should be dry and devoid of great extremes in temperature. Very low temperature is less inimical
. Cyclopedia of farm crops, a popular survey of crops and crop-making methods in the United States and Canada;. Farm produce; Agriculture. Fig. 206. A corn-planter. Storing of seeds. The first requisite to the keeping of seeds is to have them well grown, from strong and healthy parents. The second requisite is to have them well cured, or free from mold and damp. Usually it is best to thresh before storing, for there is less danger from damp and from vermin, and the seeds occupy less space. The room should be dry and devoid of great extremes in temperature. Very low temperature is less inimical than very high temperature. Moist seeds are less able to withstand extremes of temperature than dry seeds. Ordinary winter temperatures in a secure loft are harmless. In large quantities seeds are usually best stored in bags. (Fig. 189.) In all cases, it is well to keep the bags or boxes tied or shut, to avoid currents of air and thereby avoid either too much dampness or too great drying, and to exclude vermin. Most nests of drawers allow runways for mice. Fig. 190 illustrates poor and good construction. Peas and beans and maize are specially liable to in- jury by weevils when in storage. Bisulfid of carbon may be poured into the receptacle on the seeds. It quickly volatilizes and destroys all animal life if the receptacle is immediately closed tight. A tear spoonful is sufficient for eight or ten quarts of seed in a very tight box or drawer. Carbon bisulfid is very inflammable and care should be exercised to avoid the danger of an explosion. It should never be handled freely in rooms containing fires of any kind. It is a thin liquid, volatilizing at low temperatures; therefore the receptacles containing it should be tightly sealed. Hydrocyanic acid gas (made by pouring sulfuric acid on pieces of cyanide of potassium) may be used to destroy insects when they infest whole rooms or buildings. This gas is exceedingly poisonous, however, and it should be used only by those who hav
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