SEED STORAGE Are those seeds any good which you had left over after planting your garden last spring? Most packets now cost 25 cents or more, compared to a dime only a few years ago. So, it would be a nice saving if you could plant this spring those which you did not use last year. Many kinds of garden seeds remain viable for several years. Therefore, check your supply carefully before you make out your new order. The germination percentage you secure from old seeds depends in part on the conditions under which they are stored. The best way to keep most seeds from year to year is in a tight jar in your home refrigerator. We appreciate that such space usually is not available. The second choice is to store your seeds in a tight con- tainer in a cool basement. Seeds may lose viability quite rapidly in the warm temperatures of the average home. In general, garden seeds may be divided into three groups, in terms of their longevity. Short life span seeds should give satisfactory germination for one or two years. Medium life span seeds usually will remain viable for three or four years. Long life seeds should grow after storage of five to six years and sometimes longer. Accurate information on the longevity of flower seeds is hard to find. Based on limited observations, the following should be considered as short ife span seeds: astor, candytuft, cleome, columbine, honesty, kochia, phlox, salvia, strawflower, and vinca. Some of the more common flowers with long life seeds are alyssum, calendula, centaurea, coreopsis, cosmos, marigold, nasturtium, nigella, petunia, salpiglossis, scabiosa, schizanthus, sweet pea, verbena, viola, and zinnia. Most vegetable seeds have rather long life, but there are a few important exceptions. For example, corn, leek, onion, and parsnip seeds have short life spans. Those with medium longevity include beans, beet, carrot, Swiss chard, mustard, pepper, pumpkin, and tomato. The seeds of other commonly grown vege- tables will usually grow quite well even when five or more years old. You may test the germination of your seeds by placing a definite number on moist blotter paper in a dish or pan covered with plastic or glass to maintain a high humidity. Place your seed containers in a warm location and count those which germi- nate in 10 to 14 days. From these figures you can easily deter- mine the percentage germination and adjust the thickenss of planting accordingly. Plant your old seeds more thickly than you do fresh ones. If the seeds are at or beyond the above suggested ages, plant them about twice as thick as usual. Scatter them in a band in the row rather than in a narrow dense line.