Definition of "seed-bed" []

• A piece of ground prepared for receiving seed: often used figuratively. (noun)
• In forestry, a specially prepared area, usually in the forest nursery, for the raising of seedlings. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "In the distance, on the low, easy-sloping hills, he saw team after team, and many teams, three to a team abreast, what he knew were his Shire mares, drawing the plows back and forth across, contour-plowing, turning the green sod of the hillsides to the rich dark brown of humus-filled earth so organic and friable that it would almost melt by gravity into fine-particled seed-bed."
• "The governor deplored the split with “our oldest, strongest allies,” and now, “worst of all, the fate of mankind hangs in the balance in this seed-bed of human civilization.”"
• "This socially corrosive theory has played its part in providing the fertile seed-bed for Islamic extremism to take root in the UK and the West."