MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN BULLETIN 85 
by successive washings, the good heavy seed falling to the 
bottom of the receptacle, while the skin, pulp, and light 
seed float on the top. The good seeds should then be spread 
in thin layers upon sheets and allowed to lie in the sun until 
thoroughly dried and cured, which usually takes 3-4 days 
in bright sunny weather. They should then be stored in 
cloth or paper sacks and placed in a dry atmosphere with 
plenty of air circulation. 
Beans are harvested by pulling the vines up when the 
seed are ripe and stacking hom around poles 4-5 feet high 
to cure for 4-5 days. As soon as the vines are thoroughly 
dried they are taken to a storage place and threshed by means 
of flails or special machinery when in large quantities. After 
threshing the seed should be sorted and all that is small 
or diseased thrown aside. Lima beans are harvested in a 
similar manner but are left to cure longer in the field. 
The value of seed corn is largely dependent on the way 
it is gathered and cured. The crop should be harvested 
as soon as the grain has fully passed into the dough or 
milk state. The cut stalks should be put into shocks for 
4 or 5 days, after which the ears may be husked and placed 
in drying cribs. In curing corn it is essential that every 
ear be exposed to circulating air until all grain is perfectly 
dry and that the temperature be kept above 36° F., as the 
vitality of green corn is considerably lessened by exposure 
to cold weather. The ears may be placed on slats laid upon 
scaffolds in a barn or any other airy warm place. Another 
method is to use sticks 1-2 inches wide and 4 feet long in 
which nails have been driven at uniform distances, the ears 
of corn being stuck upon these nails and the entire stick 
hung up. Corn keeps best when left on the cob until ready 
for use and is not injured by cold weather once it is thor- 
oughly dried. 
For production of onion seed on a small scale mature bulbs 
should be selected and planted early in the spring, 4-5 inches 
deep, 6 inches apart, and 18 inches between rows. After the 
stalks are well started the soil should be hilled around 
the plants to provide support. This is done several times 
a season, finally leaving a ridge 8 inches high. Promptness 
is important, because if delayed, the seed receptacles burst 
Seo shedding the seed. When the tops become yellow they 
should be removed with 5-6 inches of stem and stored in 
well-ventilated rooms until dry enough for threshing. As 
the entire crop does not mature at the same time several 
cuttings are necessary. Cleaning is done by repeated win- 
nowing and by washing in buckets to separate the light seed 
