122 Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



there is less shattering 1 when it is handled in a damp condition than when 

 dry. The preference is for small cocks, put up with pitchforks. Cocks no 

 larger than may conveniently be placed on the wagon by one man, a 

 forkful at a time, are preferred by many. The bunches left by the self- 

 rake reaper and the mower with windrowing and bunching attachments 

 are especially adapted to rapid cocking with a minimum amount of shat- 

 tering. Where the crop is bound the sheaves are shocked like grain. 



In case of rain the cocks must be turned for thorough drying; and 

 there are growers who turn the cocks even in good drying weather, in 

 order that they may be quickly dried on both sides. As a rule, from five 

 to ten days are required for the crop to become sufficiently cured and 

 dry for threshing or storing. In no case should a seed crop be threshed 

 or stored until it is well cured and thoroughly dry. The aim, however, 

 should be to get it off the field at the earliest possible moment, for there 

 is always danger of rain while it is yet in the open. 



TRANSPORTING THE SEED CROP FROM THE FIELD. 



When it comes to transporting the seed crop from the field to the 

 thresher or the stack, particular care is necessary to prevent shattering. 

 At this time the pods are dry, and any rough handling will cause a con- 

 siderable loss. The usual practice is to haul the crop on canvas-covered 

 hay wagons. The canvas is placed directly on the wagon bed, and will 

 catch quite a quantity of shattered seed. If the cocks are small, a 

 whole cock may be carefully lifted to the wagon at one time with pitch- 

 forks, and the tearing apart of the cocks and shattering of the seed be 

 thus avoided. Not a few of the larger growers "slip under the shocks 

 with a sweep rake, taking three shocks to a load, and move the shocks 

 to the thresher or the stack." While this mefhod may cause a greater 

 loss by shattering than the wagon method, it is probably most economical 

 for large acreages. 



STACKING THE SEED CROP. 



The stacking of a seed crop is accomplished very much like the stack- 

 ing of a hay crop. The differences lie in the more frequent use of the 

 hay wagon, the more careful handling, the abstinence from tramping, 

 and the greater effort used to protect the stack. There are some who 

 use the sweep rakes and stacker, but they are in the minority. As with 

 hay, the stack should not rest directly upon the ground. Some growers 

 alternate layers of alfalfa with layers of dry straw, with the object of 

 taking up any surplus moisture. The alfalfa must be dry before stacking, 

 because stack-burning is one of the worst things that can happen to 

 seed crop. The stack should be covered in the very best manner possible, 

 with the same kinds, of covers as are used for hay. 



RAIN ON SEED CROP. 



Rain, particularly rain that is heavy or long continued, causes serious 

 damage when it falls on a cut and unthreshed seed crop. It is a common 

 cause of discoloring and sprouting of seed, of bursting and shattering 

 of the seed pods, and of molding and heating in the stack and the con- 

 sequent destruction of vitality in the seed. Such damage considerably 



