ORCHARD GRASS. 145 



wise the seeds will shatter much during the process of 

 harvesting. 



Two methods of harvesting have met with more or less 

 general favor. By the first, the binder is set high, at 

 least a foot from the ground, and is run over the crop. 

 The object sought is to secure the stems and heads which 

 are bound in sheaves in order that the parts beneath 

 the cut portion may be mowed and made into hay, for 

 which it is fairly well adapted, because of the abundance 

 of the leaves. By the second method the binder is also 

 used. The sheaves are carried by the bundle carrier, 

 that a number may be dropped off in one place. These 

 are set up in round shocks, and the top of the shock 

 is bound with a band drawn from one of the sheaves. 

 If the weather is good, threshing from the shock is labor- 

 saving, and is attended with but little loss of seed, but 

 the crop may of course be housed or stacked and 

 threshed later. When drawing the sheaves, the wagon 

 rack should be covered with a canvas to prevent losing 

 the seed that drops from the head, with the same object 

 in view the aim should be to lift each round shock entire 

 by using a suitable fork. It would also seem to be labor 

 saving to harvest the seed with a stripper suitably made. 



The seed may be threshed with a common thresher, 

 but special sieves are used. In winnowing the seed spe- 

 cial screens are also necessary, and care must be taken in 

 handling the same to avoid heating until it is dry. 



The yield per acre varies from 5 to 20 bushels. The 



average yield is probably about 8 or 10 bushels. While 



the weight of the seed varies somewhat, the average 



weight may be put at say 14 pounds to the measured 



Grasses — 10. 



