144 



GROWING SEED CROPS 



Fig. 224. 

 English rye-grass. 



ored than Kentucky blue-grass. Individual seeds 

 are very similar to the latter, hence this seed is 

 used successfully as an adulterant. The apex of 

 the seed is less sharply 

 pointed and often flares 

 somewhat, becoming 

 rounded (c). The seed 

 usually is widest a little 

 above the middle (a). 

 The intermediate nerves 

 (b) are very indistinct. 

 The presence of Canada 

 blue -grass seed as an 

 adulterant can be de- 

 termined only by the use 

 of a lens. 



Perennial or English rye-grass {Lolium per- 

 enne). Fig. 224. The seed is so similar to, that of 

 meadow fescue that it is distinguished with diffi- 

 culty. The distinguishing mark lies in the rachilla 

 segment (a) which is flattened externally and grad- 

 ually broadens toward the apex, which is scarcely 

 expanded. 



Italian rye-grass (Lolium Italicum). Fig. 225. 

 The seed is similar to that of perennial rye-gasss, 

 with the exception that most of the seeds bear a 

 slender awn at the 

 apex. The rachilla 

 segment is some- 

 what intermediate 

 in form between 

 that of perennial 

 rye-grass and that 

 of meadow fescue, 

 but usually dis- 

 tinguishes the rye- 

 grass from the 

 fescue. 



Both kinds of 

 rye-grass seed are used as adulterants of orchard- 

 grass seed. Their flatter form and the awn of 

 Italian rye-grass readily distinguish them from 

 the angular, curved seeds of orchard-grass. 



GROWING SEED CROPS 



By W. W. Tracy 



The requisities for growing farm seed of the 

 best quality are, (1) a field free of weed seeds or 

 plants ; (2) the use of pure stock seed of desira- 

 ble strain ; (3) so to harvest the crop as to secure 

 a clean, bright sample of high vitality ; (4) the 

 careful use of machines for threshing and cleaning 

 the seed. The way the machines are used is quite 

 as important as their structure. Often one person 

 will secure a poor sample of seed when another, 

 by a wiser use of the same machines, will get an 

 extra-fine sample from a similar lot of seed. 



The business of growing seed crops on the farm 

 may be considered under three general divisions, 

 according to the direct purposes for which the 

 seeds are grown : (1) The growing of seeds, usu- 

 ally of cereal and forage crops, to be sold on the 

 market by sample, as are other farm crops ; (2) 



Fig. 225. Italian rye-grass. 



the growing of seeds, chiefly of garden vegeta« 

 bles, on contract with seedsmen; (3) the grow- 

 ing and breeding of improved strains of seeds to 

 be used on the farm, with the sale, perhaps, of the 

 surplus. 



(1) Growing cereal and forage-crop seeds for the 

 general market. 



The crops grown specifically for seed in the past 

 have been chiefly the grasses and clovers, the only 

 special effort being to secure pure seed unmixed 

 with weed seeds ; but of recent years there has 

 been increased attention to growing seed- not only 

 of grasses and clover but of cereals, com and other 

 crops of selected strains that are adapted to spe- 

 cial soils and uses. Certain sections are especially 

 adapted to the growing of certain kinds of seeds. 

 For example, millet seed can be grown best in the 

 southern states, clover and wheat in more northern 

 sections, and field corn in the central states. 



The methods vary with the kinds of seed and the 

 places where they are grown. Usually timothy is 

 cut, bound into bundles, cured, and then threshed, 

 being cleaned in ordinary farm mills with special 

 screens. Orchard-grass is harvested in much the 

 same way. Kentucky blue-grass is harvested by 

 strippers, which strip the seed from the standing 

 stalks. The gathered seed is allowed to cure in 

 windrows, on hard earth floors or in open sheds, 

 and is there threshed and cleaned. Clover is gen- 

 erally cut with the mower, allowed to cure in 

 windrows or bunches in the fleld, and is then 

 threshed in special machines or hullers. With the 

 exception of the stripper or comber used in gather- 

 ing blue-grass, red-top and a few other kinds, and 

 possibly of some flngers to be attached to the cut- 

 ting-bars of mowing machines for cutting clover 

 and peas, no special machines are necessary. Spe- 

 cially constructed machines for hulling clover are 

 desirable, but in sections where clover seed can be 

 grftwn profitably, threshers with such machines 

 usually move from farm to farm. The final clean- 

 ing for market is done by farm mills, of which 

 there are many forms that do good work. 



(2) Growing vegetable seed crops on contract. 



To many farmers, seed-growing for a widely 

 advertised firm is more attractive than growing 

 ordinary farm crops ; and a seed crop which can 

 be sold only to the contractor and cannot be used 

 or frittered away has advantages for one who rents 

 on " crop-share rental," so that such contracts are 

 eagerly sought, with the exception of biennial 

 plants, as onions, which are usually grown on spe- 

 cial seed farms. Seedsmen secure most of their 

 stock of vegetable seed by contracting with farm- 

 ers to plant a certain area and deliver the entire 

 seed produtjt at an agreed price. The seedsman 

 furnishes the stock seed, the farmer only under- 

 taking to grow and harvest the crop so as to 

 secure a good clean sample, the seedsman being 

 responsible for the quality of the stock. Although 

 a single seedsman, but oiie of the largest of the 

 more than five hundred in the country, annually 

 contracts with farmers for the product of 20,000 



