250 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



For Seed. 



Cow-peas ripen so unevenly that it is difficult to judge at just 

 what stage of maturity to cut for seed. With most varieties 

 blossoms, green pods and ripe peas occur at the same time, 

 and this condition continues usually until frost. Harvest be- 

 fore a heavy frost or when most of the pods are brown and 

 the larger proportion of the peas are ripe. 



In some of the Southern states, where labor is cheaper, the 

 peas are picked by hand for seed as they ripen. On account 

 of the scarcity of labor in this state this method is hardly 

 practical, although where labor can be secured peas may be 

 picked by hand and thrashed for about one dollar a bushel. 



There are several makes of bean and pea-picking machines 

 manufactured and sold upon the market today, but they are 

 not extensively used and it is doubtful if they could be success- 

 fully used in this climate, where the peas could not be allowed 

 to complete ripening before picking. A method of harvesting 

 cow-peas for seed is to pull the vines by hand, place in small 

 shocks, and leave in the field until well cured. The peas may 

 be thrashed directly as hauled from the field, or they may be 

 stacked and thrashed later. The vines often pull hard, thus it 

 is the practice at this Station to cut them with a straight corn- 

 knife. This method of harvesting is slow and may not be 

 practical where the peas are raised on a large scale, but upon 

 a small scale it is the most satisfactory method. A man should 

 harvest and shock by hand about one-half acre of peas in a day. 



The difficulty in harvesting cow-peas by machinery is due to 

 the twining habit of the plant, which causes it to run and en- 

 twine together from row to row. The mowing-machine with 

 vine-lifters attached to the guards may be used in harvesting 

 the cow-peas for seed, but one objection to the mowing-machine 

 lies in the fact that the machine and horses have to pass over 

 the peas while in the swath, which shells them badly. To avoid 

 this a bunching or windrowing attachment has been manu- 

 factured to attach to the cutter-bar of the mowing-machine, 

 which lifts the cow-peas as they are cut off by the mower and 



