YIELD PER 'ACM AND TOTAL CROP. '9 



the most important of these, is in -Kentucky, where the counties of 

 Bourbon, Fayette, and Clark, in the heart of the bluegrass region, 

 produce the greater part of the seed crop of Kentucky. The adjoining 

 counties of Scott, 'Montgomery, Woodford, Franklin, and Jessamine 

 also produce some, and small quantities are doubtless harvested in 

 other parts of the State. Most of the seed is secured within a radius 

 of 25 miles from the center of a triangle formed by lines connecting 

 the cities of Lexington, Paris, and Winchester. A few years ago this 

 seed was first harvested in Iowa (PL II, fig. 2), where, in 1897, one man 

 gathered 11,200 bushels in Lucas County. Since that time a cleaner 

 has been put up in Creston, Union County, and during 1900 this mill 

 turned out 6,000 bushels of " fancy," all gathered in the vicinity of 

 Creston. Seed is also gathered at points in Missouri, and a little in 

 Illinois. 



FACTORS CONTROLLING THE PROFITABLE HARVESTING OF SEED. 



The first requisite to profit in gathering the seed is, of course, an 

 abundant growth of the grass, free from other plants. The profitable 

 use of comb strippers is confined to districts having a clay soil. On 

 sandy soil the plants are pulled up. Where rotary strippers are used 

 this trouble is not experienced. Another controlling factor is the loca- 

 tion of cleaning mills. Since the market chiefly demands fancy cleaned 

 seed, Kentucky bluegrass seed can not be profitably harvested except 

 within a reasonable distance from a cleaner. At present there are 

 seven cleaners in Kentucky, one being located at Georgetown, one at 

 Lexington, and five at Paris. There is one cleaner at St. Louis, Mo., 

 and at least two at Kansas City, Mo., besides the one previously men- 

 tioned as being at Creston, Iowa. Most of these mills draw their 

 supply of rough seed from the surrounding country, but in some cases 

 it is brought to the mills in carload lots. 



YIELD PER ACRE AND TOTAL CROP. 



The amount of rough seed harvested per acre varies greatly. A 

 good crop is 15 or 20 bushels per acre, while sometimes not more than 

 2 to 5 bushels are secured, though 25 bushels per acre is not uncommon. 

 The amount gathered depends largely upon the amount of pasturing 

 permitted. Cattle are allowed to graze freely (PL II, fig. 1) in the pas- 

 tures from which seed is to be taken, because so long as they can eat 

 the fresh leaves they avoid the flowers and seeds, although it is now 

 generally recognized by the best growers that it is not profitable to 

 pasture within about two weeks of the time of stripping. Horses, 

 however, will eat the panicles in all stages and can not be permitted in 

 a pasture when a crop of seed is wanted. It is well known in Ken- 

 tucky that a "horse country " is not a good "seed country," while a 

 "cattle country' 1 produces good crops of seed as well as pasturage. 



