HAIRY-VETCH SEED PRODUCTION. De 
Hairy vetch is marketed both as clear seed and mixed with rye. 
_ The price received is the same whether the seed is separated before 
or after selling, as the seller pays the cost of separating in either 
case. If enough seed is grown to warrant owning a seed cleaner 
and a separator the grower, of course, makes the profit on this opere-. 
tion, which adds slightly to the value of his crop. 
In selling mixed seed the proportion of hairy vetch to rye should 
be determined by actual measurement of a sample and not merely 
by guesswork. Owing to the difficulty of making an accurate guess, 
the buyer naturally guesses ight to be on the safe side, which works, 
of course, to the disadvantage of theseller. Sampling is easily accom- 
plished by weighing a pound of the mixture and separating the hairy 
vetch by hand. The hairy vetch is then weighed in order to deter- 
mine the number of ounces per pound of mixture, which figure can 
be applied to any number of pounds. 
Mixed seed should not be sold by the bushel, but by the pound on 
the basis of the sample taken. MHairy-vetch seed weighs about 60 
pounds to the bushel and rye only 56, so that the weight of a bushel 
of mixture depends on the proportion of the two ingredients. The 
only way to determine the number of pounds for a bushel of mixture 
is to weigh a measured bushel, and as an accurate measure is not 
always available a difference of opinion is lable to arise. On small 
transactions this matter is not of great importance, but in a deal 
involving a hundred bushels, a difference of 2 pounds to the bushel 
means a difference of $8 or $10. 
A common practice among the larger dealers is to pay the market 
price for the hairy vetch and 10 cents less than the market price for 
the rye, or to pay the regular rate for the rye and 2 cents a pound 
less for the hairy vetch. The same end is attained by paying .the 
market rate for both the rye and hairy vetch and charging a fixed 
sum, usually 10 cents a bushel, for cleaning and separating. 
_A serious obstacle in the marketing of hairy-vetch seed is the 
length of time that the seed must be carried over between harvesting 
and sowing. Hairy vetch is harvested late in July and planted not 
later than September 15, leaving an interval of only four to six 
weeks for thrashing, cleaning, selling, and shipping. <A few farmers 
are able to get their seed on the market in time for sowing the same 
year, but the arrangements must all be made before the seed 1s 
harvested and the operations of thrashing and hauling hurried with 
all speed. Most farmers are unable to do this; consequently the 
bulk of the seed must be carried by some one for a year before it 
can be sold. This naturally adds to the cost of doing business and 
increases the price of the seed. 
No definite grades or classes of hairy-vetch seed are recognized 
in the market, nor is there any great need for classification, as the 
crop is usually of even quality and can be bought quite safely simply 
