14 BULLETIN 876, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
USE OF READY-MIXED SEED. 
The sowing of ready-mixed hairy-vetch and rye seed is not con- 
sidered satisfactory when the crop is to be saved for seed. The chief 
objection to this is that one does not know how much vetch is being 
sown. Even the most experienced growers are seldom able to 
judge within 3 or 4 pounds of the percentage of hairy vetch in a lot of 
mixed seed, the blackness of the mixture being a very deceiving index. 
Since the exact proportion of rye to hairy vetch is a very important 
factor in producing a profitable seed crop, each grower should procure 
unmixed seed and mix it according to his own formula. 
In ready-mixed seed the proportion of hairy-vetch seed is not high 
enough as compared to the rye, the natural mixture usually containing 
only 5 to 8 pounds of the vetch seed per bushel instead of 9 to 18 
pounds, which is required for a seeding mixture. Consequently, the 
mixture must be enriched either by adding more vetch or by running 
the mixed seed through a fanning mill or cleaner to remove some of 
the rye. Even with the expert operation of the fanning mill and 
frequent testing of the product, an exact proportion of the two seeds 
is very difficult to obtain; therefore, most persons find it less trouble 
to use unmixed seed than to try to grade up their own mixed seed 
with a fanning mill. 
Another drawback to ready-mixed seed is that the quality is 
usually very uneven, consisting of good, bad, and indifferent seeds, 
together with more or less broken seed and trash. Such seed pro- 
duces an uneven crop and may be the carrier of weed seeds, especially 
those of cockle, chess, and wild mustard. 
HARVESTING IN MICHIGAN. 
TIME OF HARVESTING. 
As a seed plant hairy vetch is inferior to clover, wheat, timothy, 
and most other farm crops in that the seeds do not all ripen at the 
same time. The pods on the lower branches develop first and usually 
shatter their seeds before those in the upper pods have begun to turn 
black. Not more than 85 per cent of the entire crop is present on 
the vines as ripe seed at any one time, the remainder being either 
shattered or immature. Consequently, there is no possibility of 
saving all the seed produced, and the best one can do is to harvest 
when the highest possible percentage of ripe seeds is on the plants. 
The harvest season in Michigan lasts about 10 or 12 days, usually 
beginning about July 15. The changes during these days are rapid, 
and the grower must watch the field carefully if he expects to harvest 
the plants at any particular stage of maturity. 
Opinions differ among growers as to the stage of growth at which 
the seed crop should be harvested. Some prefer to harvest the 
crop as soon as three-quarters of the pods are ripe and when most 
of the leaves are withered. This occurs as a rule just when the rye 
