THE PIGEON PEA: CULTURE IN HAWAII. 13 
another, or several additional trucks, may be coupled on behind and 
thus hauled from the field. 
Permanent curing 'platforms. — In addition to the portable truck 
described above, several permanent curing platforms have been 
erected at convenient locations in the field (PL IV, fig. 2). These 
may be constructed to any length desired, but experience has shown 
that the width should not exceed 7 or 8 feet, since a mass of green 
forage of not more than this width will cure with little danger of 
spoiling, especially if the longest axis is set at right angles to the 
prevailing wind. The principal advantage in these permanent cur- 
ing platforms is their low initial cost. Strong bamboo poles, or 
eucalyptus saplings, if available, make admirable platforms at a 
very low cost. 
THE SEED CROP. 
HARVESTING. 
The pigeon pea may be harvested for seed in two ways: Either 
the pods may be hand-picked from the growing plants and then 
thrashed, or the pocl-bearing stems may be harvested in the same 
way that they are harvested for hay. In the latter case, the forage 
passing through the thrasher will become shredded to such an 
extent that it will be more palatable. Of course, such shredded 
material will be devoid of the nutritious grain, and should there- 
fore be classed as straw rather than hay. During the past two years 
it has been the practice at Haiku to pick b} T hand all seed intended 
for planting. This, while it may be slightly more expensive than 
the other method, insures better developed seed and considerably 
enhances the total yields of seed, at least doubling the production in 
most cases. By this method the plants are picked over three or four 
times per crop, the intervals between picking being from two to four 
weeks. 
All hand-picking of pods is done on contract, originally at a cost 
of 75 cents per 100 pounds of pods, 3 but during the past year the 
price was raised to $1.50 per 100 pounds. The work is well suited to 
women and children, and an active adult may pick 100 pounds or 
more of pods in eight hours. The pods are picked and dropped into 
common grain bags. No heavy lifting is required for this work 
because a well-filled barley bag weighs only 25 pounds. Groups of 
four and five persons doing this work have earned $5 a day without 
undue effort. 
The tenacity with which the plants hold the pods and the pods 
their seed is remarkable. At the Haiku substation observations have 
3 Theoretically, prime pods yield approximately 60 per cent of their weight in seed. In 
thrashing about 50 per cent of total weight of pods is recovered. 
