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UNITED STATES

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

LIBRARY

Book number

442774

1

iJ6913

Bulletins
184-191
1910

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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.

BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY^BULLETIN NO. 184.

B. T. GALLOWAY, Chief of Bureau.

THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS

SWEET CORN AND GARDEN PEAS AND BEANS.

W. W. TRACY, Sr.,
Superintendent of Vegetable-Testing Gardens.

Issued August 2, 1910.

WASHINGTON:
government printing office,

1910.

BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY.

Chief of Bureau, Beverly T. Galloway.
Assistant Chief of Bureau, G. Harold Powell.
Editor, J. E. Rockwell.
Chief Clerk, James E. Jones.

Arlington Experimental Farm and Horticultural Investigation;

scientific staff.

L. C. Corbett. Horticulturist in Charge.
W. W. Tracy, sr.. Superintendent, Vegetable-Testing Gardens.
E. C. Butterfield, Superintendent, Arlington Experimental Farm.
W. R. Beattie, Assistant Horticulturist.

N. H. Grubb, D. N. Shoemaker, and William Stuart, Experts.
W V. Shear, Assistant.
184
2

LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

U. S. Department of Agriculture,

Bureau of Plant Industry.

Office of the Chief,
Washington^ D. C, April 15, 1910.
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith a manuscript entitled
" The Production of Vegetable Seeds : Sweet Corn and Garden Peas
and Beans," by Dr. W. AY. Tracy, Superintendent of Vegetable-
Testing Gardens, Horticultural Investigations, and recommend that
it be published as Bulletin Xo. 184 of the special series of this Bureau.
Doctor Tracy is recognized by the American seed trade as an
authority on all matters relating to the nomenclature, growing, har-
vesting, and handling of vegetable seeds. This paper is based on the
author's personal experience in this field of activity.
Respectfully,

B. T. Galloway,

Chief of Bureau.
Hon. James Wilson,

. Secretary of Agriculture.

184 3

CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction 7

Present conditions and practices in vegetable seed growing 8

Elements of value in garden seeds 9

Appearance 9

Viability 9

Stock 9

Relative supply and demand 10

Low prices for growing seed crops 10

1 ' Get-away ' ' crops 11

Possible improvements in practice 11

The growing of sweet corn for seed 14

Influence of location on sweet corn for seed 14

Cross-pollination 16

Cultural methods for the production of sweet corn for seed 17

Harvesting 18

Curing and drying 19

Average yield obtained and prices paid 21

Unit of measurement 22

Minimum acceptable viability 22

Growing stock seed of sweet corn 22

The growing of garden beans for seed 24

Lima and pole beans 24

Garden beans 25

Soil and climate 25

Location of bean crops for seed 25

Yield per acre and prices paid 27

Unit of measurement 27

Minimum acceptable viability 27

Growing stock seed of garden beans 28

The growing of garden peas for seed 28

Cultural requirements 29

Quantity of seed to use per acre 30

Roguing 31

Gathering and curing 31

Yield to the acre 32

Prices paid 33

Unit of measurement 33

Minimum acceptable viability 33

Growing stock seed of peas 33

Index 35

184 5

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page.
Fig, 1. Ears of sweet corn on drying racks 19

2. Ears of sweet corn on drying sticks 20

3. Sketch of pea rake for gathering short- vined peas 32

184

6

B. P. I.— 576.

THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS: SWEET
CORN AND GARDEN PEAS AND BEANS.

INTRODUCTION.

Among the many changes in the art and practice of American
agriculture which have developed since the organization of the De-
partment of Agriculture, none has been of greater practical impor-
tance than those connected with the growing and handling of seed
of garden vegetables. Since that time there has been a marvelous
increase in the quantity of seed used in this country. One of the
largest of the nearly one thousand seed firms now doing business in
the United States uses buildings with an aggregate floor surface of
more than 16 acres, and more than half of this is in two adjacent
buildings. This space is more than that occupied by the entire seed
trade of the country only fifty years ago. Not only has there been
an enormous increase in the quantity of seed used, but a great im-
provement in the quality.

One of the most encouraging developments in the growing of
garden vegetables is the increasing recognition of the practical im-
portance of using pure and uniform stocks of seed whose varietal
characteristics adapt them to distinct local conditions and market
requirements. The advantage of the use of superior seed can only be-
come available to planters through the growing of strains which are
uniformly of the exact varietal character wanted.

The immense quantity of seed necessary to supply the ever-increas-
ing demand makes it practically impossible for the seedsman to grow
on his own farm all of the seed he handles, and he is obliged to have
the major portion of it grown for him by others. This condition
makes the growing of seed crops of sweet corn, garden peas, or
beans, which would necessitate no radical change in farm practice
or material increase in farm equipment, well worthy of the attention
of farmers who are located where soil and climatic conditions are
favorable for the best development of these vegetables.

184 7

8 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

PRESENT CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES IN VEGETABLE SEED

GROWING.

Nearly all of the seed of sweet corn, garden peas, and beans used
in America is grown under contract between farmers and seedsmen.
The contract usually provides that the farmer shall devote a certain
area of suitable land to the production of the seed crop. He further
agrees to properly prepare the land, plant it with seed acceptable
to the seedsman, and cultivate, harvest, care for, and clean the crop
in such a way as to secure the largest return of seed fit for seedsmen's
use that can be obtained through good farm practices and the use of
ordinary farm machinery, as well as to deliver the entire resulting
seed product to the contracting seedsman on or before a certain date.

The seedsman, on his part, agrees to furnish the seed needed for
planting the area specified and to pay an agreed price per pound or
bushel for all the seed in excess of the amount furnished for planting
which the farmer is able to produce on that area and to deliver in
such condition that it is suitable or without an unreasonable amount
of recleaning can be made fit for seedsmen's use.

Under another form of contract the farmer agrees to provide a
certain area of properly prepared land and, acting under the direc-
tions of the seedsman and as his agent, to plant it with the seed fur-
nished and to cultivate, harvest, and cure the crop so as to secure
the largest return of clean and highly viable seed that can be secured
by good farm practice and the use of ordinary farm machinery, it
being understood and agreed that the stock seed furnished and the
seed crop produced from it are, and are to remain, the property of
the contracting seedsman. The seedsman agrees to pay the farmer,
for the rent of the land and for the labor of growing and harvesting
the seed crop, a specific amount for every pound of seed which he
may grow and deliver in accordance with the agreement. Under
such contracts the farmer acts simply in the capacity of a cultivator,
handling the crop as he would if it were grown for sale as grain,
except that he is called upon to locate and handle it so that the seed
will be satisfactorily free from danger of mixture with other plant-
ings of the same species.

In some cases the growing contracts, especially those for peas and
beans, provide that the farmer shall " rogue out " or destroy any
plants that seem to be of a different variety or of noticeably inferior
quality, but such " roguing " is seldom actually done by the farmer,
and if done at all it is under the immediate direction and at the ex-
pense of the contracting seedsman. Many seedsmen employ large
gangs of men to go over seed crops grown for them and remove as
many as possible of the " rogue " plants.

184

CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES IN VEGETABLE SEED GROWING. 9

ELEMENTS OF VALUE IN GARDEN SEEDS.

Seedsmen usually contract for the growing of their supplies of
seed of sweet corn, peas, and beans instead of depending upon pur-
chase by sample in the open market, because the elements of value
in the case of seeds are different, at least as to their relative im-
portance, from those in the case of most merchandise.

Appearance. — The good appearance of the seed as to cleanliness,
size, plumpness, and color of the grain is a most desirable quality
and, in most instances, one easily recognized, but one which is often
misleading as to comparative value. An illustration is the case of
Ked Valentine beans, in which a plump, full, symmetrical bean of a
bright red color is apt to go with inferior varietal quality, while a
twisted, unsymmetrical shape and a dull color are generally indica-
tions of a pure and true stock of the sort.

Purity of varietal character can rarely be determined by even the
most critical examination of the sample, and though viability can be
readily ascertained by germinative tests it requires some days to make
these, so that the appearance of the seed gives little indication of its
comparative value.

Viability. — That every grain will under favorable conditions de-
velop into a healthy plant would be regarded by many, particularly
by those of little horticultural experience, as the most important of
all qualities, and in the case of a single seed viability is essential to
its value. However, of two lots of seed, in one of which 60 to 75 per
cent of the grains will develop into plants which are typical of the
variety, while the remainder will not germinate at all, and in the
other, though every seed is viable, only 10 or 20 per cent of them will
produce typical plants of the sort, the others developing into a medley
of different forms and qualities, the first lot, though only 60 to 75
per cent viable, is decidedly the most satisfactory and valuable.

Stock. — Purity and evenness of varietal character are the most im-
portant factors in determining the real value of seed. A seed is essen-
tially a plant packed for transportation, and carries within itself the
potentialities and limitations of development of the plant into which
it may grow. With the aid of climate and soil and through the con-
trol of cultural conditions man may secure more or less perfect ex-
pression of these potentialities, but he can not add to or change them ;
they were predetermined by the varietal characteristics of the pro-
ducing plant and its ancestors. In a few exceptional cases such in-
herent varietal character is more or less clearly indicated by visible
peculiarities of the seed, but generally such indications are neither
readily discernible nor reliable, and one can only know the varietal
character of the plant any given seed will develop into by having far
42302°— Bui. 184—10 2

10 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

more knowledge of the producing plant and its ancestors than is to
be gained from the appearance of the seed itself.

Relative supply and demand. — The commercial value of all kinds
of seed is dependent, even to a greater degree than is the case with
most merchandise, upon relatively temporary supply and demand. A
shortage of seed can not usually be met with a fresh supply until the
next season, and the forcing upon the market of even a small surplus
has a more depressing effect than with most merchandise. As most
seeds retain their vitality for several years seedsmen usually guard
against a short crop by carrying over a portion of the previous sea-
son's growth, but this carrying over of a large proportion of one's
stock is objectionable not only because of the cost of storage, insur-
ance, etc., but because of the prejudice, which in many cases is quite
unjustifiable, in favor of " fresh " seed, and also because of the de-
pressing effect which the putting upon the market of even a little
more seed than is actually needed has upon current prices.

A wise seedsman will therefore not only hesitate to risk his reputa-
tion for handling pure and true stocks through purchase by sample,
no matter how good the sample may seem to be, but will endeavor
to limit his supply to seed which he knows was grown from pure and
true stock seed, and as far as possible to that which was subject while
growing to his own inspection and approval. He will also discourage
the growing of speculative crops with the intention of selling by
sample because of the liability of such crops to disturb the most
profitable balance of supply and demand.

LOW PRICES FOR GROWING SEED CROPS.

Seedsmen are often able to place contracts for growing seed, par-
ticularly of sweet corn, peas, and beans, at very low prices — even lower
than grain of the same species can be sold for on the market. That
they are able to do so is the result of the following conditions:

(1) Though it is true that certain conditions of soil and climate
are essential to profitable seed growing, lands fulfilling these con-
ditions are so widely distributed and their total area is so much
greater than is necessary for the production of all the seed needed
that their possession and use for seed growing by no means insure
a profitable crop.

(2) The growing of a seed crop for a widely advertised seed firm
seems to many people more attractive than the growing of grain
for sale in the open market, and farmers of this class are so numerous
and are often so eager to get a seed contract that, through the
influence of relative supply and demand in determining values, they
lessen the price the seedsman has to pay,

184

CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES IN VEGETABLE SEED GROWING. 11

(3) A seed crop which can not readily be sold in the open market
or used by driblets, but must be delivered at a specified time and
place, has advantages as a crop on farms worked on share rentals.

(4) Crops of seed beans and peas requiring comparatively little
hand labor early in the season are well suited for taking the place
of those which have been killed out by the winter. Under such cir-
cumstances, the fact that the seed planted, which amounts to from
10 to 25 per cent of the cost of the crop, is advanced by the con-
tracting seedsman often makes a crop of seed beans or peas grown
on contract a most convenient one.

" Get-away " crops. — Another factor in lowering the prices to the
farmer is the use for seed of the " get-away " crops of canners and
truckers. Canners endeavor to arrange the time of planting of the
crops which are grown for them so that they will be able to care
for each one when it is in prime condition, but from various causes
they are sometimes unable to handle all of their crops at the proper
time, and some of them become too mature for canning. Often the
only available use of such " get-away " crops is as seed, and they are
sold as such, and being in the nature of salvage the canners are glad
to dispose of them at any price they can get. Occasionally truckers'
crops are disposed of in a similar way.

Seedsmen do not advertise their use of " get-away " crops, many
of them claiming that they never use such crops, but many carloads
of this kind of seed are sold every year, and a part of it gets into
the hands of some of our most reputable seedsmen. This practice
can not fail to have a " bearish " effect upon the price paid for
growing special seed crops.

POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS IN PRACTICE.

Seed crops are frequently grown by farmers who have little knowl-
edge, ability, or liking for the work, and often only because the seed
needed for planting a certain area is advanced to them or because for
some other reason it is more convenient for them to plant a seed crop
than any of those commonly grown on the farm. It is evident that
under such circumstances actual seed growing would not drift into
the hands of the best farmers, nor seed crops be sufficiently popular
to secure the best care from those who do plant them. Few farmers
who grow seed crops continue to do so for as many as a dozen consec-
utive years, and seedsmen are obliged to change frequently the cen-
ters from which they place their contracts in order to secure growers
willing to undertake them. It is evident that present conditions
are by no means such as would tend to the production of seed of the
best quality or make seed growing profitable to the farmer, but the

184

12 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

writer believes that they may be greatly improved, and to the advan-
tage of both seedsman and farmer.

There are several possible improvements in the practice of vege-
table-seed growing.

(1) Seed growers, dealers, and planters need to change their belief
and practices regarding the relative importance of " sample " and
" stock." ° In many cases purchasers will choose the better looking
of two samples of seed at a higher price, although they know nothing
of the stock from which it was grown except that it is said to be of
the variety named, rather than the poorer looking sample, which
though quite possibly of lower viability, is known to have been grown
from well-bred stock seed. Seedsmen should emphasize far more
than they do, through their salesmen, catalogues, and price lists, the
superior value of seed produced from stocks which are known to have
been carefully bred to a certain distinct varietal character. They
should refuse to handle seeds which they do not know were grown
from pure and true stocks. Planters should not be tempted by low
prices to purchase seed of unknown or uncertain quality, but should
always buy that which they believe to be the purest and truest stock,
paying comparatively little attention to appearance, or even to
viability.

(2) The seedsman should change his attitude toward the con-
tracting farmer, looking upon him as a seed grower rather than as a
mere cultivator and making every eifort to increase his interest in and
knowledge of the varietal character of the sort of seed he grows, as
well as the special cultural methods which will best develop its dis-
tinguishing merits. This would necessitate the seedsman's making a
greater effort to place his growing contracts not only with cultiva-
tors who are favorably situated as to climate and soil for growing
certain seeds but with those who are likely to continue to grow seeds
and by a better knowledge of their cultural requirements secure
greater uniformity and stability. In order to induce such men to
plant seed crops it might be necessary to pay better prices for grow-
ing, but this would be more than balanced, even financially, by the
elimination of careless and incompetent growers who are apt to fail
to deliver the expected crop and through whose negligence carefully
selected stocks are often lost. The advantage accruing from a cli-
entage of experienced and careful growers interested in the varietal
characteristics of the stocks they grow and who by greater care and
better cultural methods would grow not only better seed but in more

a Seedsmen commonly use the word "sample" as referring to the viability,
color, and appearance of a lot of seed, and the term " stock " as referring to the
quality, purity, and evenness of type resulting from the line of breeding and
ancestry.
184

CONDITIONS AND PRACTICES IN VEGETABLE SEED GROWING. 13

uniform quantities, thus lessening the liability to alternating periods
of scarcity and surplus, would more than offset the higher price paid
the farmer.

(3) There is a possibility of great improvement on the part of the
farmer grower through more careful study not only of the particular
crop but of the variety best adapted to his own conditions of soil
and climate and of the cultural method which will give him the
greatest certainty of a crop that shall be bright, clean, highly viable,
and best suited for seedsmen's use. Many cases are known where
two crops from the same stock seed were grown on adjacent farms
by men who were considered equally good cultivators and one crop
was clean, viable, and thoroughly satisfactory for use as seed while
the other, solely because of difference in handling, was so discolored
and lacking in viability that it was worthless for seedsmen's use.

Farmers seldom appreciate the importance to the seedsman of re-
ceiving the full quantity of seed contracted for. This in some cases
is so great as to justify seedsmen when dealing with a professional
seed grower in making an advance of from 10 to 50 per cent in price
for a guaranteed delivery of the full amount of the contract. We
may question the wisdom of making a guarantee of this kind, but
the fact that such prices are paid shows how important and valuable
the seedsman regards the careful handling of the crop so as to secure
the expected return of usable seed.

(4) There is a possibility of great improvement through the use
of better stock seed. A considerable proportion of the seed now
grown, even for the most careful of our seedsmen, is in reality the
product of the general crop rather than of selected stock seed. Most
farmers, and even many seedsmen, fail to adequately appreciate the
practical importance of absolute uniformity of stock and that such
uniformity can only be secured by the use of stock seed which was
not only the product of plants of the exact varietal character desired
but which had behind it the greatest possible number of generations
of just such plants.

The seedsman and farmer should come to a very clear under-
standing as to the exact form wanted in each variety. This should
be established by samples, photographs, and full varietal descriptions,
and it should be rigidly adhered to in selecting stock seed. An inter-
ested and intelligent farmer grower who confines his seed crop to a
single variety of a species is in a better position to select stock seed,
and is able to do it better and cheaper than a seedsman, and he should
be fully advised as to the exact varietal character wanted and in-
structed to grow a sufficiency of the best possible stock for his own
crops, if nothing more.

184

14 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

The cultural methods which will give the best returns with grain
crops are generally equally well adapted to the growing of a crop for
seed, but with the latter it is important that special care be taken
that the seed be pure and that the percentage of viability is high.
The best methods for securing crops of such seed will vary with
different species and may be considered separately.

THE GROWING OF SWEET CORN FOR SEED.

The use of sweet corn, at least of the quality and in the quantities
now common, is comparatively modern. Seedsmen handled very
little sweet corn previous to 1825 or 1830, and for the next twenty
or twenty-five years practically all of the seed used came from New
England. In later years the growing of sweet-corn seed gradually
extended into western New York, northern Ohio, Michigan, Iowa,
and Nebraska, until at present fully 80 per cent of the sweet-corn
seed produced in the United States is grown at points west and
north of Cleveland, Ohio. South of the latitude of that city sweet
corn is so liable to injury from the bollworm that it can seldom be
profitably grown for seed.

INFLUENCE OF LOCATION ON SWEET CORN FOR SEED.

The corn plant is influenced as to size of stalk and earliness of
maturity by climatic conditions, and this effect is transmitted through
the seed, so it is desirable that seed of sorts in which earliness is an
important element of value should be grown as far north as it can
be fully ripened and cured.

The qualities of sweetness and tenderness in green corn are also
influenced by soil and climatic conditions, but there is a difference
of opinion as to how far this influence is carried in the seed. The
corn packers of Maine insist that green corn grown in the North
from northern-grown seed is superior to that which can be produced
from seed grown farther south. The Maryland packers insist that
they can get not only more but sweeter and more tender corn from
seed grown in their own locality. In both cases the superior results
obtained from local-grown seed may be accounted for by the fact
that seed grown in any locality for a number of generations has been
found by experimentation to give better results in that locality than
seed of the same stock equally well grown elsewhere.

The belief that the use of northern and eastern grown seed will
result in better and sweeter green corn is so general that seedsmen's
catalogues are often so worded as to give the impression that all
the sweet corn they offer is grown in the East, but very often seed
bought of an eastern seedsman and supposed to be eastern grown
was actually produced in the West. There are many facts that

184

THE GROWING OF SWEET CORN FOR SEED. 15

seem to indicate that the gardener's prejudice against western seed
is well founded.

If a field of sweet corn is planted with two lots of seed of the
same variety, one eastern and the other western grown, and ears
as uniform as possible as to maturity and quality are gathered from
the two parts of the field, processed, and canned in the same way,
experts can with a fair degree of certainty decide which lot of seed
the corn in different cans was grown from, and they will generally
declare that the corn from the eastern-grown seed is the better.

This difference in quality is much more noticeable in the earlier
than in the later maturing sorts and with some lots of seed than'
with others. The belief that it actually exists is so general that it
affects the relative market value both of canned corn and of sweet-
corn seed. If we carefully select ears grown from eastern and from
western seed which are in exactly the same stage of maturity, chem-
ical analysis fails to detect any constant difference in sugar content.
There is, however, a slight but discernible difference in the size of
chit, or germ, and in a general way the green corn from western seed
is slightly coarser in texture and less tender than that from eastern
seed. The difference in quality may be accounted for as follows :

The climatic conditions in the western corn-growing sections, espe-
cially during the season when corn is earing, are often such as to
induce a marvelously rapid development — much more rapid than is
often seen in the East. In the West it is sometimes difficult to find ears
of sweet corn green enough to be in prime boiling condition in fields
where it was equally difficult to find ears which were mature enough
to be palatable forty-eight to seventy-two hours earlier. Seed grown
under such conditions would often transmit the rapid-maturing habit
of the plants that produce it. The quality of green corn, particularly
as {o tenderness and sweetness, is very dependent upon the stage of
maturity at which it is cooked, sometimes the growth of only a few
hours affecting the discernible sugar content. If the corn in a field
from western seed in which the rapid-maturing habit was trans-
mitted was gathered for canning when most of the ears were in
prime green-corn condition, some of the ears would be so mature
as to lower the average quality of the pack, but it would be im-
practicable to reject such slightly overmature ears, and the resulting
poor quality of the pack would be charged to generally inferior
stock rather than to the effect of the few older ears.

One indication that rapid development, with the consequent short
period of prime canning condition, is an important, if not the chief,
objection to western-grown seed, is the fact that experienced canners
who insist upon eastern-grown seed of the earlier sorts, like Crosby,

184

16 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

do not seriously object to well-grown western seed of the later and
slower maturing sorts, like Evergreen and Country Gentleman.

Whatever may be the facts as to the relative merits of eastern and
western grown seed, the writer believes that it is always true that the
character of green corn is more or less affected by that of the soil on
which the seed was grown. Seed grown in moderately rich but
warm, well-drained, gravelly soils, like those common in Connecticut,
New York, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and some sections of Iowa,
Nebraska, and Minnesota, will give better and sweeter corn than seed
grown on very rich mucky or prairie soils which would give large
crops of field corn. It appears to be impossible to grow on a cold,
heavy clay soil sweet-corn seed which will produce green corn of the
highest quality.

CROSS-POLLINATION.

The location and character of soil are of less importance in the
production of seed corn from which the best results may be expected
than that the fields be so situated as to avoid as far as possible lia-
bility'to' mixture through the pollen. This is a far more common
cause of inferior quality than is generally supposed. Seed growers
ooject to growing Black Mexican corn because they say it crosses
so freely with other sorts. There is no evidence, however, that this
variety crosses more readily than others, but when crosses of Black
Mexican and other varieties do occur the effects are more readily seen.
Instances are known where Moore's Concord was evidently crossed
with Black Mexican corn growing nearly two miles away; but in
another case, where the Black Mexican and the Moore's Concord
varieties were planted side by side on the same day, there was no indi-
cation of mixture beyond the sixth row from the dividing line.

Corn pollen in abundance has been obtained from the plumage of
a blackbird, which must have flown between 4 and 6 miles from
the last field of corn visited, and doubtless others of the large flock to
which the bird belonged carried equal quantities of pollen, more or
less of which they must have scattered in the field of seed sweet corn
in which they alighted.

Difference in season of maturit}^ is not always a protection against
crossing. The writer knows of a case in which there was clear evi-
dence of mixture in both directions between Extra Early Red Cory
and Stowell's Evergreen corn growing side by side, although the
Cory was planted some days before the Evergreen, but in another
instance there was no sign of mixture between the Cory and the
Black Mexican varieties planted side by side on the same day, all of
the silk and the tassels of the Cory being ripe and dry before even
the earliest tassel appeared on the Black Mexican, and in this case

184

THE GROWING OF SWEET COEN FOE SEED. 17

there were no late-blooming suckers on the Cory to furnish pollen
for the earliest Black Mexican plants.

In another instance, where two sorts of corn were separated by a
thick grove of tall trees about 1 rods wide, there was no sign of mix-
ture, but just beyond the grove, where the lots of corn were separated
by an equal width of grass land, there was abundant evidence of
crossing.

In another case, where two sorts were separated by a thick osage
hedge not over 12 feet high, there was no indication of crossing
within 8 or 10 rods of the hedge, while beyond that distance there
were many crosses.

Experience shows that neither a distance less than several miles
nor any varietial difference can be relied upon as a certain protection
against a mixture of pollen. In most farming regions it is impracti-
cable to locate a field of seed corn so as to guarantee that there shall
be no mixture through pollen, though much can be done to lessen the
probability of a mixture. How this may be best accomplished is a
different problem in each case. Usually the most practical way is to
plant each lot of seed as far as possible from any other corn, and
also to have as much difference as possible in the dates of ripening
of the seed corn and of the corn in the nearest field.

Fortunately, the effect of crossing in corn is rarely masked for a
number of generations, as it often is in leguminous plants. It fre-
quently shows so plainly in the grain which is the immediate result
of the cross that much of the hybrid corn can be removed by careful
sorting before shelling, and it is well to throw out the whole ear
rather than to pick out the mixed grain, as is the common practice,
because crossing does not always change the appearance of the grain
the first season, and there is a strong probability that on an ear on
which crossed grains are visible there are other crossed grains which
show no external sign of mixture.

CULTURAL METHODS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SWEET CORN FOR SEED.

In a general way the fertilization and preparation of the soil and
the methods of culture which will give the best results with field
corn will be equally effective with sweet corn, but because of liability
to crossing with volunteer plants it is important that a crop for seed
corn should not follow one of any other variety of corn and that
care should be taken to prevent bringing into the field viable grains
of corn and spores of corn smut or other corn diseases in stable
manure or by stock.

Sweet-corn seed is usually of lower vitality than that of field sorts,
and planting should be delayed until the soil is well prepared, warm,

42302°— Bnl. 1S4— 10 3

18 THE PRODUCTION" OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

and ctay, special care being -taken that the seed is not covered too deep.
The small-growing, extra-early sorts, like Cory, Crosby, etc., may be
planted in drills as close as 3 feet apart or in hills 3 feet apart each-
way and so as to secure from four to eight plants to the yard of
drill or three or four plants to the hill.

The stronger growing sorts, like Evergreen and Country Gentle-
man, partly because of their greater liability to abundant suckering,
need even more room than most varieties of field corn and should be
planted in drills 42 to 60 inches apart or in hills the same distance
from each other and so as to secure two or three stalks to the hill or
to the yard of drill. Experience has demonstrated that with seed
sweet corn equally large yields and better matured seed can be ob-
tained from a somewhat thinner stand than would give the largest
yield of field corn.

HARVESTING.

The value of seed corn, especially sweet corn, is largety dependent
on the way it is gathered and cured. The average American farmer
has drifted into such careless methods of handling corn that it is
hard for him to recognize and use the care necessary for the pro-
duction of good seed. The crop should be harvested as soon as the
grain has fully passed into the dough state. The stalks should be cut
and put into small shocks, but seed sweet corn can very rarely be
well cured in shocks, no matter how small or how carefully they
ma}^ be set up.

As soon after cutting as the stalks are well wilted, which will
usually be in from three to six da}^s, the corn should be husked and
put into the drying cribs. It is important, especially with the short-
stalked early sorts, that this be done promptly. If allowed to stand
long in the shock the stalks will settle so that the ears are likely to
come in contact with the soil and the grain be injured in appearance
and viability.

Some growers, particularly those of Connecticut and Ohio, do not
put the stalks into shocks, but go through and " top " or remove the
part above the ear, and sometimes slip down the husk so as to fully
expose the grain to the sun and wind, when it will dry out very rap-
idly and perfectly and can be gathered from the standing stalk. A
disadvantage of this method is that if such " stripped " corn is
exposed to even a slight frost before it is quite dry its viability as
well as its vitality is lessened, often entirely destroyed.

In the Western States there is usually so little rain and such high
dry winds are prevalent during the autumn months that harvesting
can often be safely delayed until the corn is nearly cured in the field
on the still standing stalks, and then the corn can be gathered directly

184

THE GROWING OF SWEET CORN FOR SEED.

19

into large cribs to complete the drying; but even here early husking
and cribbing are desirable.

The best way to handle sweet corn in the field is to husk into bas-
kets or crates, as there is liability to serious injury by dirt, showers,
or breaking of the skin if the ears are thrown on the ground or into
n wagon, and if this occurs while some of the grains are still in the
milk they Avill become discolored and so injure the appearance of
the lot of seed as to render it unsalable.

CUEING AND DRYING.

The essentials to the proper curing of sweet corn are that each and
every ear shall be exposed to circulating air until the grain is per-

■MK

■;■-

1 '"Ssm

Fig. 1. — Ears of sweet corn on drying racks.

fectly dry and that this be accomplished without exposure, even for
a few hours, to a temperature below 34° or 36° F. The vitality of
green corn while it is still in the milk or dough state will be de-
stroyed by long exposure to a low temperature, even if it be one sev-
eral degrees above the freezing point, but as the grain matures and
dries out it will endure lower temperatures without serious injury,

184

20

THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

although long exposure to temperatures much below 32° F. lessens its
vitality.

One of the best and safest ways to cure seed corn is that commonly
practiced by the New England growers, the corn being spread in open
sheds or barns on scaffolds formed of rails or slats so placed as to
allow the air to pass freely between them. The corn should be spread
very thinly at first — not more than two or three ears deep— or, better
still, in a single layer, but it may be piled deeper as it dries out, care
being taken not to do this until the corn is so
dry that it will not mold. (See fig. 1.)

A second method of curing seed corn is by
the use of drying sticks about 1 by 2 or 3 inches
and about 4 feet long. Old fence pickets are
often used for this purpose. They are pre-
pared as follows: Bore a half-inch hole about
2 inches from the end, and drive into each of
the four sides of the stick, about 3 inches apart,
a series of eight penny or tenpenny round-headed
wire nails, so that they will enter the wood
about | inch and project at a uniform angle of
between 15 and 20° toward the end of the stick
having the hole. On each nail jam the butt
of an ear of corn so that the ears stand out
in four directions from the sticks, which should
then be hung on nails in the rafters of a low.
open shed or on scantling placed at proper
distances apart in such a building as a to-
bacco shed. It takes some time to stick the
ears on the nails, but when this is clone the
corn can be well cured with little further atten-
tion. (See fig. 2.)

A third method is to husk into lath crates
holding from 1 to 2 bushels of ears, and stack
these crates either in the field, well protected
from rain, or on the floor of barns where there
is a full circulation of air. In either case the crates should be so
stacked that the wind can pass freely through and between them.

A fourth method, requiring fewer special facilities but greater care,
is to put the corn into rail or slat cribs built quite open and not over
20 to 30 inches wide at the bottom, but wider at the top. In filling
these cribs, spread the corn to a depth of from 12 to 18 inches, and
then place a series of slats about 2 feet apart across the crib and
just above though not resting on the corn, being fully supported by
the sides of the crib. Fill in 12 to 18 inches of corn above these

184

Fig. 2, — Ears of sweet
corn on drying sticks.

THE GROWING OF SWEET CORN FOR SEED. 21

slats; then place a second la}rer of slats in the same way, but so as
to break joints with the first layer, and repeat until the crib is full".

These slats are to prevent the corn settling* together so as to hinder
the free access of air. The cobs of sweet corn are not so stiff as those
of the field varieties, and if green or partially dried ears are piled
without support they will, even in a very narrow crib, settle together
so as to prevent thorough drying.

Seed sweet corn can be cured so as to obtain a fine crop of high
viability by any of the preceding or similar methods, but it is essen-
tial that the work be done promptly, so as to take advantage of bright
weather and secure the thorough drying out of the corn before it is
exposed to continuous damp or freezing weather. It is rarely possi-
ble to secure a good lot of seed of high viability if the work of curing
is delayed until after the season when favorable weather conditions
can be expected.

It is possible to cure corn by artificial heat, but this requires the
most skillful use of warmed — not hot — air, kept in constant motion.
Even with these precautions there is always a liability of the corn
being ruined for seed purposes by mold, rot, or overheating, and for
these reasons the method is not recommended.

As soon as the corn is perfectly dry it may be shelled, though it
will generally keep much better on the cob. In a temperature below
freezing, corn, either on the ear or shelled, will seem to be dry when
it is not. Before shelling*, it is therefore well to make a test sample
of a quart or more, composed of a few grains from a great number of
representative ears. If this, after standing for a day or two in a
temperature considerably above freezing, becomes soft and damp, the
shelling should be delayed until the corn is quite dry.

Well-cured corn is easily shelled by machine, by flails, or by hand,
and the grain should be immediately run through a fanning mill,
when it may be sacked, but it should be closely watched, and if it
does not remain perfectly dry in a temperature above freezing it
should be again fanned and spread to dry, and this process repeated
on the least indication of the presence of moisture.

In order to produce good sweet-corn seed one must be prompt to
cut it when ripe, husk it as early as possible, and immediately get it
under shelter where it will be exposed to' every wind that blows until
it is thoroughly dry, using every hour of bright sunshine in order to
accomplish this before freezing weather.

AVERAGE YIELD OBTAINED AND PRICES PAID.

The return of usable seed varies greatly, and is affected not only
by the variety and the weather, soil, and cultural conditions, but by
the care with which the crop is gathered and cured. A seedsman

184

22 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

to whom a surplus is not objectionable will contract on a basis of
5 or G acres of the earlier, lighter-yielding sorts and 3 or l acres of
the larger kinds per 100 bushels wanted ; but one to whom a shortage
is preferable to a surplus will limit his contracts to 3 or 4 acres
of the earlier and 2 or 3 acres of the larger sorts per 100 bushels
wanted. In both cases allowance is made for the liability of total
failure of some of the crops.

The prices paid for growing vary greatly with the season, being
much lower after seven fat years than after seven lean ones; at
present they range from 70 cents to $1.15 a bushel of 50 pounds
for the easier grown sorts, and from $1.10 to $1.50 for the lighter-
yielding sorts and for those requiring greater care in curing.

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT.

Although contracts are sometimes made per 100 pounds, the more
common unit is the " struck bushel," which is assumed to weigh 50
pounds; but the actual quantity which the term stands for varies
greatly, not only with the sort, but with the condition and character
of both the stock and the sample, and ranges from as low as 37
pounds in a very dry sample of a choice stock of Evergreen or
Country Gentleman corn to 53 to 56 pounds in a poorly cured sample
of the Minnesota variety.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE VIABILITY.

The minimum percentage of viability accepted by seedsmen on
growing contracts ranges from 75 to 85 in years of scarcity to 90 or
even 95 in years of plenty. There is some excuse for this variation
in the fact that corn of low viability at harvest often deteriorates
quite rapidly and is practically worthless the second year, while
that of high viability kept under favorable storage conditions will
germinate nearly as well the second or even the third or the fourth
year as the first, and in a short year there is little likelihood of the
necessit}^ of carrying over stock, while it is probable that a part at
least of the crop in a full year will have to be carried until the next
season. Seedsmen often claim the right to purchase, at a reduction
in price corresponding to its inferiority, a crop of seed grown under
contract which is below acceptable viability or which is so imper-
fectly cleaned as not to be suitable for seed.

GROWING STOCK SEED OF SWEET CORN.

. The structure of the floral organs of the corn plant is such as to
secure under normal conditions more or less complete cross-fertiliza-
tion, and it has been found that there is liability to rapid loss of vege-

184

GROWING STOCK SEED OF SWEET CORN. 23

tative vigor in plants which are persistently self-fertilized. This, in
connection with the fact that it is difficult, if not impossible, under
ordinary farm conditions to prevent more or less cross-pollination,
leads to methods and practices in growing stock seed corn which
differ materially from those that give the best results with most vege-
tables. Instead of trying to isolate the stock blocks, it is suggested
that they be located near the center of the largest available field
of the variety and that the selection of breeding stock be made* as
follows :

First, formulate a very clear conception of precisely what an ideal
plant of the sort to be grown should be, not only as to grain and ear,
but as to stalk, leaf, husk, silk, and tassel, for this is essential to the
raising of the best seed of the sort. With this conception in mind or,
what is far better, clearly written out and illustrated by photograph,
go into a field of the sort at the time the plants are coining into silk
and mark with a string, or a bit of cloth, or in some way a number
of stalks. It is wise to select at least a hundred plants which are as
nearly alike and typical of the sort as can be found.

When the grain is in the dough state, assemble the marked stalks
and, after stripping down the husks, very carefully select and tag
those in which the ear and the grain are nearest to the ideal. The
ears from each of these selected plants should be carefully num-
bered, dried, and stored. The next spring mark out, near the center
of the largest available field of the sort, a block of 4, 9, or 16 square
rods for each of the selected ears, and plant each block with seed
from one of the selected plants.

It is wise in making the planting to reserve at least one-fifth of
the seed on each ear, not onhT for replanting if necessary, but so that
reference may be made to the exact character of the parent stock.
When the corn is coming into silk, carefully go over the blocks and
select those in which the plants in stalk, leaf, husk, silk, and tassel
are most uniformly of the desired character, rejecting the plants
which show the greatest variation, even if some of them, as will in
all probability be the case, are among the most perfect plants in the
field.

When the corn is passing into the dough state go over the selected
blocks and, stripping down the husks, select the blocks in which the
ears are most uniformly of the desired varietal character, rejecting
as in the selection of the individual plants, all the ears, no matter
how perfect they may be, from the blocks showing greatest variation.
As a rule it will be best to select several blocks in order to avoid the
loss in vegetative vigor which in the corn plant often follows too
close breeding.

184

24 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

From the chosen blocks select a number of the most perfect ears,
to be tagged, numbered, kept separate, and again planted in separate
blocks the next season. The balance of the corn from the selected
blocks can be gathered and the better ears bulked and used the fol-
lowing season for planting the field in which the seed blocks are to be
located.

Working in this way, never losing sight of or changing the ideal
varietal characteristics of the sort, always selecting from the most
uniform lot, resisting the temptation to use an exceptionally perfect
ear found in a variable block, one can in a few years establish strains
which will be greatly superior in practical value to most of the seed
now used.

THE GROWING OF GARDEN BEANS EOR SEED.

The bean plant, particularly if it be one of our garden varieties, is
exceedingly sensitive to unfavorable conditions of heat and moisture.
If the soil is damp, but not quite moist enough to secure good germina-
tion, the seed will " malt " or sprout and die ; if it is only a little
too wet the seed will germinate, but die without expanding its true
leaves.

Young bean plants wTould be killed or permanently dwarfed by a
drenching rain which would have no permanent effect upon a young-
plant of corn. If when the plants are in flower the supply of
moisture is shortened, either b}^ drought or by injury. to the roots
through too close or too deep cultivation, so that the plants wilt, be it
ever so little, the pods will fail to fill, and it is very seldom that the
later-maturing pods on the plant will be any better, even if more
favorable conditions bring out an abundant bloom.

From the starting of the seed into growth to the storage of the
ripened grain, beans are exceedingly sensitive to unfavorable condi-
tions of moisture. In spite of this, seed beans will often prove a
profitable farm crop on good land anywhere in the United States
north of latitude 40° or 41° and east of the Dakotas. South of lati-
tude 41° beans are so liable to injury by the bean weevil, and in much
of the country west of central Wisconsin the crop is so likely to be
cut off by dry, hot winds at the time the plants are in flower, that
seed beans are rarely profitable for many successive seasons, though
some very fine crops of seed beans have been grown in Minnesota
and the Dakotas.

LIMA AND POLE BEANS.

Seed of Lima beans, as well as of pole varieties of garden beans,
can be very profitably grown along the western coast of California,
where the night winds from the ocean furnish the necessary moisture

184

THE GROWING OF GARDEN BEANS FOR SEED. 25

and the crop seldom suffers from drenching rains. Of late years
seed of garden bush beans has also been grown to some extent in
northern California, where there is less liability to disease than in the
bean-growing sections of the East, but, in general, California crops
are grown on farms wholly devoted to growing seed rather than as a
part of the regular rotation of mixed farming.

GARDEN BEANS.

Garden beans have developed into many quite distinct varieties
adapted to different soils, and it is quite essential to their profitable
culture as a seed crop that one plant the sorts best suited to his par-
ticular soil conditions. This can only be learned through test
plantings of the different sorts.

It will generally be found that varieties with thick, fleshy pods,
like the Valentine, do best on rich clay soils and are apt to fail on
light sandy ones, where such sorts as the Long Yellow, which rarely
succeeds on clay soil, would give their best crops. Generally the
large, wax-podded sorts, like Kidney Wax, give their best returns on
rich black lands, where the flat, green-podded sorts would be apt to
" run to vine," with small return of seed. Most of the wax-podded
sorts, particularly those with fleshy pods, require rich, strong, moist
soils, while the smaller, flat, green-podded sorts will often give good
returns on light, warm, sandy soils on which other kinds would do
poorly.

SOIL AND CLIMATE.

Conditions of soil 'and climate often greatly modify the character
of bean plants, particularly as to the size and smoothness of the
leaves and the size, fleshiness, and color of the green pods and beans.
The relative size and color of the dry seed are very largely affected
by the climatic conditions at the time of ripening, but differences in
these respects, even when they are continued for several seasons, are
not transmitted in any appreciable degree through the seed.

Lima and other pole beans grown without poles in southern Cali-
fornia for many generations take to poles as well and mature as early
as the same sorts grown on poles in Connecticut. Certain diseases,
such as anthracnose and rust, are often carried in the seed, and there
is great practical advantage in the use of seed which is the product
of healthy plants.

LOCATION OF BEAN CROPS FOR SEED.

The structure of the flowers of the bean seems to guard against
cross-pollination as effectually as that of the flowers of the corn
plant provides for it, and seedsmen do not generally ask that growers

184

26 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

shall isolate fields of different varieties, though they often insist that
crops of different sorts shall be stored and handled in separate
buildings.

The cultural methods which will give the best crop of seed beans
do not differ materially from those used in growing beans for com-
mercial purposes, and these methods have been so well and fully
stated in Farmers' Bulletin 289 that it is useless to repeat them here.
It may be well, however, to refer to some minor differences in cul-
tural methods and requirements.

No matter how well founded may be the claim of some bean growers
that with commercial beans greater profit will come from heavy
seeding, certainly better seed beans can be grown by light seeding.
There is a great difference in the quantity of seed needed with differ-
ent varieties, 8 to 12 quarts to the acre being as liberal a seeding for a
small-seeded but large-vined sort, like the Crystal White Wax, as a
full bushel would be for some of the larger varieties, like the Flageo-
let. The cost of growing seed beans is somewhat increased by the
work of " roguing " out the mixed and inferior plants, but when
good stock seed is used there should not be more than one " rogue "
plant to every 10 or 20 rods of drill ; often there will not be more than
one to 50 or 100 rods.

Many sorts of garden beans can be grown, gathered, thrashed, and
fitted for market at less cost than field beans, and they generally
yield fully as much to the acre; but other sorts, particularly some of
the large, fleshy, wax-podded varieties, require richer soil and a great
deal more care in curing and thrashing, and they generally yield less
to the acre.

The labor necessary to thrash and clean seed beans is largely gov-
erned by weather conditions at the time of harvest. The appearance
of the sample is very dependent upon the skill of the thrasher. The
lot secured by one man will contain so many split beans, and those
covered with sections of pods, that it can not profitably be made
fit for seedsmen's use, while another man with the same machine will
secure a fairly clean lot from the same crop. The labor and skill
necessary to obtain a good result are also quite dependent upon the
variety.

' The pods of some of the very fleshy, wax-podded sorts shrink
down about the beans and in thrashing break so as to leave many
of the beans incased in sections of the pod. It is sometimes neces-
sary to run the seed of such sorts through a " rubber " made of a
cylinder, with many teeth about one-fourth of an inch long and
three-eighths of an inch in diameter, revolving comparatively slowly
against concaves covered with ribbed rubber or very coarse, heavy
canvas. On account of the difficulty in growing and thrashing some

184

THE GROWING OF GARDEN BEANS FOR SEED. 27

varieties, seedsmen should, and commonly do, make a difference in
the prices paid, though often this difference is not sufficient to
balance the actual difference in the cost of growing, thrashing, and
recleaning.

YIELD PER ACRE AND PRICES PAID.

As with sweet corn, the yield varies greatly with the variety,
season, soil, and the skill and carefulness of the grower. It ranges
from 10 to 30 bushels per acre, with phenomenal yields up to 40 or
even 60 bushels, a yield of 10 bushels being comparable as to quan-
tity with one of 18 to 20 bushels of wheat. Seedsmen generally base
the area contracted for on a yield of 8 to 12 bushels to the acre.

The prices paid farmers for growing beans vary with the season
and are more influenced by the ruling prices for commercial beans
than is the case with corn. At present they range from $1.30 to
$2.30 a bushel for the sorts which are most easily grown and thrashed,
and from $1.50 to $2.50 for those which require greater care and
labor. Prices for growing Lima and pole beans range from $2.75
to $4 a bushel.

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT.

The unit of measurement in farmers' contracts for growing beans
is usually a nominal bushel of sufficient weight to leave 60 pounds
after all cleaning and hand picking necessary to make the beans fit
for seedsmen's use. There is, however, a difference, sometimes
amounting to from 5 to 10 per cent, in the actual weight of the same
bulk of equally clean and well-cured lots of different varieties.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE VIABILITY.

The minimum percentage of viability accepted by seedsmen on
growing contracts varies somewhat in different seasons and with
different varieties of beans, and runs from 80 to 95 per cent. There
is less excuse for variation in the percentage of acceptable viability
with beans than with corn, for beans usually grow as well the second
season as the first, and a large proportion of the beans which are not
viable will be removed in hand cleaning.

Their appearance is an important factor in determining the ac-
ceptability of beans, and any distinct stain or discoloration on as
many as 8 or 10 per cent of the beans justifies their rejection, even
if they be of high viability. Seedsmen claim the right to purchase,
at an equitable reduction in price, beans grown under contract which
from discoloration or want of viability are not acceptable on the
terms of the contract.

184

28 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

GROWING STOCK SEED OF GARDEN BEANS.

In growing stock seed of garden beans, even more than with corn,
the first requisite is a very clear conception of what constitutes an
ideal plant of the sort, and this should extend to all of its parts,
for very often the first indication of an accidental crossing which
will ultimately ruin the stock is in some slight change of no economic
importance. In the bean plant the result of crossing is seldom seen
in the seed, and sometimes is not noticeable in any part of the plants
which are the immediate product of the cross. Generally, crossing
is first manifested in some inconspicuous way, such as in the size or
the color of the flower, in the form or the tint of the marking of the
seed, or in the shape or the color of the point of the pod; but these
are premonitions of changes in subsequent generations which will
render the stock worthless and which it will be practically impossible
to eradicate by the most careful roguing.

In starting a foundation stock one should most carefully select a
few plants which in habit of growth, in leaf, flower, pod, and in
every way are of the exact varietal character wanted. The seed of
these selections may with reasonable safety be planted side by side,
but each plant should be carefully examined, and the whole of any
lot in which a single plant shows variation that seems to. have come
through the seed rather than as a result of more or less perfect de-
velopment should be rejected, and it is often wise to reject all of the
stock that traces to the same original selected plant. In making such
rejections it is very important that one should distinguish between
variations which were transmitted through the seed and those which
result from conditions of growth and which would not be carried
in the seed. This will call for the exercise of wise judgment founded
on a full and accurate knowledge of the varietal characteristics of
the sort. It will be seen that in spite of the lesser liability to cross-
fertilization, the building up of a true stock is a much slower process
with beans than with corn, but when one which is true has been
secured it is much easier to keep it so.

THE GROWING OF GARDEN PEAS FOR SEED.

Peas are closely related to beans botanically, and the general cli-
matic and soil conditions requisite for the best development of the two
are very similar. Peas require for their most profitable development
a cool, moist climate, and they can not be profitably grown in a hot.
dry one or where there is a liability of such conditions occurring for
even a few consecutive days. Clear, bright weather free from
drenching rains is essential to the ripening and curing of the seed.
It not infrequently happens that because of wet and catchy weather

184

THE GROWING OF GARDEN PEAS FOR SEED. 29

at harvest time the seedsman fails to get any usable seed from fields
of peas which had given promise of a large yield.

The sections where seed peas can be profitably grown are still
further limited by liability to injury from the pea weevil. Injury
from this insect is less common north of latitude 42° to 43° than
farther south, and crops grown on clay soils, particularly if they
be near large bodies of water, suffer less than those grown on sandy
soils. For these reasons the growing of seed peas in America is
generally confined to the sections bordering on the Great Lakes and
to a few locations in Washington, Oregon, and northern California
where the climatic conditions are favorable.

There is no garden vegetable in which uniformity in habit of
growth and in the maturing of the fruit in all the plants of a culture a
is of greater importance than with green peas. The character of the
plant and the cultural methods commonly employed in growing it
are such that the gathering of the first one or two pickings of green
pods is likely to so check the growth of the plants that the later
maturing pods are decidedly injured, often so much so as to make
the picking of them for culinary uses unprofitable. Again, the good
appearance of the pods in the basket is very dependent upon evenness
of form and maturity, a comparatively slight difference in the form
or the age of a few pods ruining the effect of the whole. Lastly, any
overripe or " off -colored " pea is made more conspicuous and objec-
tionable by cooking.

For these reasons, evenness in size of plant and in date of maturing
is a more important element of value in garden peas than in most
other vegetables.

CULTURAL REQUIREMENTS.

The pea plant, like that of the bean, is very materially influenced
as to habit of growth and maturity by soil conditions, and in the pea
changes due to this cause are transmitted through the seed seemingly
with cumulative force. It is consequently very important that all of
the plants of a " culture " for seed should be as nearly uniform in size
and maturity as possible. Often a field which has been recently
cleaned of forest or one which has been heavily manured will yield
a large crop of seed, which, however, will not be of the best quality
because of lack of uniformity in the size and in the earliness of the
producing plants.

The best crops of seed peas, as regards both quality and quantity,
can usually be grown by turning under old timothy sod on a uniform,
well-drained, clay or clay-loam soil. Uniformity in character of the

°A single planting of the same sort.
184

30 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

soil on which the crop is to be grown is not of greater importance
than that its preparation should be such as to put it into good tilth
and to make it as even and uniform in composition and physical
condition as possible, and the seed should be so planted as to secure
evenness in germination and in the growth of the young plants.

Xo plant responds more readily to good preparation and culture of
the soil than the pea, but its habit of growth and the cultural methods
used are such that thorough preparation should be given before the
seed is put in the ground.

Xot only the growth of the plant but the harvesting of the crop in
good condition is very dependent upon favorable weather, and in
most sections of this country where seed peas are largely grown there
is much more likelihood of the early-planted crops escaping unfavor-
able conditions than those which are planted later. It is therefore
very desirable that the seed should be sown as early as the ground can
be put into good condition, and it will generally be desirable that the
field, particularly if it be in sod, be plowed in late fall or early
winter, which would have the further advantage of destroying many
cutworms and other injurious insects. The ground should be worked
and the seed sown as early in the spring as possible, but one should
not permit the desirability of early planting to tempt him to sow
before the ground has had the best possible preparation.

QUANTITY OF SEED TO USE PER ACRE.

The quantity of seed to use to the acre will depend upon the
variety and, in some cases, upon the soil and location. There is a
great difference of opinion as to the quantity of seed which will give
the most profitable returns, and that recommended varies from 80 to
160 pounds for such small-seeded, large- vined sorts as the Admiral,
and from 120 to 180 pounds for the larger-seeded, short-vined kinds
like the Yorkshire Hero. The writer believes that the best seed can
be grown by comparatively thin seeding.

In some sections of the country, from Dakota westward, pea vines
show a much greater tendency to branch from the bottom than the
same stocks would if planted in the East, so that in Washington and
California as good results can often be secured from the use of only
20 to 10 pounds of seed as from the larger quantities that eastern
growers think it necessary to use.

Great care should be taken to secure even distribution and cover-
ing of the seed. This can .generally be accomplished best by the use
of some form of grain drill, but care should be taken to select one
that will not crack the seed. It will often be desirable after sowing
to run over the field with a light slanting-tooth harrow, but if this is

184

THE GROWING OF GARDEN PEAS FOR SEED. 31

done it should be so timed as to avoid either uncovering the seed or
injuring the germinating plants.

ROGUING.

While experience has demonstrated that it is practically impossible
to materially improve a stock of peas by roguing, this method is
often resorted to by many growers in order to secure so-called pure
stock. Roguing is of less value with peas than with beans, because the
greater number of plants to the acre and the irregularity of arrange-
ment and growth make it a practical impossibility to critically ex-
amine every plant, or even a large proportion of the plants of a field,
and very often a crossed or " off " plant can not be distinguished even
by careful examination, yet the seed of that plant may the next sea-
son develop into plants which are very objectionable. Again, there
is always a possibility, it might even be said a probability, that the
blossoms of a plant so conspicuously " off " that the roguer sees and
removes it had already contaminated from one to a score or more of
the surrounding plants, so that their product would be seriously " off "
the next season.

In practice, the most that one can hope to accomplish by roguing
seed peas is to prevent the stock from deteriorating still further, the
only hope of securing a pure or improved stock being in selecting
and breeding from the best rather than in eliminating the poorest.

While roguing should not be depended upon, especially for the
growing of stock seed, it should not be neglected. The fields should
be carefully gone over at the time when the earliest plants are pass-
ing out of bloom. Each man should take a strip of a certain width
and, moving with his back to the sun, confine his attention to that
strip, removing all of the rogues seen there and resisting the tempta-
tion to go foraging to the right or the left ; and he should return
over the same strip, scanning it as carefully as at first, for very
often a rogue which was not noticeable when looking with the sun is
very evident when looking in the opposite direction.

GATHERING AND CURING.

The commercial value of seed of garden peas is largely influenced
by the appearance of the seed, and this is very dependent upon the
conditions and the care used at the time of harvest. With many sorts
it is desirable that the seed should retain a green shade, and that it
may do so, as well as to prevent loss from shelling, the vines should
be gathered as soon as the bulk of the crop is hard and before any
of the ripest pods begin to shell or have been bleached by the sun.

184

32 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

The best plan of harvesting will depend upon the variety grown,
the weather conditions, and the kind of labor, and of farm machinery
available. Where the low-priced labor of women and boys can be
obtained, the very dwarf sorts, like American Wonder, can often be
most economically gathered by hand into bunches of 2 to 4 cubic
feet. The next larger-sized sorts can be gathered with a sharp hoe,
a short scythe, or a pea rake (see fig. 3) into bunches of about the
same size. The larger- vined sorts can be " rolled " into bunches of
4 to 8 cubic feet with a short scythe or cut with a mower carrying
" pea guards " on the cutting bar, so as to raise the vines and pre-
vent cutting the pods, and then be gathered into windrows or bunches.

While in the field, the bunches should be turned every two or
three days and after every rain, in order to hasten the curing and to
prevent the rotting or the bleaching of the seed. In order to avoid
loss of color or injury from rain, it is desirable that the vines be well
stacked or put into barns as soon as they are so dry that they will not

r mold or spoil in the

L „ — »• *• J mow. The vines should

\,03. ■- Oa Oa. o.O\l

\. .v., | II c I S if remam m the mow un-

A/VvVVVn/WvWvWV^^ til thev are well cured

II*

~7\

unjitudinai wev'of Rake **{. «_#*&„ heads nvete borticT. and can be easily and

CM-cnonof aA~ £2?**** *" *eh"aofhad conveniently thrashed.

^ *■**""*■- ^f^^M The smaller - vined
SJSSS^^JT sorts can usually be
thrashed most eco-

Fig. 3.-Sketch of head of pea rake for gathering short- nomicallv by flails. The

larger - vined varieties
are best thrashed by an ordinary bean thrasher with part of the con-
cave teeth removed, but it should be so managed and run as to pre-
vent splitting the peas. Skillful handling of the thrasher is quite as
important with peas as with beans.

YIELD TO THE ACRE.

The yield of salable seed peas is very dependent not only upon the
crop grown but upon the proportion of it one can secure in salable
condition. It often happens that through a little delay in harvesting
from 10 to 40 per cent of the seed is lost through shelling in the field.
Again, a few days of rainy weather may cause the loss of even the
entire crop through sprouting and rotting in the field. Lastly, there
may be a very heavy loss through the splitting of the seed in thrash-
ing. The yield also varies greatly with the variety.

Under favorable conditions one may hope to harvest from 10 to 30
bushels to the acre, and the most productive sorts may yield up to 60
bushels under favorable conditions, Seedsmen generally contract on

184

GROWING STOCK SEED OF PEAS. 33

a basis of a return of from five to eight times the quantity of seed
planted, this basis allowing for the total failure of some of the
plantings.

PRICES PAID.

The prices paid for growing seed peas vary greatly with the variety
and run from 70 to 95 cents a bushel for some of the easiest grown
sorts after a few years of full crops to $1.75 to $2.50 for the
dwarfer vined and less productive sorts after a few seasons of light
yields.

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT.

The common unit of measurement for peas is the same as for beans,
i. e., a " bushel " of sufficient weight to leave GO pounds after the
necessary cleaning and hand picking. There is a greater difference in
the weight of the same bulk of different varieties of peas than of beans.
Some of the wrinkled sorts weigh only 50 pounds to the bushel,
while the smaller, smooth sorts weigh from 58 to 64 pounds. Clean,
bright seed is desirable, but it is not so essential as with beans. Any
conspicuous injury from the pea weevil or other insects or any dis-
coloration or splitting of the skins in the field or of the grains in
thrashing is regarded as justifying the rejection of the crop as not
suitable for seedsmen's use.

MINIMUM ACCEPTABLE VIABILITY.

Seedsmen seldom are obliged to reject because of poor germination,
otherwise acceptable lots of peas grown on contract. A properly-
cleaned sample will rarely show less than 85 or 90 per cent of viability
shortly after harvest, though where the plants have been seriously
injured by lice or in some other way the seed sometimes loses in via-
bility quite rapidly.

GROWING STOCK SEED OE PEAS.

Stock seed of peas should be selected and grown in the same way
as that recommended for beans. With peas, however, variations due
to soil and cultural conditions are transmitted through the seeds, so
that care should be taken to grow stock to be used for seed on soils
which are uniformly favorable for the best development of the
particular variety. Peas are also more liable than beans to crossing
through the action of wind or of insects, and for this reason it is
not wise to grow stocks of different sorts side by side. They should
be either isolated or located in a field of the purest available stock
of the variety.

184

INDEX.

American Wonder peas. See Peas, American Wonder. Page.

Anthracnose, transmission in bean seed 25

Beans, bush, seed, growing in California 25

effect of soil and climate 25

green-podded, effect of different soils 25

Kidney Wax, effect of different soils 25

Lima, prices for growing 27

seed, growing on California coast 24-25

Long Yellow, effect of different soils _ 25

plants, effect of heat 24

moisture 24

sensitiveness to unfavorable conditions 24

pole, prices for growing 27

seed, growing on California coast 24-25

"rogue " plants, distribution 26

seed, crop suitable to follow winterkilled crop 11

crops, injury by weevil in South 24

winds in West 24

location 25-27

discoloration, stains, etc . , effect on price 27

growing 24-28

on California coast 24-25

importance of healthy stock 25

localities favorable to profitable crop 24

poorly cleaned, prices 26

prices 27

stock, growing 28

varietal characters, variations, suggestions 28

thrashing 26

unit of measurement 27

viability, mimimum accepted by seedsmen 27

yield per acre 27

See also Seed.

seeding, quantity to acre, etc 26

Valentine, effect of different soils 25

wax-podded, effect of different soils 25

Birds, carriers of corn pollen 16

Black Mexican corn. See Corn, Black Mexican.
Bush beans. See Beans, bush.

Bushel, seed, beans, weight 33

corn, sweet, weight, etc 22

peas, weight 33

California, growing of pole, Lima, and bush beans 24-25

seed peas 29

Canners, disposition of "get-away " crops 11

184 35

36 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

Page.

Chit, sweet corn, difference in western and eastern products 15

Clay soils. See Soils, clay.

Climate, effect on garden beans 25

quality of sweet corn 15

Cobs, sweet corn, flexibility 21

Connecticut, sweet-corn growers, harvesting methods 18

Corn, Black Mexican, objections of growers 16

cross-pollination 16-17

effect on quality 16

protection, difficulties, suggestions, etc 17

separated varieties, instances 16-17

field, vitality, comparison with sweet corn 17

hybrid, rejection for seed 17

pollen, birds as carriers 16

distance transmitted 16

seed, curing, crate method 20

drying-stick method 20

sticks, construction, use, etc 20

effect of weather on viability 21

rail cribs, construction and use 20-21

scaffold method 20

use of artificial heat, danger 21

growing, stock blocks, isolation, suggestions 28

harvesting, advantages of early cutting 21

rejection of hybrids 17

selection in field, method 23-24

self-fertilization, cause of loss of vigor 22-23

stock, method of marking 23

unit of measurement 22

See also Seed.

"stripped," danger of injury by frost 18

sweet, cobs, flexibility 21

chit, difference in eastern and western products 15

curing, methods 19-21

drying, directions 19-21

from western-grown seed, inferiority to eastern and northern

product 15

green, qualities, relation of maturity 15

planting, directions 17-18

quality, effect of climate 15

soils 16

seed, bushel, weight, etc 22

growing 14-24

harvesting 18-19

increase of demand 14

influence of location 14-16

local-grown, superiority 14

locality of greatest production 14

northern and eastern grown, preference of planters 14

production, cultural methods 17-18

stock, growing 22-24

selection, importance 13

viability, minimum accepted by seedsmen 22

yield, prices, etc 21-22

184

INDEX. 37

Page.

Corn, sweet, shocks, care, size, etc 18

tenderness and sweetness, relation of maturity when cooked 15

vitality, comparison with field corn 17

Crates, method of curing seed corn 20

Cribs, rail, for curing seed corn, construction 20-21

use 20

Crops, "get-away," effect on price of seeds 11

use by seedsmen 11

seed. See Seed, crops.

share rentals, advantages of seed crop 11

"Cultures," growing peas for seed, importance of uniformity 29-30

Curing, corn, sweet, methods 19-21

peas, seed 32

Cutworms, destruction by winter plowing 30

Dakotas, seed-bean crops 24

Diseases. See Anthracnose and Rust.

Drill, pea planting, selection 30

Drying, corn, sweet, directions 19-21

sticks. See Sticks, drying.

Farmer, seed growing for seedsmen, management, etc 8

Fertilization. See Self-fertilization.

Frost, danger of injury to "stripped " corn 18

Garden seed. See Seed, garden.
"Get-away" crops. See Crops, "get-away."

Great Lakes, region, growing of peas for seed 29

Harvesting, corn, seed, advantages of early cutting 21

sweet, directions 18-19

peas 31-32

dependence on weather conditions 30

Heat, artificial, use in curing seed corn, danger 21

effect on bean plants 24

Hybrid corn. See Corn, hybrid.

Implements useful in harvesting peas 32

Insects, injurious, destruction by winter plowing 30

Introduction to bulletin 7

Kidney Wax beans. See Beans, Kidney Wax.

Lima beans. See Beans, lima.

Long Yellow beans. See Beans, Long Yellow.

Measurement, unit, seed beans 27

corn 22

peas 33

Minnesota, seed-bean crops 24

Moisture, effect on bean plants 24

New England, corn, seed, curing, methods 20

Ohio, sweet-corn growers, harvesting methods 18

Oregon, growing of seed peas 29

Packers, corn, sweet, Maine, opinion as to qualities of northern-grown seed 14

Maryland, opinion as to qualities of Maryland-grown seed . 14

Peas, American Wonder, harvesting 32

cultural requirements 29-30

growing, effect of weather conditions 28

habits of growth, importance of uniformity , 29

184

38 THE PRODUCTION OF VEGETABLE SEEDS.

Page.

Peas, harvesting 31-32

dependence on weather conditions 30

implements useful 32

injury by weevil 29

loss in field through shelling 32

plants, injury by picking early pods 29

tendency to branch in western sections 30

roguing 31

seed, bushel, weight 33

curing \ 32

growing 28-33

sections suitable 29

importance of early plowing 30

planting, quantity to the acre 30-31

suggestions 30

prices 33

soil, preparation, quality, etc 29-30

stock, growing 33

thrashing 32

unit of measurement 33

viability, minimum accepted by seedsmen 33

yield per acre 32

See also Seed.

seeding, suggestions 30

vines, care in harvesting 32

Planting, corn, sweet, directions 17-18

peas, seed, quantity to the acre, etc 30-31

seed purchased by sample, caution 12

Plants, ''rogue," bean crop, distribution 26

destruction in seed crops 8

See also Beans, Corn, and Peas.

Plowing, early, for pea crop, importance 30

winter, destruction of cutworms 30

Pole beans. See Beans, pole.

Pollen, corn, birds as carriers 16

distance transmitted 16

See also Corn, cross-pollination.

Prices, seed, beans 27

corn, sweet 21-22

peas 33

"Rogue" plants. See Plants, "rogue."

"Roguing," pea crop 31

' ' Rubber, ' ' machine for thrashing beans . . . : 26

Rust, transmission in bean seed 25

"Sample," use of term by seedsmen.... 12

Scaffolds, method of curing seed corn 20

Seed, beans. See Beans,
corn. See Corn.

crops, low prices for growing, causes 10-11

"rogue" plants, destruction 8

See also Beans, Corn, and Peas.

demand, increase 7

firms, number, business, etc 7

184

INDEX. 39

Page.

Seed, garden, appearance, importance 9

elements of value 9-10

stock, importance of purity and evenness of varietal character. . 9-10

viability, importance 9

growers, attitude toward seedsmen 13

improvement in product, suggestions 13

growing, contracts of seedsmen with farmers 8

improvements in practice, suggestions 11-14

peas. See Peas.

relative supply and demand, effect on commercial value 10

use of uniform stocks, importance 7

vegetable, growing, present conditions and practices 8-14

Seeding, beans, quantity to acre, etc 26

peas, suggestions 30

Seeds purchased by sample, caution 12

Seedsmen, attitude toward seed growers, recommendations 12-13

caution against certain practices 10

relation to purchasers and contractors 12-13

seed-growing contracts with farmers 8

use of terms "sample" and "stock" 12

Self-fertilization, cause of loss of vigor in corn seed 22-23

Shocks, corn, sweet, care, size, etc 18

Sod, timothy, turning under, value to pea crop 29

Soil, effect on garden beans 25

growing peas for seed, preparation, quality, etc \ 29-30

Soils, clay, for growing peas, lessening loss from weevil 29

effect on quality of sweet corn 16

selection for growing stock seed peas 33

Sticks, drying, for curing seed corn, construction, use, etc. . . 20

"Stock, " use of term by seedsmen - 12

Sweet corn. See Corn, and Corn, sweet.

Thrashing, beans, seed 26

peas, seed 32

Timothy sod. See Sod, timothy.

Truckers, disposition of "get-away " crops 11

Valentine beans. See Beans, Valentine.

Vegetables, seed, growing, present conditions and practices 8-14

Viability, seed, beans, minimum accepted by seedsmen 27

peas, minimum accepted by seedsmen 33

corn, effect of weather while curing 21

sweet, minimum accepted by seedsmen 22

Vines, pea, care in harvesting 32

Washington, State, growing of seed peas 29

Weather, effect on viability of seed corn while curing 21

Weevil, bean, injury to seed-bean crops in South 24

pea, injury to pea crop 29

Winds, injury to seed-bean crops in West 24

Yield, beans, seed 27

corn, sweet, seed 21-22

peas, seed 32-33

.184

o