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Orchard Grass seed

Orchard Grass seed

Seed growing:

When Orchard Gass is grown for seed, the same field can be harvested for five or six years, the greatest yield being obtained the third and fourth seasons. The yielding power is considerably increased if the field is top-dressed with manure every year. Orchard Grass is ready to cut for seed three or four weeks after it has flowered.

To determine the proper time, beat some heads in the palm of the hand. If a small quantity of seed shakes out, it is ready to harvest. Cutting too early means inferior quality. It can be harvested with an ordinary grain binder and the sheaves, which must be rather small, should be set three to five together in small shocks. They should be left to cure from two to six weeks, depending on the weather, and then threshed without stacking.

Quality of seed:

Good seed is bright straw-coloured and contains only a small amount of hulled seed and whole spikelets, or groups of seed not loosened from each other in threshing. It keeps its vitality fairly well for two years. Seed older than that should not be used as the germs are considerably weakened.