Saving of Pumpkin and Kumikumi Seed

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 80, Issue 2, 15 February 1950, Page 171

Saving of Pumpkin and Kumikumi Seed

TO assist farmers seeking inA formation on saving pumpkin and kumikumi seed either for their own use or for sale to a seed firm this article has been written by A. V. Allo, Instructor in Agriculture, Department of Agriculture, Tauranga. In it the methods adopted by a farmer near Tauranga who sells nearly half a ton of kumikumi seed every year are described briefly.

THE saving of seed from any of the gourd species is not difficult, but requires a degree of thoroughness and hand work greater than that needed for most other seed crops. In these days of mechanisation the harvesting of cereals and most crop seeds can be done largely by specially designed machinery, but pumpkin and kumikumi seed has to be harvested by hand and is slow work, requiring a great deal of care and attention to detail if the work is done satisfactorily. Frequently the collection of the seed is a family effort, the farmer’s wife and family taking over much of the routine work. The farmer near Tauranga has been saving kumikumi seed for several years, during which time he has put considerable thought into his method of saving seed and has now developed a system which is efficient and thorough and under which seed is produced which realises top prices on the local market. Each year the farmer grows from 3 to 5 acres of maize for wintering his pigs and has interplanted the maize with kumikumi. The maize has yielded from 80 to 100 bushels per acre, while the crops of kumikumi have also been very heavy. The maize cobs are plucked at the end of May, and the cows are then turned into the paddock to graze off the stalks, etc.

After a few days the pigs are turned in. These include bought-in stores and pigs reared on the farm. As soon as the pigs are in the paddock the farmer takes in a barrow for the seed and with a slasher splits open sufficient kumikumi for the pigs for a day or two. The poor gourds are discarded, only seed from large, well-fleshed ones of good type being kept. The kumikumis are split across the middle, not end to end, and the seed is scooped out by hand, as much as possible of the pulp being thrown away. A few days later the farmer splits a further supply of kumikumis for the pigs, again saving The seed from the best gourds.

It is remarkable the way in which the pigs become accustomed to this method of feeding and they do not damage many of the unbroken kumikumis.

Cleaning of Seed

After the farmer has extracted the seed from the kumikumis he takes the seed to the cow yard to remove any pulp and rubbish still adhering to it. He fills a bucket one-third full with seed, on to which he plays a strong jet of water. When the bucket is full

weather is wet, drying out will take much longer, and great care has to be taken to keep the seed well stirred up to prevent mould formation. In wet weather an electric fan may be used to blow a current of air over the drying seed. When the seed is dry it should be stored in open-mesh bags in a dry, airy place and protected from rats until it is sold or used. Farmers saving seed near Auckland City frequently take the roughly dried seed to a seed firm where it is dried out mechanically. Though this procedure undoubtedly saves a great deal of time and trouble, it is obviously not practicable for the seed grower, in the Bay of Plenty, who has to rely on his own resources to make a good job of the drying. Yields of seed naturally vary according to the crop, but a good crop of kumikumis will give 350 to 4001 b. of seed per acre, which at the rate of 3s. per lb yields a good return to the farmer. This Tauranga farmer claims that pigs do better on kumikumis from which the seed has been removed, but there is no doubt that any feed value in the seeds is negligible compared with their cash value as crop seeds.

of water the seed floats to the top and can be skimmed off easily by hand into another bucket. The pulp and any poor seeds will sink to the bottom of the bucket and can be discarded. Normally, one washing of the seed will suffice, but, if there is a great deal of pulp, another hosing may be necessary. After the seed has been washed it is drained out in a bucket with several holes at the bottom and is then taken to the house for drying. The drying process is the most important part of the saving of seed and requires considerable patience. Poorly dried seed quickly develops mould and fungi and its appearance is spoilt for commercial purposes. This Tauranga farmer has made a series of racks on which to dry the seed, each rack holding four sackingcovered trays. The seed is spread out thinly on the trays and stirred daily until it is thoroughly dry, when the thin outer covering of the seed rubs off on handling. The time needed to dry out the seed thoroughly varies according to the weather. If the days are sunny and fine, the racks are put outdoors during the daytime and taken inside at night, and it will take about a fortnight for the seed to dry thoroughly. If, however, the