308 BuKEAU OF Farmeks' Institutes. 



OATS AND PEAS. 

 What variety of peas do you sow with oats, and how many per acre? 



Mr. Converse. — The small white Canada pea. We aim to sow 

 oats enough to hold up the peas, so that they will not fall down 



and mold. We sow one part of peas and two of oats. 



Mr. Cook. — We have no fixed rule; but we aim to sow oats 

 enough to hold up the peas; from three pecks to a bushel and a 

 peck. The first sowing is wholly oats and peas; the later one has 

 a little barley, sometimes half a bushel, mixed with it per acre. 



At what stajre of ripeness do you cut them, and for what purpose do 

 you grow them? 



Mr. Converse. — We cut them just as soon as they show a 

 " yellow tinge," and do it with a mowing machine. They are then 

 too green to be cut with a binder or one of the old " poke off " 

 reapers. At that stage the grain has the most value, while the 

 straw is fully as valuable for feeders as is timothy hay. We 

 allow them to remain on the ground and cure like hay. We feed 

 them for hay, or thresh and grind them. We also use them as 

 a soiling crop, beginning the cutting of them when the first dry 

 weather comes, which is usually about the first of July. 



Is there any better grain to sow with peas than oats, to hold them up? 

 What about sorghum? 



Mr. Cook. — I do not know of any better grain than oats. 

 Wheat might help out, as the straw is stiffer than that of oats. 

 Sorghum would not do, it is too much like corn. 



Mr. Dawley. — Oats and peas are the best crop we grow, except 

 alfalfa, w-hen fed as a soiling crop for hay or to thresh and feed 

 as grain, especially when fed with ensilage. We use the small, 

 white Canadian pea, the mixture with oats differing according to 

 the richness of the land. But we manage to sow oats enough to 

 hold up the peas. We must not allow them to mold. The ideal 

 way is to plow under the peas about four inches, then a week 

 later, sow the oats; but w^e have had most excellent results by 

 sowing them together. It will depend on the season and condi- 

 tion. 



Mr. Eice. — We had most excellent results by putting the peas 

 in with a drill, setting the drill four inches deep, then cross 



