The Question Box. 103 



Question. — Is it advisable to continue the cultivation of crops 

 during dry weather, after the ground has been thoroughly pul- 

 verized, even though the ground is dried as deeply as the culti- 

 vator has gone? 



Mr. Smith. — The question evidently implies that cultivation, 

 has been deep; on the contrary it should have been shallow. But, 

 if your soil is so coarse that the particles will not come together 

 so as to form a dust mulch and prevent the escape of moisture, 

 cultivation will not amount to anything. Shallow cultivation, if 

 it is fine, pumps up the moisture and prevents its escape by evapor- 

 ation. This is known as capillary attraction. 



Question. — Are Angora goats a coming substitute for sheep 

 for all practical purposes? 



Mr. Woodward. — People have not yet learned to eat goat meat 

 in this country; but I hear that young Angora kids are being 

 dressed and sold as lambs. They will not pay here, but, in Penn- 

 sylvania, where the land is very rocky and hilly, it is said they are 

 superior to sheep. 



Question. — Would it be better to plow under some green crop, 

 this summer, or leave the ground fallow, and cultivate, to pre- 

 pare the soil for seeding, next spring? 



Mr. Smith. — I should want some crops growing, to plow un- 

 der, to supply vegetable matter. The putting on of plant food 

 alone does not make land productive r unless it can be made avail- 

 able. This cannot be done unless the physical condition of the 

 soil is right. Humus must be there, and moisture, conserved, else 

 all the fertilizer applied will be of no avail. By ail means, have 

 some green crop to plow under that will supply not only fertility 

 but humus. Cow peas make one of the best crops for this purpose. 

 Sow them in the spring; plow them under in the fall. Sow rye, 

 and plow that under in the spring. Sow the cow peas when you 

 would plant beans — after all danger of spring frost has passed. 

 " Whippoorwill " and " Clay " are the best two varieties. Sow a 

 bushel of seed, broadcast, to the acre, and harrow it in. It will 

 furnish nitrogen, and with the rye give a good supply of humus. 

 I have seen the experiment tried in New Jersey, where rye would 

 not grow. The land would not grow moss, even. A Jew colony 

 got hold of the land, and made a success of it. They changed a 

 yellow, inert, barren sand to a black, productive one, on which 

 grow good crops of clover. It cost $50 an acre to grub out the 

 dwarf "and scrub trees, and two years of labor before the results 

 were reached. There was plant food there, but no humus. When, 



