No. 7. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 237 



the lever and set the drill hoes in a zigzag position and drill in 

 the rye any time before the 10th of October in the latitude of Phila- 

 delphia. As soon as the rye is drilled and the work of seeding is 

 done do not roll the field, the rains and mows will make the field 

 hard enough till spring; keep the surface so that plenty of water 

 soaks into the ground; and it is a lesson to see how much water 

 such an unplowed corn stalk field can hold, it is in a fine condi- 

 tion to take in the snows and rains of winter and hold an immense 

 amount of it, for rye is a heavy drinker. When the work of seed- 

 ing the field is done, begin the next morning if you work to top 

 dress the seeded rye with freshly made stable manure, have direct 

 from the stable to the field at the rate of six to eight spreader 

 loads to the acre; if the bedding is cut fine it absorbs the liquid 

 manure better, spreads better in the field and lays closer to the 

 ground. Short manure always gets closer to the plant than rough 

 strawy manure, the field not having been plowed the manure 

 spreader will cut in very little, so that it is not more work for two 

 good horses than ordinary field spreading; keep on top dressing the 

 rye till the field is done, only putting the 'manure elsewhere when 

 the field would be too soft or wet to get on with the team; the 

 manure may be spread from a low down truck with broad wheels 

 by hand, only that it is more work than machine spreading. By 

 putting the manure fresh from the dairy barn on the field, with 

 short litter, as an absorbent, it is weathered finely, the rye comes 

 up through the manure and grows a fine crop. I know what is 

 said about so much seed to the acre, but what I want is a stalk 

 of rye from a single grain if I can get it, the rye and manure are 

 both to mulch the field, the rye is the growing and manure the 

 decaying mulch — the following spring cut the rye green for the 

 sake of the field, for it is the ground that the rye of the farmer is 

 watching and working to get into a high state of cultivation for 

 he has started out to improve his soil and must never give it up till 

 he gets it fertile. If the rye is cut for feeding green to cattle, it 

 is all right; if it is put into a silo it is all right; if it is cut for 

 hay just when the rye is in the first bloom it is all right, but if 

 in the early spring the corn stalk field seeded to rye is plowed and 

 seeded to oats and peas at the rate of two bushels each or 54 quarts 

 of each as the grain drills usually gauge the drilling of peas and 

 oats it is the best way to handle it. It is said by some that peas 

 arid oats can be mixed and sown together at the same time, but 

 my plan has always been to put the Canada field peas in at least 

 three inches deep and oats only one inch. To do this they have to 

 be sown separately, the one long ways, the other cross ways, the 

 peas first and then the oats, as soon as the peas are in begin at 

 once to put in the oats. In about six weeks the oats and peas 

 should be put into a silo or made into hay, if for hay, they should 

 be cut just when here and there in the blooming and podding field 

 a pea is seen in the pod, when the pea is just forming like a small 

 button, is the time to cut for hay, if the peas get big in the pods, 

 they cannot be cured enough for hay and will mold when put 

 into a mow or rick. After the oats and pea crop is off the field, 

 manure the field and plow it a little deeper, say one inch, than it 

 was plowed for corn, turn the manure under any time so as to 



