'26S State Horticultural Society'. 



work well, we will disk the land with four horses, plow it and thor- 

 oughly work and then sow two bushels of \Miippoorwill cowpeas to the 

 acre. We will turn down the peas next fall with a sixteen-inch plow, 

 having first rolled them down with a disk harrow. It sometimes 

 bothers the horses to walk through the peas. In the spring of 1905 

 we will plow it up again, roll it down with a roller made of small 

 wheels after thorough cultivation. I meant to say that, in the fall, 

 after plowing down the peas, w^e sow three and one-half bushels of 

 rye to the acre. The rve prevents the soil from w'ashing and leach- 

 ing and keeps the winter and spring rains from beating on the soil 

 and puddling it. This roller of which I spoke is the heaviest pull of 

 any implement we use. If you want to hold the moisture in the soil 

 you must make it fine. One advantage of sowing the peas so thickly 

 is they will shade the weeds and smother them out so they will not 

 seed. We don't bother about weeds I would not reject manure if 

 I know it was full of Canada thistle seeds. Plant early in the spring. 

 We save the plants from starting too early by giving them a heavy 

 covering when the ground is frozen to the greatest depth in January. 

 Just as early in the spring as we can, w-ithout working the ground 

 wet, we plow the land as deep as we can without turning up the raw 

 subsoil. It packs and will make a crust and retard the growing of 

 your plants. We wait till the frost has killed the peas before plowing 

 in the fall. We want to get as much ripeness as possible in the 

 peas. You must begin to spray on time. W^e have a barrel on a cart 

 with three nozzles so adjusted as to spray three rows at a time. We 

 sprayed sevent3^-four acres last year. ^A'hen planting we had thirty 

 men, with a man to examine the work after the planters. I some- 

 times use a cone maker like an auger. The roots are spread over this 

 cone and the soil trampled dow^n upon them. After the work of plant- 

 ing is finished loosen the surface with a cultivator. It has been said 

 that every step makes a compact surface wdiich will loose a quart of 

 water in a day. I use the Planet, jr., twelve -tooth cultivator. For this 

 work I want a man with a small foot, who makes long steps. In 

 passing through fhe row the first time I require him to walk a little 

 to one side so that the cultivator will cover his tracks when he comes 

 back the other way through the same space. \\'e make our rows 

 thirty inches apart, mostly, and set the plants from twenty-four to 

 thirty-six inches in the row. We place the runners in the row. In 

 this w'ay you can make a hedge row Avith the plants six, eight or ten 

 inches apart. Allow no other runners to set plants. I cut the run- 

 ners o'ft with a disk attached to a worn-out garden hoe. Some at- 

 tach a sharp disk to the cultivator. I prefer the hand tool. Every 



