116 • ANNUAL llEPOKT 



Dotice. The spades, shovels and hoes must be of the best of steel, 

 and then ground to a fine edge and kept so. For rakes nothing 

 but the best of the fine pointed steel ones will answer. 



Well, here comes a pleasant day earl}' in April. We find upon ex- 

 amination that the land where we propose to sow peas is entirely |ree 

 from frost, and that it is in good condition to plow ; and we will 

 make a beginning at the season's planiing. We will plow the 

 land, spread the manure upon it after plowing, and harrow it in 

 with a fine steel tooth harrow. Now take the shovel plow, and 

 make furrows say three and a-half feet apart from center to 

 center, and about four or five inches deep. 



Take the seed sower and set- it so that it will drop about one pea 

 to the inch when you are upon a moderate walk with it, The bot- 

 tom of the furrow made with the shovel plow will be six to eight 

 inches wide. Sow a row upon one side of the bottom of this furrow, 

 and then returning sow another in the bottom of the other side, 

 thus making what we call a double row. Peas are one of the few 

 seeds that the sower will not cover of sufiicient depth, and we must 

 put some extra cover upon them. Take a rake and it is very easy 

 and rapid work to draw back some of the earth into the furrow, or, 

 after sowing, turn your harrow upside down and harrow it over 

 crosswise. After your peas are finished 3'on have a space of nearly 

 three feet between the rows. This land is not needed until the 

 vines are nearly grown when they will shade and cover it or nearly 

 so. Before that time we will have a crop of radishes out of the 

 way. Take your sower and set it to drop about one or two seeds 

 to the inch, and sow a double row of seed midway between the rows 

 of peas. It is very likely that the radish fly will injure and perhaps 

 nearly destroy this first sowing, still they will cost you but very 

 little; and as soon as done pulling, go through with the cultivator 

 destroying all weeds and give the ground to the peas. 



If cold weather comes on and the ground freezes hard it will do 

 peas no harm, and they will gain a little every warm day. 



Just as fast as the laud is fit to plow go on putting in your 

 hardy seeds. Onion sets are another thing that will not be dam- 

 aged if the ground freezes after they have started to grow. And 

 you will need them at the earliest possible time that they can be 

 had. Black seed onions should also be sown at once. This is an 

 expensive crop to raise, and a failure entails a heavy loss. By the 

 following plan I have failed to have a good crop but once in nearly 

 twenty years, and in that case the brown cut worms came on in 

 such numbers as to destroy the entire crop. The land needs to be 



