CROPS. 251 



to forty bushels; but there is nothing peculiar in the cultivation. 

 It is considered a valuable food for horses and for swine, and 

 large quantities, raised or imported, in the form of split peas, are 

 consumed in soups, &c. The garden culture of peas, in the 

 neighborhood of London, and other large cities, to be sold green, 

 is most extensive ; but there is nothing remarkable in the process. 

 With a view of forwarding them, the land is thrown into ridges, 

 running north and south, and the seed is dropped on the south 

 side, at the bottom of the ridge. High manuring increases very 

 much the growth of the stalk, but postpones proportionately the 

 forwarding of the pods. For five different and valuable kinds 

 of peas, &quot; the country,&quot; Mr. Lawson says, &quot; is indebted to T. A. 

 Knight, Esq., the late distinguished president of the London 

 Horticultural Society, who obtained them by crossing or hyb 

 ridizing some of the most esteemed varieties. From their re 

 markably-wrinkled appearance, together with the peculiar sweet 

 ness which they all possess, Knight s marrows may be said to form 

 a distinct and most valuable class of garden peas.&quot; These are, 

 certainly, most honorable contributions of eminent skill and 

 science to the public good. The haulm of peas, as well as that 

 of beans, is carefully saved, and much valued as fodder for cattle, 

 and especially for sheep. 



7. VETCHES OR TARES. This plant is extensively cultivated 

 in England, and considerably in Scotland ; and, in my opinion, its 

 cultivation may be strongly recommended in the United States. It 

 is not much cultivated for the seed, as the permitting it to ripen 

 would tend to exhaust the land ; but the seed is usually imported 

 from the Continent. The principal object of its culture is to fur 

 nish green food for stock, horses and milch cows, which are 

 soiled. Tares supply an immense burden of most nutritious food. 

 They are cut only once ; but they are sown at different times, 

 and sometimes as late as August, that the supply of green feed 

 may be uninterrupted. 



Tares are of two kinds, winter and spring, which differ in 

 no respect, excepting in the habit of ripening ; and the tares sown 

 under favorable circumstances in the spring will not lag far be 

 hind those which are sown in the autumn. 



The land should be brought into a state of fine tilth, and should 

 be well manured. Sometimes they are sown upon a grain stubble, 



