WESTERN FARMING. 241 



be used instead of peas.) Sow with a double disc 

 seed drill. See III. 137. This style of a drill will 

 press a crease in the soil and plant the grain on the 

 firm soil below, which will start capillary action of 

 the moisture in the subsoil so that the grain will 

 get all the moisture necessary to start. 



In order to prevent evaporation of the moisture 

 in the soil it will be necessary to loosen the surface 

 soil every week or ten days with a lever spike-tooth 

 harrow (see III. 76) to form a mulching until the 

 crop shades the soil from the hot sun. Soon as the 

 peas or vetches, as the case may be, are in bloom, 

 plow shallow, turning the whole crop under the 

 furrow by attaching a chain to the centre of beam 

 of plow and the outer end of evener behind the 

 furrow horse, forming a loop. It will be necessary 

 to use a rolling coulter. After plowing, roll and 

 harrow. 



This work should be done before harvest. After 

 harvest, spread a few loads of farm yard manure 

 per acre over the surface with a manure spreader. 

 See III. jo. Leave this manure spread on the 

 surface as a mulching and to prevent the soil from 

 drifting. In the following spring sow wheat or oats 

 early, soon as the frost is out of the ground about 

 two inches, with a double disc drill. The idea is to 

 plant the grain on the frozen subsoil so that it will 

 get abundance of moisture. While the ground is 

 thawing out, the manure on the surface will act as 

 a mulching and prevent the moisture from escaping. 

 It would be advisable to sow a few pounds of red 

 clover per acre at the same time as sowing the grain. 

 As there is not likely to be any of the proper bacteria 

 in those arid soils, it will be necessary to have the 

 red clover seed treated with nitro-culture, which 

 can be had from any of the agricultural colleges with 



