Vegetables with Edible Seeds 223 



Soil and cultivation. 



A light warm soil is very desirable for winter crops of 

 peas. The land should be well prepared, though not 

 deeply, about the last of October or in November; and 

 the fertilizer scattered along the row and mixed with the 

 soil. If one uses a seed-drill, a row should be made up of 

 three or four drills about 2 or more inches apart. This 

 will give the plants a chance to hold to and support one 

 another. The ordinary practice is to make a row about 6 

 inches wide, by scattering the seeds along a furrow, and 

 covering about an inch deep. The rows may be 20 

 inches or more apart. 



Cultivation is needed to get air into the soil and to con- 

 serve the moisture. During cultivation the soil should 

 be gradually worked up to the row so as to leave the 

 plants hilled up at the last. 



Fertilizer for peas. 



The best fertilizer formula for peas is : ammonia, f per 

 cent ; available phosphoric acid, 7 per cent ; potash, 7 per 

 cent. Use 600 to 1000 pounds to the acre. 



For this crop it will be found desirable to use mineral 

 fertilizer rather than compost. If nitrate of soda is used, 

 it will require two applications one at the time of sowing, 

 and the second just as the first flower-buds begin to show. 

 Cottonseed meal can be used as a source of nitrogen 

 before planting, as a part of a compost fertilizer. Nitrate 

 of soda will cause the vines to make a vigorous growth, so 

 it should not be applied when a frost is looked for. 



The following amounts of fertilizing materials may be 



