THE COMMON CEREALS. 175 



further enriching the land. But it may be profitable 

 to add fertilizers when the facilities are at hand, to 

 stimulate abundant production. Farmyard manures 

 are excellent when applied in a form suitable to the 

 needs of the land. Where much rainfall is expected 

 the manure may be applied in the fresh form, but 

 when moisture will probably be deficient, it should 

 be applied in the reduced form. 



The commercial fertilizers most commonly used 

 are those which are designated complete fertilizers, 

 but the nitrogen content in them should usually be 

 high to meet the need of these crops. And when 

 moisture is present in a sufficient degree, these crops 

 may be further stimulated by sowing on them nitro- 

 gen in some form, after the plants have made a good 

 start. It is not usual, however, to go to much ex- 

 pense in specially enriching the land for this class of 

 green crops, because of the short duration of the 

 period of growth. 



Sowing. The seed may be broadcasted when 

 the facilities for drilling it are not at hand, but in 

 nearly all instances it will be found preferable to 

 sow the seed with the drill. The drill buries 

 it more uniformly as to depth and covers it more 

 perfectly. Ordinarily when these grains are sown 

 as mixtures, it is labor saving and more satis- 

 factory in various ways to mix them before they 

 are sown. 



The most suitable kinds to sow will be those 

 which past experience has shown to be the most 

 vigorous growers. These will vary with variations 

 in climate and soil. No one variety of any kind of 

 grain can be found that will grow equally well in all 



