192 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



rye among the corn early in the fall, to prevent washing during 

 the ensuing winter. There are often barren spots in pastures 

 which do not readily take grass, and remain bare and unpro- 

 ductive. If rye and grass are sown together on these spots in 

 September, and a heavy harrow run over the land till the sur- 

 face is a little mellowed, the rye will strike root and protect the 

 grass, and enable the farmer to make these unsightly spots 

 disappear. 



There is no other farm crop grown that will flourish so well 

 on exhausted land, and none that will bear so late seeding. I 

 have known rye to make a good crop when sown so- late that it 

 did not come up till spring. I think it does best when covered 

 lightly, and would always get the land fine and smooth before 

 seeding, and cover with a light harrow or plank drag. When 

 sown for grain, the usual amount of seed used is from three to 

 five pecks to the acre. On rich land, in good condition, I think 

 three pecks will bring a heavy crop. When sown for pasture 

 at least two bushels of seed will be required, and when sown for 

 the purpose of plowing under, as a fertilizer, even double this 

 amount is often employed. The farmer who begins growing 

 this crop will, as he learns its value and the many uses to which 

 it can be put, be likely to continue its growth, and increase the 

 breadth of land devoted to it. 



Beans. An important supplementary crop, and one which 

 is often quite profitable, is beans. The varieties are numerous, 

 and in deciding what to grow the farmer must be governed 

 somewhat by soil and location. 



One advantage of the small white bush beans is that they, 

 like rye, will make a profitable crop on an exhausted soil, which 

 would not pay for cultivation in corn or wheat. The crop is 

 one which matures quickly, and is well adapted for planting on 

 land where a crop of rye has been grown for green manure, as 

 the rye can be allowed to complete its growth and be turned 

 under, and the land to become settled before the beans need to 

 be planted. I have found beans an admirable crop to precede 

 wheat, and would rather a crop of them should be grown on the 

 land I intend to seed to wheat than that it should be summer 



