what I had been doing. ' It'8 all in your eye — the only reason why your peas will not be stung, will 

 be because there will be no peas to sting.' Now for the result; those sown in April produced some- 

 what the largest crop, but were lit&rally alive with bugs ; those sown in June entirely free from them. 

 Determininig to test the matter further, and not having more seed than I wished to sow, I 

 experimented further the following season, '51. I put all the peas together and sowed them promis- 

 cuously, bugs and all — a small portion the Ist of April, the remainder the 8th of June, side by side. 

 The result about the same as the previous year — the April sown peas rather the greatest yield but 

 full of bugs ; those sown in June entirely free from them. Satisfied with the experiment, I sowed 

 several acres this sesison, the 10th of June. I have just gathered them, and find no marks of the 

 sting of the insect ; the yield is much the largest I have ever had. 



"My method of cultivation, is to prepare the ground well and sow about three bushels to the acre. 

 I intend to experiment further next year, by sowing four bushels. I am inclined to think they will 

 stand up firmer and yield more. I observe this season that uniformly where they stood thickest on 

 the ground, they stood up better and looked finer. Yield from fifteen to twenty bushels — this year 

 somewhat more. They should be gathered when fully ripe. Mow them with a scythe, in diy 

 weather. Avoid rain if possible, and get them in the barn. If there is no mow room, thresh out 

 immediately, clean up as soon as threshed, and give them the benefit of the barn floor a few days 

 until they are perfectly dry, as they will heat if put up in bulk. I lost some in that way last season. 

 The straw should be saved, as it is better for stock than wheat straw or poor hay. 



" Next, as to the use and value of the crop, which is the important part of the subject. The uses 

 are various ; as food for stock it is liighly valuable and profitable in the Eastern States, but whether 

 it will prove so here or not I am not sufficiently posted up to speak definitely, but am inclined to 

 think not, in our great corn districts. If I should raise them for that purpose, I should sow earlier, 

 as the bug does not materially affect their value if fed immediately, and the yield is rather larger. 

 They give hogs a fine start early in the fall immediately after the stubbles are exhausted, by fencing 

 off and turning in, or cutting — feeding vines and alL A little later, and before corn is fit to feed, 

 they may be boiled with pumpkins and potatoes — indeed, if properly managed, but little or no corn 

 will be required to make fine pork. It is thus profitably managed elsewhere and I can see no reason 

 why it may not be here. * * * * ** * * * 



" The result of my experience, then, in the I'aising of peas amounts to this : Tliose that I raised last 

 season were the first I sold. The product of the April sown peas were alive with bugs, and to pre- 

 vent them from emigrating, fed them to my hogs. Those sown in June sold freely at two dollars per 

 bushel, and I could not supply the demand ; but what added peculiar interest to the matter was, 

 that two bushels were sold to the person who thought that raising peas free from bugs was ' all in 

 your eye.' " 



Guano on Potatoes. — Last spring I planted four acres of potatoes on a two year old sod ; the soil 

 was a very light gravelly loam, well calculated to raise sound potatoes, but as it had been hard run, 

 and never manured, it could not be expected to produce a large crop. I plowed the land deep and 

 well, as early as the weather would permit, letting it lie till the time of planting — May 10th. It 

 was then dragged, and oh^wo acres 600 lbs. of Peruvian guano were sown broadcast. The land was 

 then furrowed out in rows about three feet apart and potatoes planted in the rows, from twelve to 

 fourteen inches between the setts. On the remaining two acres no guano, or manure of any kind, 

 was applied, though treated exactly alike in every other respect. 



As soon as the plants were up there was a decided difference visible. The guanoed ones having a 

 richer, darker hue, which they maintained throughout the summer. In the fall, when the unguan- 

 oed potatoes were quite ripe and the vines dead, the giianoed ones were growing luxuriantly, the 

 vines covering the whole space between the rows. 



The potatoes were dug the last week in October, and accurately measured. On the unguanoed 

 two acres, there was 238 bushels, and on the two acres guanoed, 410 bushels, making a difference in 

 favor of the guano of 86 bu. per acre. All the potatoes are perfectly sound and good, but the guan- 

 oed ones are much the largest^ with scarcely a small one among them. The guano cost in New York 

 two and a half cents per pound ; freight, breaking the lumps, sifting, and sowing it, would make its 

 cost on the land three cents per pound, or $9 per acre. The 86 exti-a bushels of potatoes will more 

 than pay for the guano, &c., and leave a good profit from the investment. 



As regards the best mode of application, I may state that in another field this year I had an acre 

 of potatoes, part of which were guanoed, as on the other two acres, by sowing broadcast, planting 

 the potatoes in hills. On part of the acre the guano was applied in the hill, placing the guano imme- 

 diately over the potatoes, separating them with a little soil, otherwise it woulU injure the sett 

 The potatoes thus treated were intich belter than where the guano was sown broadcast. Four rows 

 left unguanoed were not more than half as good as where guano was applied. 



I consider guano a most powerful and valuable manure, though whether it will pay as well to 

 apply it to wheat, corn, or other grain crops, as it has in this instance to potatoes, I cannot say. 

 I have sown some on wheat this fall and can already see how far it extended, the difference being 

 very perceptible. H. C. Ives. — Rochetter, N. Y., 1852. 



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