QUANTITY OF SEED TIME OF SOWING. 253 



them, and they are left to take their chances of success 

 to struggle for food with the indigenous occupants of the 

 soil, until harvest, when a stinted crop and poor yield 

 show the impolicy of the. system, and the field is left more 

 foul and impoverished than it was before. 



The selection of the seed requires the same attention as 

 has been recommended for the crops already described. 

 When from any cause old seed is used, it is a good prac- 

 tice to steep it for about twenty -four hours in plain water, 

 in order to induce a regular sprouting. The process of 

 pickling the seed previous to sowing, however, is never 

 practised. The quantity sown is from 2 to 3 bushels an 

 acre when drilled, and about double the quantity when 

 sown broadcast. The period of sowing is materially deter- 

 mined by the sort of pea to be sown, the later varieties 

 requiring to be sown earlier than those which come to 

 maturity in a shorter time. As a rule, it is advisable 

 to get the crop sown as early as the state and condi- 

 tion of the land will permit, as it has been noticed that 

 the forward plants are less subject to mildew than those 

 of backward growth. From the first week in February 

 to the last week in March is the best time for getting the 

 crop sown ; and at this time of the year it is always good 

 policy to wait a few days, rather than to go on the land 

 before it is in a suitable condition to receive the seed. 

 The winter variety is of course sown earlier in October, 

 or the first week in November ; and the quick-growing 

 varieties, such as the Warwick Gray, or Nimble Hog 

 Pea, are frequently grown successfully, especially in 

 moist seasons, when the sowing has been delayed until 

 the middle of April. 



The preparation of the land has already been discussed 

 in reference to other crops, and the same general rules or 

 principles hold good with all our cultivated plants, viz., 

 that the soil be tilled as deep as possible ; that its particles 



