I06 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



than peas, and, second, that when fed as soihng food, 

 wheat is not rehshed by the stock quite so highly as 

 oats. Nor is barley, since it ripens ahead of peas, 

 and the beards are objectionable after they have 

 reached a certain stage of ripening. Peas and oats 

 mature more nearly at the same period, and as oats 

 stool more than peas and wheat, or peas and barley, 

 they produce a food less coarse in character. 

 But whatsoever the combination fixed upon, the 

 preparation of the land is virtually the same, nor 

 does it usually differ from the preparation that has 

 been found best suited to the growing of small 

 grains. Usually the ground on which the crop is to 

 be sown early should be plowed in the fall. A deep 

 seed bed is preferable, since peas require a deep 

 covering. 



As previously intimated, the fertilizers most 

 needed for this crop are potash and phosphoric acid. 

 But in some instances, nitrogen has to be applied to 

 start the crop vigorously.. Farmyard manure is very 

 suitable when it can be obtained ; and on many soils 

 land plaster will \-ery much stimulate the growth of 

 the peas when applied to the crop after the plants 

 have grown some distance abo\'e the surface of the, 

 ground. It would be possible to enrich the ground 

 too much to obtain the best results from this crop. 

 When rankness in the growth is excessive, the green 

 mass often falls down before the bloom or head 

 appears, and when it does, its palatability is mate- 

 rially lessened and the difficulty in harvesting is 

 increased. 



So-iuing. — Various methods of sowing the seed 

 have been adopted, and of necessity to meet the needs 

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