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SELECTED FARM SEEDS 



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63 



PEAS For Fodder and Plowing Under 



"Peas could be made to bring more nitrogen to 

 the soils of this country every year than is now pur- 

 chased annually by the farmers at a cost of millions 

 of dollars."— P. S. Department of Agriculture. 



FIELD OF SOUTHERN BLACK OB RAM'S HORN COW PEAS IN THE 

 NORTH. SOWN JUNE 16th, PLOWED UNDER AUGUST 31st. 



COW PEAS (The Great Soil Improver) 



Make Poor Land Rich, Good Land More Productive, 

 and Enrich the Soil 

 Green crops plowed under are one of the best and cheap- 

 est ways of improving the soil. For this purpose the cow 

 pea is most popular, especially for medium or light soil. 

 They should be sown in May or June, at the rate of X%. 

 bushels to the acre, and plowed under as soon as they have 

 attained their lull growth. This crop is very largely grown 

 wherever known, and with the results attained from it, the 

 wonder is that it is not grown even more extensively. There 

 is no surer or cheaper means of improving poor soil than by 

 sowing cow peas. In its capacity as a nitrogen gatherer its 

 growth enables the farmer to dispense with the use of nitro- 

 gen or ammoniated fertilizers. Nitrogen or ammonia in 

 commercial fertilizers is valued at 15 cents per pound. The 

 cow pea, with possibly the exception of the New Velvet 

 Bean, described alongside, has the greatest power of extract- 

 ing this costly nitrogen or ammonia from the atmosphere. 



COW PEAS FOR HAY 



If planted early, say by middle of May, in the central 

 corn belt section, a crop can be cut and cured for hay the 

 same as clover, then the stubble in a short time will put out 

 .a new growth to be turned under in the fall as a fertilizer. 



The best varieties for all purposes are the following : 



PRICES variable with the market. PER BUSH 



SOUTHERN BLACK EYE COW PEA .... S3.25 

 EXTRA EARLY BLACK EYE COW PEA . . 2.75 



BLACK, or RAM'S HORN COW PEA 2.00 



"WHIP-POOR-WILL and CLAY, EACH .... 2.25 

 PRICES BY LETTER ON LARGER LOTS. 



CANADA FIELD PEAS and Oats for Fodder 



For Dairy Cows and Hogs, Equal to Corn, 

 and Six Weeks Earlier. 



These make a fodder and hay which double the pro- 

 duction of milk. The Canada Field Pea, which we sell 

 at $1.75 per bushel, is the best for this purpose. They 

 should be sown in March or early April, two bushels of 

 peas and two bushels of oats to the acre. The peas should 

 be sown first and plowed under about four inches deep; the 

 oats then sown and harrowed in. They will be ready for 

 cutting about the latter end of June, when the oats are in 

 milk and the pods formed on the peas. Farmers who have 

 neversown this crop will be surprised at its large yield. It 

 is a nutritious food and relished by all kinds of stock. 

 This crop also makes an excellent soil improver when turned 

 under like cow peas as described above. Since we first called 

 attention to the great value of Canada Field Peas for this 

 purpose, some years ago, the demand has become so great 

 that we are now having them grown by the carload in 

 Canada and can always quote LOW PRICES BI LETTER 

 'when wanted in lots of 10 bushels and upwards. 



VELVET BEAN (The Great Nitrogen Gatherer) 



A Worthy Rival of the Cow Pea 



This new and important forage plant from India is cre- 

 ating a great sensation throughout the Middle and Southern 

 States, where it is supplanting the cow pea for cattle food 

 and as a soil renovator. Since our introduction of it, it has 

 been grown in many of the far Northern States with great 

 success and is worthy of a trial everywhere. Its nitrogen- 

 gathering properties are said to surpass those of the cow 

 pea. It is the rankest grower of any of the legumes; 

 two or three seeds planted four feet apart in rows five feet 

 apart will literally cover the ground two to three feet thick 

 with a mass of foliage and vines twenty to twenty-five feet 

 long, no matter how poor the soil. It leaves a mulch on the 

 ground that is very beneficial to the soil. 



Dr. Stubbs, Director of the Southern State Experiment 

 Station, says: "I believe that it can be cut advantageously 

 almost any time from June to October, and cured in less time 

 than cow pea hay. It makes an excellent hay and stock eat 

 it well. A heavy nitrogen-gatherer, and the tubercles on its 

 roots are the largest of any plant I have observed, corn-like 

 clusters having been collected that make a mass, from one 

 single growth, almost as large as a common hen's egg. The 

 vines of this plant are now about thirty feet in length, from 

 seeds planted in May." The cultivation is the same as for cow 

 peas. Prices, pkt., 10c; lb., 25c; 3 lbs. for 60c, by mail, post- 

 paid; by freight, qt., 20c; peck, 75c; bush, of 60 lbs., 82.75. 



SOJA BEAN— Late Variety 



The demand for the SOJA OR JAPANESE SOY 



BEANS has grown remarkably of late years. Their great 

 value is as a forage crop, for fertilizing the soil and for 

 pasturing or feeding the green fodder much in the same way 

 a« the cow pea. This late variety is very valuable south of the 

 Potomac and Ohio Rivers. Sow broadcast one-half bushel to 

 the acre, or it may be planted in drills three feet apart and 

 one foot between plants. Pkt., 10c; lb., 25c; 3 lbs., 60c, 

 postpaid; by freight or express, qt., 20c; peck, 60c; bush., 

 82.00; 5 bush, and over, 81.75 per bush. 



SOJA BEAN— New Early Variety 



The ordinary or late soja bean, described above, while 

 valuable south of the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, is too late to 

 be of value in the far Northern States. This variety ripens 

 in all the Northern States, where it has been grown over four 

 feet in height, and yielded over ten tons per acre. It is a 

 valuable fodder either for feeding green or for the silo. 

 Being a rich nitrogenous feed, it is unsurpassed as a flesh- 

 former, and, like the clovers, is a soil-improver. All who 

 are interested in this class of plants should give our New 

 Early Soja or Soy Bean a trial. Choice seed grown for us in 

 Michigan. Lb., 25c; 3 lbs., 60c, by mail, postage paid; by 

 express or freight, qt., 25c; peck, $1.00; bush, of 60 lbs., 83.75. 



DWARF ESSEX RAPE — EIGHT WEEKS FROM SOWING. 



TRUE DWARF ESSEX RAPE 



Dwarf Essex Rape, of the True Biennial Variety, 



is now largely grown in this country on account of its rapid 

 growth, being ready to feed in eight to ten weeks from sow- 

 ing, and producing twenty-five to thirty tons of green forage 

 to the acre. It grows to a height of three feet and covers the 

 surface so densely as to smother out all weeds. It can be 

 sown all through the season, being perfectly hardy, with- 

 stands drought, and will produce a crop in any soil by sow- 

 ing broadcast at the rate of five to ten pounds to the acre. 

 While unequaled as a pasture for sheep, as a food for all 

 cattle, calves or pigs, it is without a rival, its fattening 

 properties being twice as great as clover, making a much 

 relished and most succulent food from May to December. 

 Lb., 25c; 3 lbs., 60c, bv mail, postpaid; by express or 

 freight, lb., 15c; 10 lbs., $1.00; 25 lbs., $2.00; bush, of 50 lbs. 

 for $3.50; 100 lbs. and over at 6c. per lb. Special prices by 

 letter for larger lots. 



