favourable for the Grotvth of Seed. 
63 
to three inches, according; to the time of sowinfj and the nature of 
the land ; the earliest sowings and the lightest lands having the 
seed deposited at the greater depth. Drilling is, beyond question, 
the best mode of depositing the seed so as to allow of cultivation 
between the rows during growth. The plan of double rows, nine 
or ten inches apait, with an inteival of 18 or 20 inches between 
them, is advisable because of the greater facility for cleaning the 
land and the greater support which the peas gain from the neigh- 
bouring row. Three bushels of seed to the acre is the usual quan- 
tity sown. The early sowings may be commenced in February 
upon dry and light soils, and be continued up to the middle or end 
of March, by which time the seed should all be in the ground. 
Beans. — This crop requires a soil of strong and adhesive- 
character, as much for the supplies of food which it requires, as 
for the mechanical qualities which such land offers to the plant. 
In this last respect, beans do not differ materially from wheat ; for 
a firm condition of the land appears in each case to be equally 
necessary, and our preparation for this crop is regulated accord- 
ingly. Beans are almost always sown upon a corn-stubble, and 
even in exceptional cases the treatment adopted is directed to 
the attainment of the same condition of soil. The practice of 
different districts necessarily varies much in detail, but the 
following system is that which is generally adopted, and may 
be taken as illustrative of the most suitable kind of manage- 
ment. The stubble should be cleaned in the autumn as well as 
circumstances will allow ; the manure should then be spread upon 
the land, and the land ploughed up deeply and laid as rough as 
possible for the winter : in this state it lies until the seed-time 
has arrived. But some prefer to reserve the manure until it can 
be applied in a well-rotted state early in the spring, and then 
plough it in ; but this does not suit the crop as well as the 
earlier use already described, especially on true bean-land. If 
the dung is ploughed in before winter, the land has time to become 
sufficiently settled before the time for sowing, whilst the manure 
below prevents it from becom-ing too consolidated for the plant . 
to make a vigorous growth. 
The bean flourishes best in a deep but strong soil, and the 
penetrating powers of its root are well adapted for extending 
into and through a firm soil ; hence the great importance of 
the cultivated soil being well settled before the seed is de- 
posited. This is secured by the early ploughing of the land, 
whilst the exposure of the surface makes it free and easily 
worked and secures a light covering for the seed, open to 
the influences of air and heat. When the land is not prepared 
before winter, we often find the seed ploughed in without the 
furrow-slice being broken. Four bushels is an average allowance 
