22 
Coi^ORADo Experiment Station 
the mothers of varieties will probably give quick and much heavier 
results than any hand bin-selection that could possibly be made. In 
this way only high yielding plants would be kept to start the va¬ 
riety, while with bin-selection a certain type of seed is obtained, 
having both high and low yielding plants, which does not give the 
greatest possible increases. 
Peas should be planted with a drill—preferably a disk drill. 
Being large seeded they can be planted from two and one-half to 
three inches deep, which will insure the seed moist soil, if proper 
care has been taken in the preparation of the seed bed. A common 
practice in drilling peas is to stop up every other drill hole. Thus 
with a drill having the shoes or drills eight inches apart the peas 
would be drilled sixteen inches apart where every other hole is 
stopped. In experimental work the past two seasons in the Val¬ 
ley it has been found that practically as good, and sometimes better 
results can be obtained by leaving all the drill holes open. For 
new lands, to leave all the drill holes open is better practice and 
for most old lands it is just as good as the other method. 
The type of drill with the so-called revolving cup feed should 
l3e used for pea planting, as it will not break the seed. The fluted 
roller type of feed will crack a large proportion of the peas and 
thus be very wasteful of seed. 
Irrigation .—Enough water should be present in the soil to 
start the crop in the spring even if irrigation must be practiced in 
order to put the water there. Any irrigation made should supply 
sufficient water for continuous unchecked growth until the time of 
blossoming. To produce the heaviest grain yields, irrigation 
should be shut off at this time. Heavy supplies of soil water after 
the plants are in blossom will keep the crop growing and blossom¬ 
ing clear up until frost. It will increase the yield of vines, but will 
reduce the yield of peas. The water can be handled much better 
and controlled much more easily if surface irrigation is used and 
heavier yields of both peas and vines may consequently be obtained. 
With sub-irrigation there is danger of getting too much water 
which is liable to be held on the land too late to make the best de¬ 
velopment of peas. The reason why peas disked into stubble land 
have apparently done better in many instances than peas planted on 
plowed land, has been largely due to sub-irrigation, the stubble land 
having prevented some of the effects of excessive moisture which 
usually accompanies sub-irrigation. 
Harvesting .—The common practice in the Valley in the past 
has been to graze stock, either hogs, sheep or cattle, on the peas in 
the field. In general this practice is wasteful. In the first place, 
many of the leaves dry up and blow away, causing an actual loss 
