The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-22

At the station 1t is found preferable to use an ordinary grain drill. stopping up ever other tube. This puts the peas in drills about sixteen Inches apart. The seed should be covered by about three inches of dirt, which ensures moist seed bed and quick examination. By utilizing the drill a more uniform stand can be secured and less seed Is required than in other ways. Where the drill Is used the land can be culti vated once or at most twice, so as to destroy weeds, break up the crust and preserve a dust mulch, all very desir- able ends, especially in case of a drouth year. Where the peas are grown In drills they do not tangle so badly as where seeded broadcast. and 1t is easier to cut and seperate them when making the hay.
 As already suggested. 1t Is best t, have the crop ready for hay making from the last week in July to the mid dle of August. as the weather is gem orally settled at that time and evapo- ration Is most rapid. The peas are ready to cut for hay when the lower leaves are beginning to turn yellow. the pods well formed the peas well hardened and the pods assuming a yell Jewish tinge. If cut before this time the crop is not suficfently matured 10
 
 nutrients, while if permitted to grow older the leaves become dry and brittle. and as the richest in protein their loss Is to be avoided. It Is not at all diff ficult to decide from the description given when the proper time has arrived to cut peas for hay though judging b. the correspondence of the station 1t seems to be difficult question to dc. eide on the average farm. It is best to hA tx, fnrr sf ble ard especially when there is littls or no dew on them. They should then be allowed to wilt in the sun all day and be run over with a tedder next | morning. The tedder completely in. vcrts them and leaves them loosely strewn over the ground, thus aiding rapid evaporation and ensuing quick drying. The same evening they may be raked into windrows, and If the | weather Is fair, left to cure further in this condition for a day or two. de. pending on the amount and strength | of the sunshine, as 1t is always neces. | sary to prevent the leaves becoming so dry and brittle that they thresh off | the vines.
 After remaining in windrows until fairly well cured. gather the peas into small stocks and let them stand for a day or two. then at the end of twenty eight hours gather into large ones. These may then be capped with fork | full of straw. and the hay can then
 be permitted to stay in the field for a week or ten days, or until 1t becomes | thoroughly cured. The small forkfui
 of straw placed on the top of each | stock acts as watershed" and Is | much cheaper and more satisfactory
 than any other form of capping that we have tried. Hay caps of ducking
 have hitherto proved too expensive and | required more time to put on, take off
 and dry out and put away than where
 straw is used. If the straw IS loaded
 on a hay rack and driven through the
 field. the man on the wagon can cap
 the stocks as he goes along and cover | a great many of them in a short time.
 When the hay is cured and ready to go
 to the barn, the straw can be gathered
 in with the hay. If that seems ob jectionable 1t may be gathered up and
 used for bedding or acattered on the ground as deemed preferable. While
 some may think the method outlined
 involves considerable labor, 1t is the
 simplest. easiest and surest method of
 curing pea hay that we have tried.
 The hay will be ready to store in the
 barn when a small amount twisted to.
 gether falls to show any apparent
 moisture. It Is preferable to store the
 hay in large masses. thoroughly salt. ing 1t and packing 1t down as tightly
 as possible to exclude the air. Then
 let 1t alone. Even if 1t should heat af-
 ter 1t has been carefully field cured, If
 1t 1t not disturbed 1t will come out | clean and bright and in the best possi
 ble condition. Many people destroy
 their pea crop by attempting to open
 up the mass If they feel 1t begin to | grow warm. Let 1t alone and 1t will l come out all right. Many others fall
 because they do not put the hay in large enough masses or pack 1t well enough.
 Other ways of curing pea hay are frequently suggested. and some of them are doubtless excellent in their details
 but to date. the one given has proved uniformly satisfactory. We have been | able to cure out bright. clean, fresh pea hay with a delightful aroma from crops cut all the way from the middle | of July to the middle of October, ana | it would seem that while it might in- volve a little more labor and trouble | than some writers advocate, It's uni | form safety makes t the best method to pursue in the long run.-A. M. Soule, | in Breeders Gazette.
 Farm Work for August and September. The seeding of forage crops for win ter and spring grazing and for cutting for green feed in the spring and for early hay, and, more important still, for aKinR .1t,-