India the secretion is collected by means of cloths spread over t'le 

 plant at night and wrung out in the morning when wet with d^ ;V, 

 The solution thus obtained is used in the preparation of cooling drinks 

 and also finds sale as a vinegar. The forage is said to be actually 

 poisonous to horses on account of the excess of oxalic acid in the 

 leaves. Cattle eat it, but it often proves injurious to them, although 

 to a less extent than to horses. However, this crop is not ordinarily 

 grown as a forage crop, but for the seeds, and the seeds alone are 

 used in India for feeding purposes. 



PRODUCTION PER ACRE. 



Gram has been grown experimentally at the grass garden in "Wash- 

 ington, D. C, and seed has also been distributed to a limited number 

 of farmers in various parts of the country. The reports concerning it 

 were not very favorable except from some parts of Colorado, Wyo- 

 ming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. In the grass garden of the 

 Department of Agriculture it did not grow higher than from 8 to 10 

 inches and the seed production was very moderate. The newspaper 

 reports of this pea grown in the Rocky Mountain regions mention 

 yields estimated at the rate of 90 bushels to the acre, but this is very 

 unusual. The average crop in India is about 10 bushels to the acre 

 and the highest yields do not exceed 25 bushels, the latter only when 

 grown on the best soils under the most favorable conditions. 



In common with other leguminous crops gram is dependent on the 

 presence of certain organisms in the soil for its ability to absorb nitro- 

 gen from the air and it is possible that the lack of success with this 

 crop in the Eastern States has been due to the absence of the partic- 

 ular tubercle-forming bacteria which are parasitic upon this plant. 

 To determine finally upon this point importations could be made of 

 soil upon which this crop has been grown, or pure cultures could be 

 secured of the organism itself and the soil or seed inoculated before 

 planting, as has been so successfully done in the case of the hairy 

 vetch at the Alabama Experiment Station. If this crop will yield 

 even 25 bushels per acre during average seasons, it will prove a val- 

 uable addition to Western forage crops on account of the high feeding 

 value of its seeds, but until fuller and more extended trials have been 

 made we would advise Western farmers to be cautious of investing 

 too much money or devoting too much land to the cultivation of the 

 Idaho pea, chick-pea, or gram. 



Jared G. Smith, 



Approved : Assistant Agrostologist. 



James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 

 Washington, D. C, November 18, 1898. 



