744: Grasses and Leguminous CEors in New York 



It is alwayis well to gTind the peas before feeding, as the seeds of 

 most varieties are very hard. Except when fed to hogs, good 

 results can not be expected unless they, are ground before being 

 given to the animal. Besides being used in the ordinary feed lot, a 

 great many of the peas, especially in the eastern part of the United 

 States and in southern Oalifomia, ai'e used by pigeon fanciei's in 

 the production of squabs and also by poultrymen as a constituent 

 of their chicken feeds. A small round pea, similar to the Golden 

 Vine, is preferred in such cases. 



FIELD PEAS AS A HAY CROP 



The field pea is commonly grown in New York for hay, and is 

 almost always sown in a mixture with oats or some other small 

 grain. These mixtures with grain stand up much better, causing 

 less trouble in the harvest ; the presence of oats or barley in the 

 crop also causes it to cure more quickly. The yield from a mix- 

 ture of oats and peas is usually larger tlian that from timothy. The 

 field pea works into a rotation very nicely, because of the fact that 

 when harvested for hay it is removed from the field early in the 

 year, thus allowing time for a thorough preparation of the soil 

 during the fall. The feeding value of pea hay is quite high, being 

 apparently about the same as that of alfalfa hay. 



Table II shows the avera.ge of all American analyses of field 

 peas and alfalfa reduced to a dry-matter basis, as compiled by 

 Mr, G. L. Bidwell, of the Bureau of Chemistry, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



Table II. — Comparative Analyses of Dry Matter in Field 



Peas and Alfalfa 



