UTILIZATION OF PEA-CANNERY REFUSE FOR FORAGE. 11 



thf hay can be hali-d aiitl t^tnivd away and has a market value in any section of the 

 country, whereas you are confined to your own immediate neighborhood in the pea 



silage. 



After getting done with our farm work we had a large number of horses and mules on 

 hand and put them to work at railroad excavating. When they came back they were 

 in ]>r(>tty thin order and very much the worse for wear. We built a very large rack 

 out in a lot we had, so that the mules and the horses could go to the pea vines and eat 

 all they wanted. With the addition of a small amount of grain all the horses and 

 mules were seal fat inside of six weeks. 1 ha\'e never fed anything that improved 

 stock so rapidly as these pea vines. 



CURING THE VINES FOR HAY. 



In curino; pea vin(\s for hay they should be taken directly from the 

 Anner, spread out on the ground, and left during the day. The next 

 morning, after the sun has dried the dew off, they should be thor- 

 oughly stirred up with forks or a tedder. If the weather conditions 

 are favorable, they should be stirred up again after noon and then 

 raked into windrows and put up in cocks. The next day they can 

 be stacked or stored in the barn or shed. When the cured vines are 

 stacked they should be covered with some material which will shed 

 rain, as they readily take up water and are easily spoiled when wet. 



In settled weather a good practice is to spread the vines out and 

 let them lie in the sun for a day; then put them up in cocks and let 

 them remain for three or four days. The cocks should be opened 

 and the vines spread out on a bright day so as to dry out the hay in 

 the bottom, which sometimes absorbs considerable moisture, and 

 then hauled to the barn. Some make a practice of sprinkling 5 or 6 

 pounds of salt over each load as it is placed in the barn, believing 

 that this increases the palatability of the hay. 



MARKET VALUE OF PEA-VINE HAY. 



It is rather difficult to determine the market value of pea-vine hay, 

 as the greater portion of it is fed by the producer. Where it has been 

 sold, however, the prices quoted range all the way from $4.50 to $20 

 a ton, the average being about $12 when clover hay is worth $10. 



PEA VINES AS A SOILING CROP. 



As a green feed or soiling crop the refuse pea vines are probably 

 the equal of any crop grown. Dairymen universally agree that feed- 

 ing the green vines increases the flow of milk. The use of vines as a 

 soiling crop, however, is confined to a comparatively limited area 

 in the immediate vicinity of a cannery or vincr. 



PEA VINES AS A FERTILIZER. 



Pea vines have considerable valde when used as a fertihzer, espe- 

 cially on soils that are deficient in humus. They are rich in that all- 



[Cir. 4.- J 



