12 UTILIZATIOX OF PEA-CANNERY REFUSE FOR FORAGE. 



important element of plant food, nitrogen. The following analysis 

 was made by Prof. George W. Cavanaugh, of Cornell University: 



Moisture 72.800 per cent. 



Nitrogen 0.585 per cent, or ii.7 pounds a ton. 



Phosphoric acid 0.111 per cent, or 2.22 pounds a ton. 



Potash 0.432 per cent, or 8.64 pounds a ton. 



At current prices the fertilizing value of 1 ton of pva vines would 

 be as follows: 



Nitrogen, 11.7 pounds, at 18 cents a pound .$2.11 



Phosphoric acid, 2.22 pounds, at 4i cents a pound 10 



Potash, 8.64 jxiunds, at 4h cents a pound ;i9 



Total value per ton 2. 60 



From these figures it will be seen that the refuse vines have a fer- 

 tilizing value of $2.60 a ton, which makes them well worth using for 

 this purpose. It would be much better economy, however, to feed 

 the vines either as a soiling crop, as silage, or as hay, and to save the 

 droppings from the animals fed, in this way serving a twofold pur- 

 pose. As but a small part of the fertilizer constituents is lost in pass- 

 ing through an animal, the droppings, if carefully saved, are nearly 

 as valuable for fertilizing as the whole vines. 



SUMMARY. 



The refuse vines from ])ea canneries are valuable as silage, as hay, 

 as a soiling crop, and as a fertilizer. Their use as silage is the most 

 general 'practice. They may be ensilaged either in a silo or in a stack. 



Pea-vine silage compares very favorably with corn silage and by 

 many is regartled as superior, especially for dairy cows. It is also 

 valuable for beef cattle and sheep and is sometimes fed to horses, 

 mules, and hogs. It has been successfully used as an exclusive 

 roughage for dair}^ and beef cattle, sheep, and even horses. 



Pea-vine hay is a valuable feed for all classes of stock. It is of ex- 

 ceptional value for milch cows and sheep and for conditioning thin 

 stock, especially horses and mules. It is generally considered to be 

 equal or even superior to clover hay. 



Pea vines are valuable as a soiling crop, but their use as such is 

 limited to the immediate vicinity of the cannery or viner. 



As a manure, pea vines have an actual fertilizer value of about 

 $2.60 a ton. 



Ap])roved: 



James Wilson, 



Seeretarji of Agriculture. 



Washington, 1). (\, Decemher 3, 1909. 



[Cir. 4.')] 



o 



