21 



peas alone or a mixture of peas and oats would furnish a good pas- 

 ture for swine. 



Peas as a Green Manure. 



An experiment was conducted in different parts of the experi- 

 mental grounds for four different years, to ascertain the relative value 

 of peas, buckwheat and rape for plowing under as green manure for 

 fall wheat. These crops were sown at such times that they would 

 reach the best condition for plowing under by the end of July. After 

 the crops were plowed down each year, the land was cultivated on the 

 surface three or four times during the month of August and the wheat 

 was sown on or about the first day of September. 



As the result of four experiments, the average yield of wheat per 

 acre per annum was 36.1 bushels on the pea land, 30.4 bushels on the 

 rape land, and 29.6 on the buckwheat land. It will, therefore, be seen, 

 that the land on which field peas were used as a green manure pro- 

 duced 6| bushels per acre more than similar land on which buck- 

 wheat was used for plowing under. 



Substitutes for Ordinary Field Peas in Weevil-infested 



Districts. 



Owing to the ravages of the pea weevil in Southern Ontario, the 

 importance of using substitute crops is becoming pretty generally re- 

 cognized. Several varieties which might be classed under this head- 

 ing have been grown in our experimental plots for several years in 

 succession, the results of which are here presented : 



Grass Peas. The Grass Pea is a leguminous plant, which pro- 

 duces long, flat vines, slender leaves, white blossoms, medium-sized 

 pods, and hard, angular, white or greenish white, seeds (Fig. 6). It 

 is entirely proof against the attacks of the pea weevil. In many re- 

 spects it resembles the bitter vetch {Lathyrus sativus), of Europe, 

 which, however, has blue flowers, and brown seeds. It also appears 

 to be free from the poisonous principle which the bitter vetch is said 

 to possess. This is borne out by scientific investigations which 

 have been made, and by the extensive and satisfactory use of the 

 Grass peas as a food for farm stock. They are highly prized as a regu- 

 lar farm crop in some sections of Southern Ontario where they have 

 been extensively grown and fed for several years. They have been 

 largely used as a substitute for the ordinary peas in some of those sec- 

 tions where the pea weevil has been doing serious damage for many 

 years. In 1902, however. Grass peas, as well as nearly all other legu- 

 minous crops, were a partial failure, owing to the cold, wet weather 

 of the summer. The yield of the Grass peas for 1901 was also below 

 the average in some localities, owing to the excessively hot weather 

 at the time of blossoming. For feeding purposes, they seem to com- 

 pare favorably with the ordinary field peas. They are usually sown 



