Pea Meal. 



A glance at the foregoing table shows a variation of from 16.97 ^o 

 27.13 per cent, of protein. The average percentage of protein in the 

 eight samples is 2'2)-2'j, which is practically 3 per cent, above the average 

 of four samples recorded by American authorities. The samples of pea 

 meal forwarded by Mr. Thompson, of London, contained a very consider- 

 able amount of hulls. To this cause alone we attribute the low protein 

 content of this sample. It is nevertheless possible that the fact that 

 peas were badly damaged by the weevil may have had something to do 

 with the low percentage of protein. 



If we are to select food, taking protein as the standard, pea meal 

 would stand very high on our list of concentrated feeding-stuffs. As 

 peas are grown to a limited extent on many farms in our Province, such 

 meal could scarcely be called a commercial feeding-stuff ; nevertheless, 

 we have included pea meal under this general heading, because there are 

 certain sections in Ontario where peas are not grown to any extent, and 

 in such localities feeders are dependent upon manufacturers or dealers 

 for their supply of pea meal. 



As will be seen in the above table of composition, pea meal would 

 make an excellent food to supplement some of our home grown fodder. 

 Besides showing a very high protein content, pea meal also contains a 

 fair percentage of fat and soluble carbohydrates. The relative percen- 

 tage of crude fibre is moderately low. Moreover, from digestion experi- 

 ments carried on by this Station, we are led to believe that the crude 

 fibre of pea meal is digested to a far greater extent than is the crude 

 fibre of some of the by-products which will be noted later on. 



Pea Bran or Hulls. 



Thirteen samples of pea bran were analysed. With the exception 

 of one sample, obtained from J. Wilson, the protein content varied from 

 seven to thirteen per cent. The high protein content of Mr. Wilson's 

 sample was, no doubt, due to the fact that it contained quantities of fine 

 pea meal or dust. Such a sample of pea bran would make a very ex- 

 cellent supplement to our coarse cattle foods. The percentage of crude 

 fibre in most cases is very high. I may state, however, that we fed three 

 sheep for a period of one month on pea hulls alone. At the end of the 

 experiment the sheep were weighed, and it was found that they weighed 

 exactly the same as at the beginning of the feeding period. The diges- 

 tibility of the different components of the pea hulls was at the same time 

 tested, and the results obtained go to show that the digestion co-efficient 

 of the crude fibre of the pea bran was 69; i. e., for every hundred pounds 

 of crude fibre fed 69 pounds were digested. From these facts we are led 

 to believe that the feeding value of pea bran is greater than the low 

 protein content would indicate. It must not be gathered from this that 

 we would recommend this food in preference to those richer in protein. 



