PEAS. 473 



Plants for the production of seed should be grown in a separate field&quot;, and only the best 

 seed sown. These should be sown in drills, and receive careful cultivation. Drilling, for 

 the production of fiber, is preferred to broadcast sowing, as it admits of after-cultivation. 

 On rich soil, and with other favoring conditions, the amount of yield in fiber is enormous. 



The seeds will generally be ripened in four or five weeks after the blossoms have 

 become fully developed. Whether for the production of the fiber or seed, it may be sown 

 in March or April, and the blossoms will make their appearance in July or August. 



Harvesting. The best time for harvesting jute is when it begins to blossom, as the 

 fiber is then of a better quality than when the plant is older. It is cut with a mower or 

 reaper. The albumen in the plant is said to render it easier to cut than dry wheat. 



The fiber is separated from the stalk by submerging in water until it separates readily. 

 It is then prepared for use in a manner similar to that in which flax is prepared, except the 

 stalks are not afterward dried and broken. The seed should be harvested when well 

 ripened, and be thoroughly dried before being stored. 



PEAS. 



THE cultivation of peas, as a field crop, is practiced to a considerable extent in some 

 sections of the United States, but more especially in Canada and England, where 

 they are regarded as an important product, and are much used as food for domestic 

 animals. Next to the bean, the pea is ranked as one of the most important of the pulse 

 family. 



Sheep and swine are fond of them; also poultry. Their nutritive value is considerably 

 greater than that of corn, and as food for swine, seven bushels of peas are said to be equal 

 to ten bushels of corn. A meal of ground peas is considered better for swine than feeding 

 them whole. This should be mixed with milk or water, and used in connection with other 

 food. A mixture of peas and corn-meal is thought by some farmers to be better than the 

 pea-meal alone. 



When cut and cured as hay, the vines make a good fodder for cattle and sheep, or they 

 make an excellent crop for soiling during the summer, and may be cut from the time they 

 are half-grown, until they are fully ripe. The pea-weavil is very destructive to this crop in 

 many portions of the Southern States, but is not troublesome in Canada and the Northern 

 States, except in a few localities. 



There are numerous varieties suited to both garden and field culture. The earliest 

 kinds are generally not of as heavy growth in vines, or as productive in peas, as those that 

 mature a little later. The varieties most cultivated as field-crops at the north, are the Marrow 

 fat and the small yellow-pea, which is largely grown in Canada. The former is a rather late 

 variety of large growth, and requires a rich soil. The latter can be successfully grown on 

 light land. 



The cow-pea is much cultivated at the South, where it is greatly valued for fodder and 

 the ripe seeds, which furnish food for stock; also as a fertilizer when turned under green, 

 being considered next in value to red clover for this purpose. It will grow on soil too poor 

 to produce clover, and hence may be used to advantage where clover cannot. This plant, 

 however, much more closely resembles the bean than the common pea. 



The cultivation of the &quot; Pindar&quot; or ground-pea, has been given under the heading of 

 Peanuts, and does not require repetition in this connection. 



