234 THE FORAGE AND FIBER CROPS IN AMERICA 



pods were formed was not found effective, but early varieties of peas were 

 found much less liable to be injured than later sorts. 1 



281. Harvesting. Because of their prostrate habit of 

 growth, and because of the readiness with which the drying 

 and dried pods open and scatter their seeds, the harvesting is 

 rather difficult. They may be cut with the ordinary mowing- 

 machine, and raked into 

 piles with a sulky rake, 

 using only one end of the 

 rake, in order that the 

 horse may not walk upon 

 the vines. A pea harvester 

 attachment is sometimes 

 used. It is customary to 

 harvest when two-thirds 



Pea harvester with buncher attached 



of the pods are yellow. 



When dried they may be stacked under cover, or threshed imme- 

 diately with a pea huller or with the ordinary thresher, although 

 the latter chops the straw or haulms rather fine. (272) 



282. Uses. Native of Italy, the field pea has been culti- 

 vated for many centuries, chiefly for its grain. The straw is 

 especially prized by the Canadian shepherds. Peas may be used 

 whole or ground into meal, when they make excellent food 

 for cattle, sheep, and swine. Pea flour is an ingredient of food 

 preparations for infants, invalids, and others, and split peas, 

 freed from the hulls, are used in soups and other culinary 

 articles. Varieties of the field types are also used for canning. 



283. Description. The peanut plant (Arachis hypogaea 

 L.) "is a trailing annual, growing from one to two feet high, 



1 Canada Experimental Farms Rpts. 1905, p. 311. 



2 This section on peanuts is largely drawn from "The Peanut Plant," by 

 B. W. Jones: Orange Judd Company, and "Peanut: Culture and Uses," by 

 R. B. Handy: U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bui. No. 25. 



