WESTERN LAMB FEEDING 267 



above the average, but many surpass that yield. 

 Peas are exceedingly digestible when fed whole to 

 lambs, so it is probable that 3, or at most 3y 2 pounds 

 of peas would make a pound of gain, if the forage 

 was good and the conditions right. Thus an acre 

 yielding 1,800 pounds of peas should make from 500 

 to 600 pounds of mutton. 



While there is no doubt that some careful feed- 

 ers, using some supplementary grain and feeding in 

 corrals, will reach this high mark, yet at present 

 under the easy method of turning the lambs directly 

 upon the peas, not more than 100 to 175 pounds of 

 ,lamb are secured, and about 100 pounds of pork 

 from the pigs that follow the lambs. The death loss 

 from feeding peas is said to be exceedingly light. 

 The quality of the mutton so produced is very high. 

 The peas also greatly enrich the ground on which 

 they grow. The best method of feeding these peas 

 would seem to include putting on them only 

 good lambs, and to put them on as early as the peas 

 are nearly mature. There will always be a demand 

 for good pea-fed lambs at a premium, and the com- 

 moner sorts of lambs should be fed elsewhere. 

 There are other regions where peas may be grown 

 and fed with profit provided they are harvested and 

 stacked. There are few places where the winter 

 climate will permit feeding them on the ground 

 where they grow as is done in the San Luis valley. 

 But there are many high parks and mountain val- 

 leys in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, 

 and other western states where peas thrive admir- 



