THE COW PEA. 



53 



proportion, to graze a bulky growth of vines to make 

 ploughing-under possible, to feed coarse, cheap cow pea 

 hay alone rather than to buy high priced timothy or other 

 feed to mix with it. For milch cows and fattening animals, 

 it is better to have the nutritive ratio too narrow than too 

 wide. The foregoing table shows a close resemblance in 

 the composition of pea vine hay and wheat bran, and prac- 

 tical experience is in harmony with the table. Many dairy- 

 men find in the cheap pea a substitute for the costly bran. 

 In this connection, the director of the Delaware Experiment 

 Station says: " It was found that with pea vines in a ration, 

 bran could be dispensed with. The butter yields were 

 slightly increased by their use without impairing the 

 quality." The discovery and recognition of this fact have 

 done much to advance the dairy interests in the south. 



COW PEAS FOR ENSILAGE. 



Well preserved pea vines make silage far superior to 

 corn, sorghum and other crops commonly used for this 

 purpose, but it is difficult to preserve them alone. A 

 growth sufficiently rank to make them profitable for silage is 

 such a matted, tangled mass of vine that it is almost impos- 

 sible to run it through a silage cutter; and, stored without 

 cutting, they cannot be so closely packed as to exclude the 

 air and prevent mould and decay, and consequent loss. 



The most practical method with them for the silo is to 

 grow cow peas and corn in the same rows, so that the viires 



