FEEDING ANIMALS 131 



The trouble is in the hogs, not in the peas, for the New Era, like 

 other varieties, has a good record for stock feeding. Your stock is of 

 the stand-pat party ; try sprinkling a little bran and see if the aroma of it 

 will not give them more appetite. Cow peas are successfully grazed both 

 green and dry and the manure and roots are just what you need to make 

 more barley later. 



Bean Hay. 



My ivhitc beans made abundant vines, but no beans. I have cut 

 the vines and they are now cured. I have been feeding them to my 

 horses. They cat them fully as readily as alfalfa hay. Will the horses 

 do well on them? Could they work as usual on that kind of hay? 



Surely. Bean hay resembles alfalfa hay in composition and is more 

 nutritious and digestible than bean straw, which is also good. It carries 

 the stuff for work. The nutrients will be balanced by feeding a little grain 

 with the bean hay, and it will probably give the horses a little more zip. 

 Of course, you will watch the condition of the horses and act accordingly. 



Value of Lima Bean Straw for Stock. 



What is the real value of lima bean straw as a feed for stock? Also 

 its fertiliser value when returned to the soil? 



Lima bean straw is a valuable feeding stuff for farm animals, espe- 

 cially cattle and sheep. The relatively high price which it commands 

 and the demand for it in the southern part of the State, where it is 

 obtained in large quantities in the lima bean districts, are evidence of 

 the high opinion in which it is held by farmers. Comparing it with 

 other dry roughage, it has nearly a similar feeding value as grain hay, 

 and is fully equal to stock hay. An average grade of lima bean straw 

 contains about 5.4 pounds digestible protein and 41.5 per cent digestible 

 carbohydrates and fat. The ratio between the flesh-forming and starchy 

 components is, therefore, 1 :7.7, showing that this straw belongs to the 

 class of medium-protein feeds, and in order to secure best results it 

 should be supplemented with some alfalfa hay or grain mixtures contain- 

 ing at least a small proportion of high-protein feeds, like cottonseed 

 meal or linseed meal. Lima bean straw contains the following percent- 

 ages of valuable fertilizing ingredients per 1,000 pounds : 17 pounds 

 nitrogen, 4 pounds phosphoric acid ; 14 pounds potash. At ordinary market 

 prices for these ingredients the straw would have a fertilizer value of 

 about $4.50 per ton. F. W. W. 



Black-Eye Bean Straw for Sheep. 



What is the value of black-eye bean straw for feeding sheep? Will 

 sheep do well on it alone if they have plenty of it? 



Bean straw is quite a good sheep feed, especially if the beans are 

 cut before the straw is thoroughly dried. It makes good feed to 

 winter sheep on. However, a little hay should be added if the straw 

 is very coarse. In analysis bean straw corresponds very closely to pea 

 straw, the latter being fed very extensively to sheep throughout the 

 pea-growing section. R. F. Miller, University Farm. 



