MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 263 



were fed in this manner in Colorado during the past winter. The 

 heart of the pea-feeding district is situated in the San Luis Valley 

 in southern Colorado and around Fort Collins in the northern 

 part of the state. The San Luis Valley is a table land situated at 

 an altitude of 7,500 feet between two ranges of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains. The valley is about fifty miles wide and one hundred miles 

 long. The peas fed in this district are supposed to have been in- 

 troduced by the Mexicans. They are noted for their length of 

 vine, which run along the ground for a distance of ten to fifteen 

 feet from the root. It is only a few years ago when some of the 

 more progressive ranchers tried a few New Mexico lambs on the 

 pea-feeding system. The lambs did remarkably well and made the 

 ranchmen a good deal of profit out of the investment, and this 

 fact induced others to try it with like good results. A profit of 

 $1.25 a head on lambs is no unusual thing. One Colorado feeder 

 has said that a pea-fed lamb can be fattened and marketed at $5, 

 and that more money can be made out of them than can be made 

 by raising corn or feeding beef cattle. 



The peas are usually sown on grain stubble land and when 

 they are ripe the lambs are turned in to harvest them. In the 

 early stages of this new feeding project feeders used grain in con- 

 nection with the peas, but they have since found that the lambs 

 fatten just as rapidly on the peas alone. It is estimated that from 

 eight to fifteen lambs can be fed on an acre of pea-land. The 

 feeder lambs are purchased mostly in New Mexico, although quite 

 a number are obtained from Idaho and Oregon. 



Not only has the actual profit from feeding the lambs to be 

 considered in this pea feeding undertaking, but also the profit 

 accruing from the enrichment of the land by this method. The 

 lamb raised under the pea-feeding system is considered as second 

 to none, as it is very fat and luscious and eagerly sought by the 

 Chicago and other large markets. Unquestionably, pea-feeding is 

 the least expensive of any method of lamb feeding. Pea-fed 

 lambs have sold on the Chicago market very recently at consider- 

 ably over $8 per hundred pounds. 



Among the pioneers of this interesting and profitable busi- 

 ness must be mentioned the names of Messrs. Sylvester and Kelly, 

 of Monte Vista, " Colo., who sprung a surprise on the Chicago 

 market by a consignment of nearly 30,000 pea-fed lambs that were 

 the sensation of the year, and an epoch in the history of the stock- 

 yards. Since to Mr. Kelly belongs the credit, or the partial credit 

 at least, of introducing pea-feeding into Colorado, and being a 

 thoroughly practical man, I can not do better than quote from 

 his article, "Pea-Baismg and Lamb Feeding in the San Luis 

 Valley," which appeared some time in the American Sheep Breeder. 

 It is in every sense of the word practical and of the utmost value 



