264 MODERN SHEEP: BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



to those thinking of entering this new industry. On this subject 

 Mr. Kelly says, in part: 



"When I sowed the first crop of peas I had no idea what I 

 would do with the crop or what to feed it to. But stock hogs 

 being cheap in Nebraska, I finally decided to let a part of the 

 crop ripen on the ground, ship in hogs to feed it off, and cut the 

 rest of the crop for hay. When the hogs came, they brought the 

 cholera with them, and 170 died; and there was the crop ripened 

 on the ground, too late to cut for hay and nothing to feed it to. 

 I decided to try cattle, and accordingly bought ninety-six steers, 

 raked up the peas, stacked them, put the cattle in a corral and 

 fed them the peas in racks vines, pods, grain, and all. About 

 thirty hogs, spared by the cholera, were run wi#i the steers. All 

 did fine, and made good money. 



"Being envious of the success of the Fort Collins people in 

 feeding sheep, I decided to feed the pea crop to sheep the next 

 year. Accordingly, the next year, I bought 1,300 lambs and 800 

 wethers. That year, also, F. Sylvester & Sons bought lambs to 

 feed their pea crop to. And thus was begun lamb feeding with 

 field peas in San Luis Valley. 



"Our practice then was to cut the peas when in blossom for 

 hay, and then plow under the second growth of peas, 12 to 18 

 inches high, in preparation for a grain crop on the land the next 

 year. Thus the only use we made of our own pea crops in feed- 

 ing lambs was as hay. We put the lambs in corrals, and fed the 

 pea hay in lieu of alfalfa, and oats, wheat and barley, in lieu of 

 corn, after the usual methods of lamb feeding. 



"That was the general situation when; four years ago, Mr. 

 Sylvester turned a small bunch of lambs into a field of pea stubble, 

 where he had cut the peas for hay very late, after many of the 

 pea pods were filled, so that in the stubble there was left a con- 

 siderable amount of matured pea grain. He was much surprised 

 that none of these lambs were killed or got 'off feed/ although 

 getting all the pea grain they would eat, and still further, that 

 they made a little better gain than the lambs he was feeding 

 in corrals in the usual way. This was the hint ; and, like the wise 

 man that he is, Mr. Sylvester took it. If the pea crop could be 

 allowed to ripen on the ground, without the expense of harvesting, 

 and lambs simply turned into the field 'to do the rest/ if they 

 could thus be finished for market on the pea crop alone, without 

 feeding other grain, then the whole problem of the pea crop rota- 

 tion and of the profitable disposal of the crop was solved. 



"With admirable and unusual courage, Mr. Sylvester, the next 

 year, fed about 8,000 lambs in this way, and demonstrated the 

 complete success of the plan. 



"The next year a few more of us adopted the plan, and about 

 17,000 lambs in all were fed in that way. The next year about 



