188 Feeds and Feeding. 



259. The common field-pea vine. — The common field pea, Pisum 

 sativum, var. arvense, is grown in Canada and the northern states 

 for seed, for human food, and to some extent for forage. A com- 

 bination of peas and oats, if cut early, forms a forage of high nutri- 

 tive quality much appreciated by farm stock, especially sheep and 

 dairy cows. In the grain which this plant furnishes and the hay 

 which it is possible to secure from it, the stockman located far 

 north has a fair compensation for the corn crop which he cannot 

 grow. (805) 



260. Pea-cannery refuse. — The braised pea vines with exuding 

 rich juices should never be wasted. If piled in well made stacks, 

 the decaying exterior will preserve the mass within, which becomes 

 silage. Pea-vine silage is useful with all farm animals, especially 

 dairy cows, fattening cattle, and sheep. Crosby^ reports a lot of 

 442 western wethers which were fattened on corn and pea-vine silage 

 for 50 days topping the Chicago market. Breeding ewes can be main- 

 tained on 5 or 6 lbs. of pea-vine silage and 2 lbs. of alfalfa hay 

 daily. 



Where weather conditions are favorable, the pea vines from the 

 cannery can be quickly and economically cured into hay. The vines 

 should be drawn directly from the viner to a clear, airy place where 

 the grass is short, such as a pasture lot or meadow, and there 

 spread out thinly. The hot sun quickly dries the bruised stems and 

 leaves with their exposed juices, and the result is a most palatable, 

 nutritious legume hay, worth, according to Crosby, 20 per ct. more 

 than clover hay. 



261. Cowpea vine, Vigna Catjang. — This is one of the most im- 

 portant legumes of the South, furnishing grain for humans and ani- 

 mals, as well as soilage and hay. In the Piedmont region of North 

 Carolina cowpeas are planted with sw^eet sorghum, tho more gen- 

 erally with Indian corn. Under favorable conditions the yield is 

 from 2 to 3 tons of nutritious hay per acre. Duggar of the Alabama 

 Station- found that the leaves formed 30 per ct. of the weight of 

 cowpea hay, and were about twice as rich in crude protein as the 

 coarse parts. This is one of the most difficult of plants to cure 

 satisfactorily into hay. Duggar advises wilting the crop, placing 

 it in small cocks and covering with hay caps, to remain until cured. 

 At the South the cowpea vine should assume vastly greater impor- 

 tance than it has as yet done. It should be extensively used with 



' U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus., Cir. 45. - Bui. 118. 



