430 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



be fed over three times, and thus yield a large amount of 

 green food. If the season is likely to be too dry, the 

 second feeding should be commenced when the peas are in 

 blossom. It has then the largest amount of nutriment, 

 and of the best quality. The nutritive ratio of peas, vetches, 

 and the clovers, each at the first blossom, is nearly the 

 same ; they all stand in the first rank of fodder plants, 

 especially for growing young animals, as they are all rich in 

 the elements to grow the muscles, bones, and nervous 

 system. Peas will flourish upon a variety of soils, either 

 light or heavy; dry clay soils bring large crops. The land 

 does not require to be rich; but a soil containing abund- 

 ance of lime and potash succeeds best. The pea plant is a 

 large appropriator of lime and potash, and the seeds of 

 potash and phosphoric acid. Land highly manured grows 

 more vine than grain ; but lime, wood ashes, and bones are 

 quite appropriate fertilizers. The land should be in fine 

 tilth and smooth, and peas are best planted with a drill 

 which will deposit the seed at an even depth of 2K inches, 

 at the rate of 2% bushels per acre. If further practice 

 should discourage feeding the pea crop off upon the land, 

 then it should be grown and cut green at |the time of first 

 blossom, ^nd fed to sheep between hurdles on parts of the 

 same field which have been cut. This will require little 

 carriage, and all the valuable manure will be saved ; but we 

 think that it will be found practically as safe to feed off 

 peas as winter rye. The pea may be planted as early as 

 the land can be tilled in spring, as it is not injured by 

 frost ; and heavy lands should be plowed in the fall, so as 

 to be ready to work as soon as a few inches of the surface 

 is dry enough to be made mellow. Peas will furnish 

 pasturage for sheep in dry weather the last of May or first 

 of June in latitude 40 to 43. A variation of this pea 

 crop is to sow one-third oats with the peas that is, two 

 bushels of peas and one bushel of oats per acre. This will 



