(128) 



der. Analysis shows that peas oontaiB, ash, 2.5; albumin- 

 oids or flesh formers, 22.4; carbohydTates or heaters, 52.3; 

 crud« fibre, 9.2; fat, 2.5; water, 14.3. The composition 

 shows them to be very nutritious, and animals fatten rapidly 

 when fed with them liberally. The pea haulm, when dry, 

 gives, by analysis, water, 14.3; ash, 4; albuminoids, 6.5; 

 carbohydrates, 35.2; crude fibre, 40; fat, 2. This shows 

 the haulm to be-three times as valuable for feeding purposes 

 as wheat straw, and a little more valuable as a feed than 

 barley straw mixed with clover, and one-third better than 

 common fodder. 



The cow or field pea of the Southern States is more like 

 a bean than a pea, and is supposed to be a species of dolichos 

 belonging to the pulse family whose species is undetermined. 

 Be this as it may, its value as a farm crop has long been 

 known. The ease with which it is cultivated, and its great 

 value as a forage plant and as a fertilizer, have given it a 

 prominent place in Southern agriculture. It belongs to the 

 leguminous or pulse family, and is known as a pea, and for 

 that reason it will be treated of under that head. 



The letter below, from the Hon. H. M. Polk, of Harde- 

 man county, is so thorough and' exhaustive that nothing 

 more need be said on the subject, only remarking that no 

 soil in this State is so poor that it will not grow peas. 



Bolivar, Hardeman County Tenn., 



July 2, 1878. 

 Commissioner J. B. Killebreio : 



I will not stop to demonstrate what is manifest to all that 

 the South, from her sparse population, her wide-spread 

 plantations, her adaptation to and her predilection for the 

 cultivation of certain of our great Southern staples, is not 

 at this time and may never be in a condition to keep up her 

 arable lands by animal manures alone, and that her only 

 alternative is in green crops turned under for renovating 

 and increasing the productive capacity of her soil. 



