512 



PEA 



PEA 



require more seed per acre than those having small 

 seeds or producing large vines. Usually the canning 

 varieties require heavier seeding than those grown 

 for stock-feeding. 



Harvesting and threshing. — Peas are usually cut 

 with a mowing machine. The tendency of the vines 

 to fall on the ground often makes the cutting a 

 difficult task. Sometimes extra long guards of spe- 

 cial shape are provided which lift up the vines so 

 that the knives may cut them satisfactorily. Fol-_ 

 lowing the mower, men with forks pitch the cut" 

 peas to one side in bunches so that they are not 

 trampled on at the next bout. 



A pea harvester constructed on the plan of the 

 twine binder has recently been invented. It does 

 not bind the peas, but delivers them at the side 

 out of the way, and thus saves the extra labor of 

 moving them by hand. 



If the crop has been matured for seed or grain 

 purposes it is allowed to cure in these bunches, 

 which are turned once or twice to facilitate drying. 

 When dry, peas may be stored in a barn or stack 

 like other grain. As the pea-straw will not shed 

 rain well, stacks should be topped with some finer 

 material to protect the crop from damage. 



If the crop is grown for canning purposes it is 

 drawn to the factory immediately after being cut. 

 Formerly it was customary to pick the pods con- 

 taining the peas by hand-labor in the fields and de- 

 liver these only at the factory, but more recently 

 the difficulty of securing sufficient laborers to do 

 this work and the introduction of pea threshers 

 that successfully shell and separate green peas 

 from the vines has led to delivering the whole crop 

 to the factory. 



Peas are usually threshed by machinery, though 

 when only a small quantity is grown annually they 

 may well be threshed by using a flail. This avoids 

 breaking the seed. In handling larger quantities, 

 machine threshing becomes advisable. A "bar con- 

 cave" with most of the spikes removed is best, and 

 the cylinder should be run at a low rate of speed 

 to avoid splitting the peas as much as possible. If 

 the grain is intended for stock-feeding the amount 

 split is unimportant, but when intended for seed or 

 the market the breaking of the grain lessens its 

 value. The regular bean thresher does more satis- 

 factory work on peas than the ordinary grain 

 thresher. 



The general method of pea-culture outlined above 

 is applicable whatever may be the intended use of 

 the grain. The varieties to be planted will vary 

 with the purposes for which they are grown. 



Uses. 



Stock-feed. — The uses of the pea crop are numer- 

 ous. In Canada it is much more largely grown as 

 a general farm crop than in the United States. 

 The grain has a high feeding value owing to its 

 relatively high content of protein. As part of the 

 grain ration of horses, fattening cattle, milch cows, 

 sheep and swine, peas are unexcelled. Wheli fed to 

 sheep or brood sows in winter, peas do not require 

 to be ground. For all other stock it is advan- 

 tageous to grind them, though sometimes they are 



soaked in water for feeding to swine. When intended 

 for stock-feeding, peas are frequently grown with 

 oats. The combined crop will usually have a greater 

 total value than would be produced by either alone. 

 When so grown, about one and one-half bushels of 

 oats should be sown with one bushel of peas per 

 acre. (Pig. 733.) 



Pea-straw, if well cured, is more relished by 

 horses, cattle and sheep than the straw of other 

 grain crops. Indeed, if not allowed to become too 

 mature before cutting, nor weather-beaten in the 

 curing, it more nearly approaches clover hay in 

 nutritive quality and palatability than ordinary 

 straw. 



Peas sown with oats or barley afford excellent 

 pasturage for sheep and swine, but unfortunately 

 produce best growth at the season when the grass 

 pastures are at their best. For large stock such 

 pasturage is not so satisfactory, as the peas are 

 easily injured by the tramping of larger animals. 

 Sown in this way and cut just before the peas are 

 full-grown, they produce an excellent soiling crop, 

 and are much used to bridge over the interval 

 between the shortening up of grass pasture and 

 when corn is ready for use. By sowing at inter- 

 vals of ten days, a supply of green forage may be 

 provided for several weeks. Any surplus not needed 

 for green forage may be cut and cured for hay. 



In common with other leguminous plants the pea 

 is especially rich in protein, and much of its agri- 

 cultural value is due to this fact. The following 

 table gives approximately the digestible nutrients 

 in the products named : 



* Computed from analyses made hy G. W. Cavanangli at 

 Cornell Experiment Station. 



Soil enricher. — Since peas, like other legumes, 

 have the power of obtaining nitrogen from the 

 atmosphere and placing it within reach of other 

 plants, they are much used in some places as a 

 green-manure crop. Some persons assert that land 

 from which a crop of peas has been harvested is 

 richer in nitrogen than it was before the crop was 

 grown. Peas are frequently used for sowing in 

 apple orchards, the common Canada field-peas 

 being suitable for this purpose. The orchard is 

 plowed shallow very early in the season and, when 

 the peas are beginning to ripen, pigs are turned 

 into the orchard to harvest the crop, and the larger 

 the pea crop and the smaller the drove of hogs, the 

 longer will the peas last. The principal growth of 

 the peas is made in spring when there is plenty of 



