34 



This plant is a branching annual, with many upright stems from the same root. 

 The leaves resemble those of the vetch, having 7 pairs of small leaflets. These are 

 oblong, soft-hairy all over, \ inch long or less, and sharply toothed on the margins. 

 The flowers are borne singly in the axils of the leaves on short stalks about ■£ inch 

 long. The pods are bladdery, inflated, from \ to £ inch long, and finely pubescent 

 with glandular hairs. Each pod contains one, or very rarely two, large seeds, which 

 are wrinkled and bear a fanciful resemblance to a ram's head, whence the Latin name 

 arietinum. The seeds are a little larger than those of the common garden pea, to 

 which they are quite similar. 



The "Idaho" pea was cultivated at the Colorado Experiment Station in 1895 and 

 1896. Professor Cooke states that "it has demonstrated its ability to make a large 

 growth with plenty of water and a fair growth with a very limited supply. It belongs 

 to the pea family, and is grown in rows 30 inches apart, the plants 6 to 12 inches 

 apart in the rows. Its growth indicates that it can be raised for about 1 cent per 

 pound." 



About 30 to 50 pounds of seed are used per acre, depending upon whether it is sown 

 in drills or broadcast. In India the largest acreage is in the northwest provinces, 

 where the soils are similar to those in the States west of the one hundredth meridian, 

 and the climate is much like that of New Mexico and Arizona. All authorities agree 

 that it is better suited to arid and semiarid regions than to humid ones, the crop . 

 apparently requiring a great many sunny days during its season of growth. Better 

 results are secured in growing it with irrigation than without, although it makes a 

 fair yield on comparatively dry soils. 



The seed should be sown not earlier than May 15, or at the higher altitudes about 

 the 1st of June, and, if some of the short-season varieties are procured, there will be 

 less danger of their being caught by early frosts. It might prove of some value in 

 parts of the Southern States as a winter crop and soil cover on lands which are 

 unsuited to the vetches and crimson clover. 



The average analyses of the seeds show that they contain 20.5 per cent crude pro- 

 tein, 3.9 per cent fat, and 59.4 per cent carbohydrates, having approximately the 

 composition of the seeds of the field pea commonly grown in the Northern States. 



Digestion exjjeriments have not been made with them, but their fattening quali- 

 ties in use show them to be fully as valuable as the seeds of many of the other 

 legumes. 



The leaves of the gram are viscid with a secretion which contains oxalic, acetic, 

 and malic acids, the first of these predominating. In India the secretion is collected 

 by means of cloths spread over the plant at night and wrung out in the morning 

 when wet with dew. The solution thus obtained is used in the preparation of cool- 

 ing drinks, and also finds sale as a vinegar. The forage is said to be actually poison- 

 ous to horses on account of the excess of oxalic acid in the leaves. Cattle eat it, but 

 it often proves injurious to them, although to a less extent than to horses. However, 

 this crop is not ordinarily grown as a forage crop, but for the seeds, and the seeds 

 alone are used in India for feeding purposes. 



Reports of this pea grown in the Eocky Mountain regions mentioned yields esti- 

 mated at the rate of 90 bushels to the acre, but this is very unusual. The average 

 crop in India is about 10 bushels to the acre, and the highest yields do not exceed 25 

 bushels, the latter only when grown on the best soils under the most favorable con- 

 ditions. 



2140-2150. Lintjm usitatissimum. Flax. 



From France and Russia. Received through Mr. W. T. Swingle, February 13, 1899. 

 The following varieties of flax were sent : 



2140. "Common French flax. " 



2141. "Large-seeded flax." A race of flax having particularly large seeds, 



grown as a winter flax for oil in Southern France, Sicily, and 

 Algeria. 



2142. "White-flowered." A spring flax, said not to degenerate in France, 



vigorous, easily grown, yields abundantly a fiber of ordinary qual- 

 ity esteemed for machine spinning. Seed is ripe when fiber is 

 mature. A large variety, should be sown thinner than other sorts. 



2143. "True Riga flax." The standard Russian liber flax ; seed from Russia. 



2144. " French one-year Riga." Riga flax is said to be improved by being 



grown one season in France; it degenerates later. 



2145. "Pskoff." A superior form of Riga flax. Seed grown in France. 



2146. " improved Russian Pskoff." A spring flax. A variety of Riga flax, 



but higher, having finer fiber and not degenerating in France, as 

 does the Riga. Vilmorin recommends this as the best variety for 

 France. Seed from Russia. 



