32 BULLETIN 752, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
be thoroughly investigated under irrigation. It was impracticable 
in the tests reported above to determine the quantity of peas or of 
peas and other grains required to produce a pound of gain. There 
is need for experimentation in this connection also. 
Speaking generally, it appears that where field peas do well under 
irrigation their use as a crop to be hogged off should be much more 
extensive than it is at present. The crop is particularly valuable 
at times when the commoner grain feeds are high priced, and its 
utilization by swine growers on irrigated lands offers many excellent 
opportunities. 
HORSE BEANS. 
Horse beans have not been tried extensively by irrigation farmers 
in this country, but in one or two sections, particularly in the Snake 
Eiver valley of Idaho, the crop has become of some importance. In 
1915 plantings of horse beans were made at the Scottsbluff, Huntley, 
and Belle Fourche Field Stations, with seed produced at Gooding, 
Idaho. The results were unsatisfactory, as shown by the following 
report made by the superintendent of the Huntley Field Station on 
the behavior of the crop at that point, where the results were typical 
of those secured at Scottsbluff and Belle Fourche : 
A test of horse beans was made in 1916 on a one-eighth acre plat in field 
A-I. Seeding was done in the latter part of April. The seed was planted 
closely in rows 20 inches apart. A good stand was secured and the crop 
made a very good growth up to the time of blooming, which was about 
August 1. It was attacked at this time by a disease which practically stopped 
the growth of the plants. In many instances the plants were killed. On a 
few of the plants a small amount of seed formed. This seed was badly 
shrunken, as were also the foliage and stems. Only a few of the plants re- 
mained alive at the end of the season, and the amount of seed was so small 
and the quality so poor that the crop was not harvested. 
Welch reports 1 as follows regarding horse beans on irrigated lands 
in Idaho: 
Horse beans (Vicia faba), or Broad Windsor beans, are extensively grown 
in some parts of irrigated Idaho. They are grown almost exclusively for 
" hogging-off " purposes. During the season of 1915 a crop was grown on 
the station farm for the purpose of finding its relative value when compared 
with field peas used in the same way. The horse beans were sown a little too 
late to secure maximum growth. They are considered somewhat inferior to 
field peas when used for pork production. 
A few farmers in Idaho have reported very satisfactory results 
from hogging off horse beans. Others have attempted to use the crop 
for this purpose but without success. It appears that the plants are 
specially susceptible to the attacks of certain fungous diseases, as was 
indicated in the test at Huntley. In view of the knowledge at pres- 
1 Welch, J. S. Experiments with legume crops under irrigation. Idaho Exp. Sta. Bui. 
94, 14 p., 4 fig. 1917. 
