The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-06-03
The Field Pea.

S|N
am glad to see the field pea go well spoken of: y
Is worthy Of all that has been said of It.. The grain rs
n feed Is highly nutritious. ranking In this RESPECT but
little below the bean. so noted far It's hlinirntary prop.
critics. The haulm, In its green state, Is given q high
figure by analysis, which Is Justified by feeding. AS o
plant for improving the lnnh 1t has decided merit, and
for some purposes Is unrivalled, just ms rye Is as q
plan, Of late fall and early spring g,nrtb, and cl"ver
to deepen, make mellow and enrich obstinate clay soil.
The pea Is confined in Its effect to the surface Soil.
| which It shades to the dcti imcnt Uf weeds aud coarse
grasses, and rs n protectiun against the sun and drying
winds. 1t has advantages as q fertilizer, OF which
cali speak from experience.
At tie homestead we mule usc NJ II Mt flrst TO en-
rich barren kn0lls md Impoverished spots In fields,
md uflerwari entire fields, and the success was always
most crafty ing. The pea, being a lesnininOus plant,
cficsciuus; this was our advantage. On the poorest
land the pea will spruut and show above ground. IL II
without further aid than the soil and the elements az
ford, it will make q feeble cifUrt ut growth, then
dwindle and result In failure. With Ilns!er, tho
growth startled will continue nEd increase till the
ground Is covered with q pretty dense b!ue-green mass
ri hanl,m. This turned down. aud another crop grown
during the season, and also pluwrd In, never failed to
grain tho season following. Clover sown with the
grain, and plaster again used, 4 good crop OF clover
would never lail to be realized, which would further
materially improve the land.
There were bare sFuts on the farm that wonld grow
nothing, not even weeds. unaided. The soil here was
little m,re than u pnIveiizcd condition Of the Marcel
lus slate, poor In lcrtiiizins material. Plaster alone
on these spots would grow nothing. Aided by mn.
nurc there would b. some growth, ind by repeating
tho operation q fair yield.
We were led to this practice by p~lastcripg peas
sown on the usual ~crnpl'Ing land, in which case the
growth was so great that the object OF the crnI'-f'r
the grain-wns defeated 1t all went tn haIlm, rum
ming along Hat on the ground, the wines some five or
six feet In length. partly rstted and mildewed, contin.
uing to put out abOrtiye blossoms. This was invaria-
bly, the case on fair to good land, and was effected by
n bushtl Of plaster to the acre. This led us to put
peas on the poorest cultivated land with nearly simi.
lar rrsnl'. Even with less plaster on such land, there
would not be O satisfactory yield; o peculiarly was
uneven riIpning. a.. least 1t became tho settled con-
y~ictiun that plaster under any circumstances was
~lurtiul 50 FIR rs the grain or seed was concerned, and
and it was no more used for this purpose.
Where land Is cropped for n long time with little or
no manure, and is deprived Of It's humus until the
crop grown becomes . loss, o single crop Of peas grown
with plaster and turned down. and when f0ttrtl, well
mixed with the earth b. cultivator. will often i'm
prove 1t sufficiently to grow p~rotiAbly n crop OF grain,
while the roll mechanically has been materially bcne.
fitted, and Is In good condition to seed down. The
main agent In this is the plaster, and for the %cheapness
nothing approaches 1t. a buslIel per acre answering for
n full growth. TO apply more seems to have no effect,
though a less portion has n approximately full effect,
II moi more, where . good article Is used, such as the
Nrva Scotia or the Cuyu.a plaster. or course In To-
c~alltics where plaster has less effect than here, the
same success cannot DO expected. But 1t Is worth try
ING I'm NIL.