The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1897-06-26
COFFEE PEA"
A RICH PLANT UNDER CULTIyA-
TION IN COLORADO.
1t Flourishes In Arid Wastes. Fat
tens Cattle, Makes Delicious
Drink and May Have
Great Future.
HAT Colorado may eventually
become the source of coffee

supply for the country is MOI
as wild proposition as il
may seem at first blush, says Denver
letter in the Chicago Times-Herald
Through a series of experiments n,
the State Agricultural College q wild
pea has been SO tanned that it gives q
very good substitute for the Brazil
bean.
1t is known as the Idaho coffee pea,
owing to its having been found in that
State growing in rank profusion. Col
orado is the first State to make q
speciality of the introduction CT the
pea for fodder for animals and food
for man. 1t is equally palatable for
both and possesses such remarkable
qualities that it would not be sur
prising if it obtained regular stand
| ing in the economy of life.
For the past two or three years the
pea has been growing in favor among
the farmers of the Cache la Poudre
Valley, in which the college is located,
and the present season will witness
the production of large quantities of
it for stock food, for which purpose
it is probably not excelled by any
crop grown IN this LATITUDE.
The plant is anative of Idaho, where
it grows wild, its fruit being used
mainly as substitute for coffee, an
infusion of the leaves having been used
for generations by the Shoshones be-
fore they ever had any knowledge of
the imported article. Settlers who
invaded the West in the eos gave the
plant the name of the "coffee pes,"
tor want OF a better expression.
Scientifically it is the cicer areitihunl,
and is said to grow wild in some parts
of Europe.
The first known of it in Colorado
was in the spring of 1898, when
Charles. E. Pennock of Bellevue, Lari.
mer County, received few of the
seeds from Wood River, Idaho. These
were planted, and Mr.. Pennock was SO
pleased with the results that he con-
tinued experimenting with the plant,
giving year by year little larger area
to its cultivation until he had accumu.
lated seed enough to supply several of
his neighbors with what they needed
for experimental purposes and also to
meet the calls for it from other sec.
tions of the country.
This was in the spring of 1895. As
sresult of this distribution of seed,
several acres were planted in the valley
of the Cache Ia Poudre last year to the
Idaho coffee pea. Success attended
NJ h. -
crop has been clearly established. One
farmer, John G. Lindemier, raised $50
bushels last year and sold nearly the
entire crop at good prices.
Those who have fed it to stock say
that its fattening properties have no
equal. 1t has been found to take one
half less OF 1t than corn to fatten an
animal. As food for mich COWS the
tests have proved satisfactory, the
COWS giving one-third more milk than
when fed on bran, and butter made
from the milk in winter is as yellow as
that made in June. The ration is pre-.
pared by soaking the peas until they
become soft, by cooking them, or
grinding and feeding the meal. The
latter method is preferable because it |
gives the best results. Stock prefer it
in that way to any grain, and do bet
ter. The average ration for working
horse is three quarts day. 1t puts
horses into excellent condition, gives
them sleek, glossy coats and keeps
them in good health. About the same
ration per day is sufficient for mich
COWS or fattening stock. Hogs require
from one to three pints of the meal to
q feed, according to the size of the
animal.
The plant is easily cultivated and is
prolific. A single stalk produces from
1000 to 400 pods. IL 1896 Mr.. Pen
mock thrashed sixty-eight bushels,
machine measure, from the crop OF
Idaho coffee peas grown on less than
Of an aero of ground,
aud considers 1000 bushels to the acre
an ordinary yield under proper Gull
ture, the soil and climate conditions
being favorable. Itthrives best planted
in drills three feet apart. The plants
should stand fifteen inches apart in the
row. one seed in place requiring
about fifteen pounds of seed to the
acre. 1t should be planted as soon as
the ground becomes warm in spring,
about corn planting time, and hoed
and cultivated in the same manner as
corn. When the plants get a good
start they completely cover the ground,
10 that weeds have no chance to inter
iere with them. 1t is low spreading
plant, sometimes measuring four feet
across, with short, stout stems. each i
having many branches with thick, /,
lark green compound pinnote leaves. |
severed on the underside with hairy /,
glands. The pods are formed at the
xii of everyleaf. and contain from {
one to three peas. II
The Idaho coffee pea grows and {
natures without water, .characteris- I
ic that farmers with dry knobs on
heir farms viii appreciate. 1t will |
,e seen from this statement that the
offee pea is an arid region plant. 1t {
loes better on unirrigated land; bet. ]
er in dry climate than in moist
me. This being true, there need no
onger be any dry waste places on the
arm. They can be made to produce q
zig crops of superior food for man and t
,east. 8
As the pods are formed at the axil c
# the leaves. the first formed soon +