The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1897-05-25
COFFEE PEA"
n RICH PLANT UNDER CULTIVA-
TION IN COLORADO.
1t Flourishes In Arid Wastes, Fat
tens Cattle, Makes Delicious
Drink and May Have.a
Great Future.
Y HAT Colorado may eventually
become the source of q coffee


letter in the Chicago Times Herald.
Through series of experiments at
tho State Agricultural College q wild
pea has been so tanned that it gives a
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 mako
speciality of the in PRODUCTION Of 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 a 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 latituC G.
The plant is native 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 pea, 4"
Tor want of letter expression.
Scientifically it is the cicer areitinum,
and is said 10 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 a 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 1896. As
result of this distribution of seed,
several acres were planted in the valley
of the Cache la Poudre last year to the
Idaho coffee pea. Success attended
these experiments and the value of the
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 coru to fatten an
ANIMAL. As fo6T Tor 'ffniififcrl Go q
tests have proved satisfactory, ~
COWS giving one-third more milk than
when fed on bran, and butter mad,
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 il
in that way to any grain, and do bet
ter. The average ration for working
horse is three quarts a 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 fettening stock. Hogs require
from one to three pints of the meal to
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 1895 Mr.. Pen
mock thrashed sixty eigbt bushels,
machine measure, from the crop Of
Idaho coffee peas grown on less than
three-quarters of an aero of ground.
and considers 1000 bushels to tho acre
an ordinary yield under PROPER chi.
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 recurring
about fifteen pounds Of seed to the
acre. It should DO planted as soon ae
the ground becomes warm in spripo.
about corn planting time, aud hoed
and cultivated IN tho same manner as
corn. When the plants get good
start they completely cover the ground.
so that weeds have no chance to inter
fere with them. re is a low spreading
plant, sometimes measuring four feet
across, with short, stout stems, each
having many branches with thick.
dark green compound pinnote leaves.
covered on the underside with hairy
glands. The pods are formed at tho
axil OF every leaf, and contain from
one to three peas.
The Idaho coffee pea grows and
without water, a characteris.
tic that farmers with dry knobs on
thor farms will appreciate. It will
DO seen from this statement that the
coffee pea igan arid region plant. "A
does better on uuirrigated land: bet
ter IN dry climate than in moist
one. This being true, there need no
longer be any dry waste places on the
farm. They can be made to produce
big crops Of superior food for man aud
beast.
As the pods are formed at tho axil
81 the leaves, the first formed 500
rIpen, SO that there are ripe an ~sg,ec+
pods aud also blooms at the ina tima
all THROUGH the season, an2 fle nIarts /
lro IN b.OJn Ht harvest time. Tbo I
pods never crack, sonone OF the Mi
IS wasted by shelling out and tho cTsn