The Chanute times. [volume] (Chanute, Kan.) 1897-1913, 1899-02-03

remembered that there is no such
thing as a coffee substitute. The Idaho
pea was cultivated at the Colorado Ex-
detrimental Station in 1895 and 1896.
Professor Cooke states that it has
demonstrated its ability to make a
fair growth with very limited sup
ply. 1t belongs to the pea family and
is grown in rows, 80 inches apart, and
the plants to II inches apart in the
rows. Its growth indicates that it can
be raised for about 1 cent per pound"
Seed; About 80 to so pounds of seed
are used per acre, depending upon
whether it is sown in drills or broad
cast. In India the largest acreage is
in the northwest provinces, where the
soils are similar to those west of the
one hundredth meridian, and the eli
mate is much like that of New Mexico
and Arizona. All authorities agree
that it is better suited to q Id and
semi-arid 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 with
out, although it makes a fair yield on
comparatively dry soils. If continued
experiments with this plant in the west
prove that its average yield is as high
as has been claimed, it will undoubted-
ly prove valuable addition to the list
of forage plants suitable to semi-arid
regions.
The Time to Sow Seed.-The gram
plant is very sensitive to cold. The
seed should be sown not earlier than
May Is, or at the higher attitudes about
the LIST Of June, and, if some of the
short-season varieties are procured,
there will be less danger of their being
caught by early frosts. Gram is grown
in India as winter crop. 1t might
prove of some value in parts of the
Southern states as winter crop and
soil cover, on lands which are insult
ed to the vetches and the crimson
clover. 1t requires only moderate
amounts of moisture and is said to be |
injured by prolonged cloudy weather
or abundant rains, which cause it to
flower prematurely and thus material
ly affect the yield of seed.
AS Soil Renovator.| Gram is one
of the leguminous forage crops which
has the power of absorbing gaseous
nitrogen from the air, thus adding to
the stores of nitrogen in the soil, and
though the fact of nitrogen-absorption
by leguminous plants has not been well
understood until recent years, this has
long been considered one of the best
Indian crops for soil renovation and
For Feeding Purposes.-Gram is
staple article of horse. feed in India.
The seed is also highly valued for fat
tening sheep and cattle. There is a
trade with England and
other foreign countries where the peas
are used for the same purposes.
Poisonous Qualities.-The forage is
;aid to be actually poisonous to borses
IN account of the excess of oxalic acid
n the leaves. Cattle eat it, but it
'ften proves injurious to them, al ,,
hough to a less extent than to horses.
However, this crop is not ordinarily
'rown as a forage crop, but for the
eeds, and the seeds alone are used in
ndia for feeding purposes.
Production Per Acre.-Gram has
cen grown experimentally at the :
rass garden in Washington, d. c.,
nd seed has also been distributed to J
limited number Of farmers in various
arts Of the country. The reports con-
erning it were not very favorable ex- u
ept from some parts of Colorado, Wy
ming, Utah, Idaho, and Montana. In
he grass garden of the Department of d
griculture it did not grow higher
ian from s to 10 inches and the seed "
reduction was very moderate The ID