The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-06-04

Unable value. and that the Glover of the
South" can we'll supplement the clover In
The north Years ai;o II was thought that
the pea could not be made a success north
OF MARYLAND and Delaware. But we have
letters from farmers who have found II
invaluable as far north as southern Yer
mont. northern Indiana and southern
Michigan. Seed taken gradually from
south to north. as they will mature, have
enabled the plant to become acclimatiZed
much further north than was thought
possible few years ago. OF course. ii
reaches its greatest value and develop
ment In n warm climate and n sandy
soil. Few farmers supposed few wears
ago that the farmers of Illinois and Mis-
souri, would be growing cow peas for
forage and finding them n success. a
feeder of beef cattle for the export trade
in Missouri says that no food he can get
viii finish off = beef like the hay of the
COW pea.
Another man IN Missouri whose business
Is the raising II thoroughbred horses.
eay-s there is no feed equal to cow pee hay
for finishing up colt. From extensive
experimcnts at the station and among
farmers I'm the vicinity OF the station. the
Missouri station advises the farmers or
the state to grow cow peas for hay rather
than V.
mer has for years and generations been
rcrrretting that he cannot grow hay in the
south as they do in the north, and has
accented IL as fact that he cannot feed
cattle because Of the lack of hay win
the cow pea which he can grow better
than II can he grown anywhere else. he
can compete with any part OF the couh-
try in feeding cattle. If the Missouri
farmers find il more profitable To grow
~l,~,, fvr1n should
found still more profitable to grow II In
the south where the pea is more AT nome
Our farmers have for years been eXper-
imenting with various kinds OF forage
rlante. such as cat tail millet, German
nllllet. teosinte. and all the weeas tt'a1
have of late been sent out as FORAGE
l,lants. while all the while they nave hd"
in the pea plant of SURPRISING eACe,,oiie
for all the purposes Of forage, WINE az
the same time it returns to the lana more
than it takes away from H.
The wonder is lot that the pea IS Deliis
more extensively grown In the south
but that II has ever been neSlecteu- o.,
II will not do TO assume that the pea viii
make any soil permanently 1erthe- II
gives nitrogen-making humus. nut III OF
der 70 do this IT needs feeding, for II
is greedy consumer of phosphorlC dciu
and potash we have for years urSeu
uDon the. farmer the fact that by feed
inc the nea we can more rapidly Increase
tho productiyeness of our land than by
the short-sighted policy of applying fer
tiIizers TO the sale crop direct ana puS
ing the nitrogen we could nave gotten
without cost and even at prolt' App
ing the cheaper forms of plant food TO the
pea. crop we get a large increase in the
forage crop that is going to stay on the
farm tc be fed TO animals. Inc more
stock we feed and feed Well the more
manure we make at home and make the
need for heterogeneous fertilizers SUN les.
Raising the richest Of forage and feedlhS
II we will constantly be increasing our
ability to feed as the productiveness OF
the soil increases.
An Increase in the pea crop must IN
variablv be followed by an increase IN
the crop that succeeds il, whether II he
wheat. corn or cotton. Hence the feeding
of the pea and the increase OF the ioI-
age crop starts the increase all around
from the manure pile TO the granacy OF
store houses. and year by year II VIII go
NJ, in an Increasing ratio simply because
WOW feed the crop that feeds the land.
There has been a notion that II Is nee
essarv TO go to a great deal OF trouble
to cure peas into hay. The fact Is thal
there is no hav more easily cured. 1heh
when the first pods turn yellow NOW the
peas and after they have wilted during
the day rake them into windows before
night Turn the windrows over the next
day The next day if you take a bunch
of the hay and give 1t hard twist ana
can sec no sap run to the twist put the
hay away under shelter. A close barn
Is hest but II will cure well enough under
shelter or even In a stack. II the stack
IS capped by straw or grass that VIII
shed the rain. The wilted vines will heat
after storing and if you so TO opening
them to cool them off you will certainly
make mouldv hay, but if left strictly
alone they will cure into beautiful hay
Some have failed in this curing, but hum
dreds have succeeded. Where the hay IS
very heavy ii will have TO be left out a
little longer than where light. but get il
in while the leaves are still limp or you
may lose the best part of the hay