The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1901-04-30
Agriculture.
THE VALUE OF PEA VINE HAY.
How to Grow and Cure the Crop.

of the carrier VarleGleS is rapidly eX-
tending northward. This plant is
valuable not only because it fur
nishes nutritious food for stock,
but also because it possesses the
faculty of obtaining the most valu-
able and costly part of this food
from the air, that is, the nitrogen
part or protein, as it is called in ii
food product. 1t is that part of the
food which makes lean meat and
muscle in the animal, and produces
milk from the COW. When we go
TO the market to buy this protein,
which we do in the shape of cotton
seed meal, inseed cake, or wheat
bran, it costs US many times the
price Of the carbohydrates, the other
part of The animal food necessary
to form a complete ration. These
carbohydrates we buy most cheapIy
in cotton seed hulls, or shredded
corn stalks. They constitute prin-
cipally the carb lnaceOus, or woody
fibre of plants, and they create heat
and tat in the animal, and make the
bulk necessary to fill their stomachs
and promote d healthy condition.
Now, while all kinds of forage con
tain large quantities of the carbo-
hydrates, they also contain more or
less protein, according to the charac
ter Of the plant. 1t can readily be
seen that the more of this protein
given forage plant contains, the
greater will be it's feeding value, as
its use would Obviate the necessity
of feeding so much of this material
in Its more expensive form.
By taking the standard balanced
ration for a COW, which is 26 pounds
Of dry motter, so pounds protein,
u so pounds carbohydrates, and 40
pounds fats, and comparing it with
30 pounds Of pea vine hay, which
contains 26.78 pounds of dry matter,
324 pounds protein, 11.58 pounds
carbohydrates, and .32 pounds of
fats, we find that COW pea hay of it
self gives us u rather narrow or
highly balanced ration, and really
needs d little straw r hulls to tone
It down.
To give some idea of the great
feeding value of COW pea hay, I find,
after u careful comparison of an
aIyses, that it is practically the
anne as that of pure wheat bran.
When we fully realize the great
value of this hay as a food for stock,
and furthermore, that most of it,
and in fact the most valuable part,
is obtained from the air, we begin to
see TIE great economy in growing
this plant for forage. Experiments
have proved that it leaves the land
richer in nitrogen than it found 1t,
by the decay of the stuhble and
roots, so that we may actually grow
this hay nd improve our soil at the
same time. Viii other hay crops
impoverish the soil, pea vines Will
make it richer, provided we keep up
the supply of potash and phosphorlc
acid.
A crop Of two tons of pea vine hay
will remove from an acre of land
about 78 pounds of nitrogen, 2O.e
pounds of phOsphOric acid, and 5o.e
pounds of potash. 1t will be seen
from the above that While the prln
cipal element used is the more eX-
pensive nitrogen, which the peas OBJ,
tain free from the air, still there Is
also u large amount of potash and
quite ii little phOsphOric acid taken
from the soil. This we must replace
OF our land, instead of improving,
viii run down; for plants require al
three Of these elements of plant food
to make a healthy growth. The
relative value, however, OF these
chemicals is small compared to that
Of the captured nitrogen, so that
small investment in these cheaper
forms OF fertilizer will enable Us tt
work wonders with the help OF the
cow pea. The 78 pounds of nitrogen
captured from the air IS worth
C. nts per pound, or $1L2O, while the
3, pounds of potash, at 5 per pound
and the POS pounds of phosphorit
acid at cents per pound-the pres
ent price, would only amount to-