The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-02-13

rms S.IsO pounds Of hay bore onIy S' z bushels of sheiied peas. The lowest yield of hay was 75o pounds per acre produced by one plot each of New Ere and Extra Early Black Eye. These two plots yielded respectively i.ssT.e and 1,025 pounds of shelled peas per acre. The weight of the peas ano hulis produced by these two varieties | fin this instance was double the weight | of the cured vines that bore the peas and huIIs. One plot of Wonderful tor Unknown) yielded s,s50 pounds of nay per acre and no blossoms had appeared l upon the vines when harvested in De- tober. Two other plots of this variety l ripened no peas. Two plots or CiaS produced s.25O and 7.540 pounds of hay Iper acre and no peas worth gathering These great varietal differences have an important bearing upon the selec- 1 tion of varieties to be grown for what ] ever purpose, and particularly when | the prime object of their culture is the l production of hay. Lack of recogni- tion of these differences in the habits 1 of varieties is a fruitful source of faii- | ure. or of at least unsatisfactory re- suits and of disappointment. On the | other hand, e due consideration or these varietal variations will enable | the grower to select varieties well | suited to each of the various purposes for which the cowpea is grown. Since the summer of 1898 more than $50 plots of cowpea vines have beep cut for hay. including about fifty vari- cities. and particularly those of dissim- liar characters, were grown in multi pie plots. cut at various degrees or | maturity and under a variety of weath- CT conditions. The results of attempts to cure these various lots of hay range from perfect success to complete fail- | ure. A review of the results of these | tests extending through five years seems to warrant these conclusions: Gal Cowpeas of any variety harvest | ed while young or in vigorous growth are diff1cult to cure into hay no mat" ter how favorable the weather condi- tions.
 (b) Mature vines are cured with lit- tie dificulty in favorable weather, and usually cure in fair to excellent condi- l tion after an exposure of two to four | days of rain and cloudy weather. (c) Varieties producing the heaviest yield of peas ara most easily cured in- to hay, while those producing few peas. or none at all, were the most | difficult to cure, since they habitually continue fh vigorous growth until checked by frost.
 (d) Late, shallow cultivation pro-
  the vines more difficult to cure. Gull tivation should cease when the first pods appear if the crop Is intended for | hay.
 (e) Vines bearing a fair or full crop | of peas that ripen we'll together are | easily cured when one-fourth or more of the peas are thoroughly ripe and no second growth of vine has been in duced by excessive moisture.
 F,aII of peas ripening through a prolonged period through which the plants con- tinue in vigorous growth are usually | difficult to cure in other than the most favorable weather.
 | The numerous varieties of cowpeas differ so widely in various respects that their peculiarities must be con-
 sidered when the crop is grown for
 hay and the time of moving, treat
 ment while in the swathe, in wind- rows and in cocks adjusted not only to
 the condition Of the weather, but also the peculiarities of the variety, and to variations due to climate and soil.-- Bulletin Arkansas Experiment Station. EnslIage for Feeding Steers. The Kansas Experiment Station has recently issued Bulletin No, 124. giv- ing the results of an experiment in feeding ensilage, alfalfa hay. corn, and Kafilr corn to steers of different ages. We call attention to 1t now especially because of the light 1t throws on the profitableness of ensilage as a partial | feed for steers on full feed.
 Eighty head of dehorned steers were purchased the first of November, 1902
 of which twenty were three-year -olds. forty two-years- -olds, and twenty year lings. The station had also on hand nineteen head of skim-mllk calves averaging about six months of age. The steers and calves were the aver | age quality of the country and were selected for that reason. The steers were taken direct from the pasture and the calves from the skim-mi
 The two-year-olds were divided into three lots; one of twenty and two of ten each. The three-year-olds, twenty | head of the two-year-olds. the year | lings, and the calves were placed in the feed lots and given the same feed; namely. chopped alfalfa for roughnesS and for grain equal parts of ground corn and ground Kafir corn. To the | feed of one lot of ten two-year- olds ] was added corn ensilage and to the other Kaffir corn stover for roughness. the grain ration being the same in all cases.
 The feature of this experiment which we wish to emphasize particu- larly at the present time is the superior excellence of the lot fed for forty days with ensilage added to the alfalfa, corn and Kaffir corn.
 The steers were all weighed in at the same price-$4.2O per hundred weight. The ensilage fed steers were sold at $4.95 per hundredweight while
 the remaining lots sold in the market at $4.25, $4.55. a4,7O, and the three year-olds fed on alfalfa, corn. and Kaf1r without ensilage sold at $495, the same as the ensilase steers. The profit on the nineteen calves was $7.SS,
 or a little over 40 cents per head. The
 three-year- odds were fed at a profit of
 9 cents per head, while all the other
 lots were fed at a loss; that in which
 Kaffir corn stover was substituted for ensilage at a loss of $741S or $741 per head.
 Comparing Lot 1 with ensilage and Lot { without, the gain per head on those fed ensilage was 446.S pounds and those without ensilage 417.9 pounds. The corn required with the ensilage was 715 pounds per hundred pounds of gain and without ensilage 7S3 pounds. The lot fed ensilage ate All pounds of ensilage per hundred pounds of gain and BPS pounds of alfalfa, while those fed without ensilage required 4SS pounds of alfalfa per hundred pounds of gain. In other words, for every hundred pounds of gain the All pounds of ensilage saved eighteen pounds of grain and 156 pounds of alfalfa.
 The cost ot the grain was 54 cents ! per hundredwefRht and the alfalfa 27.5