The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-10-06
ALFALFA's RICH BROTHER.
Favored Region Where They Fatten
Stock on Field Peas.

So'eh years ago, q FARMER In the
San Luis Valley, Co.,, read in an
agricultural bulletin that he picked
/ up by chance. that sowing field peas
on land the fertility Of which had
J been sappsd by frequent grain crops
was a good way to replenish tn soil
He followed the directions about
planting them In one big wheat field,
but he was busy when the vines were
! green and they were not ploughed
under as they should have been. H.
stead, when he got around to 1t they
had grown to full size and were COW
cred with ripe peas.
The farmer scratched his head
about and decided that the only way
to avoid having a forest of peavines
the next year was to turn sheep into
the field and let them feast The
sheep took to the new fodder and the
peas with relish, and in short
/, time the farmer found them ready
T, iir market.
H. took the hint. and from that ac-
cidental discovery has grown a new
industry that Is more profitable than
even alfalfa growing in the west.
cattle-we-e tried on the peas and t..cy
..ked them as well as the sheep. Hog.
were equally pleased.
Peas being rich In protein very
soon spoil unGer hot and damp condi-
| tions, and the need of dry climate
and cool weather. met only by the
Colorado table lands In the high alti-
tudes. giving the farmers OF the fav-
ored region a monopoly Of new for
| age that is extrem .ly profitable. Py
Its use the Colorado farmer can pro-
duce his beef, mutton or pork at one
third the cost of fattening stock in
the corn belt, and when he gets to
market he finds that he gets even
better prices than for stock fed on
corn. The western packers pay
premium of dollar hundred for
pea fed hogs over the corn fed, while
pea fed lambs and pea fed beef top
the market at all times.
A rush to take up the limited
amount of land aavilable for this
kind OF pasture followed the discov-
cry. and II now brings as much as
| 500 an acre. In FIVE years it is pre-
dicted the land will be worth 5000
! an acre.
On the Colorado plateaus it is
spring al summer, so far as the
mercury keeps the record. and an
amazing amount of the forage plant
Is raised on an acre. The sunshine
keeps away the mould. and the vines
instead OF growing black cure into
/ sweet hay The result Is that the
farmer has on his field in the fall an
equivalent In feed value OF fifty or
more bushels of corn TO the acre an6
two or three tons of hay. tIfhe stock
Is turned into the field In the fall and
there Is no harvesting necessary.
The field pea belongs to that class
of plants that enrich the soil by with
drawing from the air the heterogeneous
element necessary to growing farm
products and store II in the roots
Each year that peas are planted
makes the field richer, and two years
Of pea growing will almost entirely
restore a depleted field.
! The success of the new discovery
has led the scientists of the State
agricultural college to take up the
question of scientific culture. and by
careful selection it is expected to in
crease the yield to from rs 10 zoe
bushels of shelled peas to the acre
This means that two or three times
as many hogs can be pastured Oh an
! acre as in any of the big hog growing
states Of the middle west.
Experiments have proved that a
bushal of peas will put on as much
pork as bushel and q third Of corn.
/ 1t Is easier and cheaper to raise fifty
bushels of peas with the proper soil
and climate than forty bushels of
corn In the corn States of Iowa. Ne
braska and illinois.
The Colorado field pea is muc!, like
the garden variety, and is not, the COW
pea of warm climates. 1t Is planted
by broadcasting and ploughing under
or by drilling into stubbla fields with
out ploughing. The vines keep on
blossoming and the blossoms set into
peas late into the fall. The cattle and
sheep take the first turn at the ripen-
"a crop. and after them the hogs.
which still know how to root in Colo