Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1909-10-08
CANADIAN FIELD PEAS DO
WONDERS FOR COLORADO

The Canadian field pea continues tt
do wonders in Colorado, as may be seer
from the following extract from re
cent article by George L. Knapp in the
Denver News:
| was born and bred in a wheat
growing country; but never saw sucF
wheat as they are growing in the Sar
Luis valley, north of Monte Vista
The record for the valley is said to be
6215 bushels per acre; and we saw one
field that will crowd that record pretty
hard Oats did not show up so well as
the unheard of heavy rains had beater
them down; but the wheat and peas
were splendid.
Which brings meto oneof the founda-
ton stones of the valleys prosperity,
the field pea; and to the man who laid
that foundation stone, James Kelley
When Kelley came to the San Luis
valley some q years ago, the farmers
were working their land just half the
time; and even at that the land was
growing poorer They would plow a
field, and put it to grain. Next year,
they would summer fallow that field,
and crop another. If man had 100
acres of land, ne could never count on
having more than half of it in use in
any one year. The soil was rich in
many ways, but grain seemed to ex-
haust it.
Kelly looked the ground over, and
came to the conclusion that something
had to be done. He was lawyer and
a book agent, not a farmer, so he had
no agricultural prejudices. He read
agricultural papers, and pretty much
everything else. He read about the use
of the field pea up in Canada the crop
which made the land richer instead of
poorer. He asked the farmers around
why they didn't grow peas to enrich
their lands, instead of letting tile idle.
They answered that peas were just as
hard on land as wheat was. Kelly
preached peas as ardently as Tolstoy
breaches peace, and with aboutas much
effect, until he got hold of 320 acres of
land himself. 1t was land which had
been cropped, and was supposed to be
good for nothing that year but to lie
idle. Kelly plunged bit, planted the
whole farm to peas, cut them for hay
and fed them to stock. He made
fair income from his land in this, the
off year. The next year he put it in
to wheat, and threshed 40 bushels to
the acre from it.
One would think demonstration of
that sort would set the whole valley to
planting peas, especially since it was
soon found that peas were an ideal feed !
for lambs and pigs But it didn't work
hat way. The San Luis valley, like
Ill other mountain agricultural regions,
S peopled almost wholly by Americans
If the old native stock, and the old
iative stock is about as hard to convince
n an argument as to whip in the field
some of them tried the pea business,
md ali who tried it found it paid But
was so much bother, it was such de-
'arture from the old, easy ranching
method of one crop in t wo years.
Then another man, whose name
ave forgotten, made another discovery.
lie was rushed with work one fail, and
ouldn't harvest all his peas, and in the
ope of saving some of the fodder he
lrned some of his lambs loose in the
eafeld They made as rapid gains as ,
nose kept up and fed-and the s
ED pea had arrived in the San Luis
alley. A crop which made money in
self, prepared the soil for more money J
taking, aud could be reaped by the /
nimals for whom it was intended, was t
lainly not a crop to be despised. v
When James Kelly died-an / sup c
,sed he will die some time-the San
uis valley should build him some sort h
monument which will tell his great b
It work, the introduction of the field Z
"a. That plant has to all intents and :
lrposes doubled the cultivable area of r
e valley. 1t has done more, for the :
nd is getting richer instead of poorer.
,me farmers in the valley practiced
,o-vear rotation of crops; one year II
as, the next year grain, generally al
neat, the next year peas again. al
hers who live near the railroad Il
actice three-year rotation, peas, al
tatoes and grain. And the San Luis fl,
Hey has potatoes which stand right ia
with any in Colorado. The cool oil