The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1912-05-02

! and grain and as a fertilizer, the pea
/ are about the same as soybeans ane
cowpeas.
The Feeding Value Of Cowpeas.
COWPEAS FOR HOG PASTURE
With the price of corn at seventy
cents bushel, we cannot afford ia
feed seven or eight pounds of grain
to produce pound of pork. Corn
has wide nutritive ratio; that is to
say, it is low in protein and high in
carbohydrates. In order to balance
the ration when corn is fed, it is de-
sirable to feed something that is rich
in protein with the corn. For this
purpose cowpeas as forage have
been found to be very profitable.
Fortunately, the cowpea produces
good growth on thin soil and grows
we'll in nearly all Missouri soils.
IT cowpeas are sown about the Sec
ond week in June, they will mature
early enough for late summer and
early fall feed. During this season
bluegrass is usually short, and cow
peas make good green feed. As
forage cowpeas will support from
ten to fifteen head Of hogs to the acre
for five or six weeks. For best re-
suits, the pods should be allowed to
become nearly ripe, before pasturing.
Experiments in using cowpeas as
forage for hogs have resulted in the
production of pork much more Geo.
nomically than when the hogs were
fed in dry lot or on bluegrass pas
ture. With pork at six cents pound,
an acre of cowpea forage has been
found, by the Missouri Experiment
Station, to be worth at least $13. 90 an
acre. Corn, when fed to hogs on
cowpea forage will return a value of
seventy-four cents a bushel. (See
Bulletin IS, Missouri Experiment Sta
tion.)
Cowpeas sown with corn makes an
excellent feed for hogs. When the
pods just begin to turn, hogs may be
turned into the cowpeas in the corn.
In this way, the hogs get their own
grain right along with the forage.
The hogs harvest both crops and thus
save great deal of labor that would =
be necessary if the corn were har.
vested and then fed to the hogs.
Hogs make as rapid gains when hog
ging off corn and cowpeas as when
foraging on cowpeas and the corn is q
fed to them. =
If corn and cowpeas are to be B.
hogged down, the peas should be
planted in the hill with the corn or ~
drilled between the rows. The Black
variety is excellent for planting in the
hill with the corn. The New Era and I'D
Whippoorwill are good varieties to a 49,,
drill between the corn rows. All
Cowpeas for the Cow.-A balanced ieS
ration for cow cannot be made from a., aS
corn, corn fodder and timothy hay. LII
These feeds are low in protein. The GAG
COW cannot convert carbohydrate food sl az,
INTO protein, hence, in order to bal 0'n
nee up her ration, feed rich in y:
protein must be fed. Since the cow 20: 20 .
equires much bulk to her ration, the -: Is.
'rotein, or much of it, can be supplied .ns s
the hay. Cowpea hay is one of the . .el
cry best feeds for the cow. If corn ''a'
llage is fed, the COW should have all u
the cowpea hay she can eat. oure
When alfalfa hay is available, many anu
'eders cut the cowpea for silage, pleas
ltting it in the silo along with the uSua
'rn. The mixture is one of the best teho
'iry feeds. The silage thus made is kllS
1t only succulent feed but is also aS III
cher in protein. The cownea n1,p+ expe
richer in nro4ain conto,+ tho, :. can l.
IN. with
Cowpeas for Sheep.-No better persc
race can be nrov;dod for 1,r,hc .h,, invite
At of corn with cowpeas drilled VII!
tween tho rows o. tho los+ o,,,t;,,o which
n. IT earlier forage is desired, the. eAerc
as can be nlantod With .ho oou,,oo the at
achment at corn planting time. '''a' u
1en peas are planted in the hill with The
corn, better results are obtained have
he corn is planted little late. the st
.ambs can be turned into the field versit
'orage off the peas when the mods July 1
i'm to turn, or even before the pods OF Edl
in to turn. They will eat the to ate
er leaves of the corn without dam. this W