The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-04-29
BY GEORGE SEVERANCE.

E1ELD peas have long been a standard
1 crop among the dairymen of Western
Washington, where the rainfall is album
dant, but very few of the grain farmers
OF Eastern Washington realize that they
may be grown successfully in the moister
parts of Eastern Washington and North
ern Idaho, or know their real value. The
numerous trials with field peas on the
Experiment Station Farm at Pullman
nave seemed to justify their very general
introduction OF the moister soils of the
wheat belt.
There are several reasons for intro
ducing this crop. Nearly all the older
wheat soils of Washington are becoming
more or less depleted in nitrogen. This
depletion is %strikingly shown by the
ranker growth and darker color of grain
wherever manure has been dropped or
where an old fence has been broken up.
Like alfalfa and clover, peas add nitro
gen to the soil through the action of GER
tain bacteria storing the free nitrogen Of
the air in nOdules on the roots Of the peas.
Upon the decay of the roots this stored
nitrogen comes into available form for
succeeding crops. Peas have the adyan-
tage over clover and alfalfa, as a soil
renovating crop in wheat farming in that
they may be grown during the year of rest
from wheat, while clover or alfalfa must
occupy the land two or three years if
grown %profitably. They are inferior to
clover and alfalfa as a humus producing
crop, where the tops are removed, for the
root system of peas is not nearly so ex-
~tensive as Of clover or alfalfa and will add
little if any more humus to the soil than
is broken down in the soil during their
growth.
Giving Stability.
That the more general introduction Of
dairying into our system Of agriculture
would give stability by distributing our
risks, helping to maintain our soil in a
high state of fertility, and developing a
more intensive system of agriculture, is
generally recognized; but one of the great
est drawbacks on most wheat farms Is the
shortage Of feed during July, August and
September, even though alfalfa is grown
for pasture. Peas are unsurpassed as a
soiling food for cows and will supply this
need from about July first to the middle
or latter part Of August, after which corn
that may be grown on otherwise idle sum-
merfallow, will supply extra feed the bal
ance of the dry period.
Peas grown with oats will produce
heavy yields of hay, rich in protein and
much superior to wheat or oat hay for
cattle, sheep Or colts. Peas resemble al
falfa and clover in feeding quality, but
offer the advantage of producing a full
crop of hay in about three months from
seeding, while the land must be set aside
two years for a full crop of clover or
alfalfa.
Swine production offers exceptional re-
enumeration to the extent that hogs nay
be used to pick up the waste Of our grain
fields, but with no other provision for
Summer feed, Spring filters will not at
tain satisfactory size during one season.
IF alfalfa pasture Is used to start them
on, it becomes pretty dry long before the
grain fields are ready to turn into. A
patch of peas will tide over this period
and keep the pigs growing rapidly. With
a field of corn to turn into for finishing
in the Fall they will go onto the market
in excellent condition.
With land values in many cases ranging
from SIS to 500 per acre, 1t becomes in
creasingly important that we discover
some crops that will enable us to keep
the land producing all the time. Peas
may be grown on the better parts Of the
summerfallow, thus aiding in the more
complete utilization Of capital invested. >
Pointers on Growing.
/. Field peas will produce profitable
crops of hay OF seed on good average land.
in the moister part Of our wheat belt.
2. Peas are ANIMALS and may take the
place of the summerfallow where there is
a fair rainfall.
3. Peas are nitrogen gatherers, hence
will increase the nitrogen content Of the
soil, but will not increase the humus OF