6 



as a rule, those which make the heaviest j'ields of vines also bear larj^e 

 crops of peas. 



The vines should be mowed for hay when the peas are well formed 

 and the leaves are first beginning to turn j'ellow. After wilting on 

 the grovmd or in windrows from twentj-four to forty-eight hours, the 

 hay is placed in small, thin piles, or cocks, and allowed to cure tor 

 several daj's, when it may be carted to the barn or stacked under 

 sheds. The haymaking process is a difficult one, requiring more care 

 and attention than in the case of red clover, because the broad leaves 

 and thick stems contain a larger amount of water. The hay must be 

 placed in cocks before the leaves become brittle, and the piles must 

 be small enough to allow free circulation of air to the center of each. 

 Bright cowpea hay, clean and well cured, is worth as much as the 

 best red-clover hay, and there is no good reason why the Southern 

 farmers and planters should buy the jSTorthern-grown article for their 

 working stock or for fattening their cattle. Every ton of hay used on 

 the estate should be grown there. Another method of caring hay is 

 to stack the vines in a pen or rack of rails or j^oles so arranged as to 

 allow the air to enter every part of the pile. This stacking over poles 

 is the best where the vines are pulled, or where the trailing and creep- 

 ing sorts are used. The bush varieties are the best for hay, because of 

 the greater ease with which they may be mowed and handled. They 

 also hold their leaves better than the ranker trailing sorts. The yield 

 of hay varies according to the fertility of the soil upon which it is 

 raised, whether it is grown on rich lowlands or on the drier and more 

 sterile uj)lands. In the Gulf States cowpeas will probably give an 

 average yield of 2 to 3 tons per acre, while 4 to 6 tons are not uncom- 

 mon. Farther north the average Avill range from 14- tons in Ohio to 

 2i tons in Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee. As with other crops, 

 the time of planting, the character of the soil and of the cultivation, 

 and the amount of rainfall have much to do with the yield. Along 

 the Gulf it is one of the best hay crops. North of the latitude of the 

 Ohio River it is chiefly valuable as an addition to the list of drought- 

 resistant, summer-soiling crops and as a crop that will yield a con- 

 siderable amount of forage on soil too sterile to grow red clover. The 

 commercial value runs from $G to 120 per ton, being governed by the 

 relative abundance of other grades of hay and fodder. Its feeding 

 value is equal to that of the best red clover, and the hay ranks high 

 in palatability and digestibility. 



roWPEAS FOR SWIXE AXD CATTLE, 



When cowpeas 'are planted for green manure, it is an excellent prac- 

 tice to turn hogs into the field about the time that the first peas are 

 ripening. Young i^igs thrive amazingly on the succulent foliage and 

 well-filled pods, and the (quality of the pork raised on such a healthful 



