COWPEAS 



E. R. Minns, Binghamton, N. Y. 

 Farmers' Institute Lecturer, forraerly Farm Bureau Manager, Broome County, N. Y. 



Without doubt the cowpea is the most important legume grown 

 iu the states of the cotton belt of our country. It has been well 

 said that what red clover is to the northern farmer, cowpeas are 

 to the farmer in the south. It is the crop that can be depended on 

 to maintain or even increase the productivity of all tyjies of soil in 

 the cotton-growing states. It can be grown as far north as southern 

 N^ew York, but it is doubtful if its profitable culture will ever 

 extend much bevond the cotton-growing sections. 



In its characters the cowpea is more like the garden bean than 

 is the soy bean. The varieties most grown in this country belong 

 to the species Vigna unguiculata, although other nearly related 

 species have been brought into the country for trial. The cowpea 

 is a tender summer annual with glossy, dark green leaves and 

 rounded pods from five to" eighteen inches in length. Some varie- 

 ties are bushlike and others trailing in habit of growth, requir- 

 ing some other plant to support them for best results ; but none of 

 them are true climbers like the pole beans of field and garden. 

 The flowers are borne singly and are whitish, yellowish, or purplish 

 in color. The seeds are either smooth or wrinkled, and commonly 

 colored in shades of yellow, brown, and black. The " black-eyed " 

 varieties have a ring around the scar of each seed. 



HISTORY 



Previous to 1907 the origin and historv of the introduction of 

 the cowpea into the United States was the subject of most diverse 

 and erroneous beliefs. The facts were established bv a searchlna; 

 investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture 

 and the results published in Bulletin Xo. 102, Part IV, Bureau 

 of Plant Industry (1&07). It appears that the cowpea had its 

 origin in the Afghanistan region of Asia, from whence it was 

 distributed to China at a very early date, also to Arabia and Asia 

 Minor at the beginning of the Christian era. It became knowii 



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