766 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



in central Europe about the middle of the sixteenth century, and 

 was introduced into the West Indies over, two centuries ago, and 

 from there to the American mainland, where its culture gradually 

 extended northward until it attracted the attention of George 

 Washington, then farmer on the Potomac. 



The culture of the cowpea has greatly increased in recent years 

 and this has increased the price of the seed, which in turn curtails 

 the more extensive use of the crop. Cowpea seed for planting 

 should be fresh, as seed more than one year old is likely to be of 

 low vitality. Hard-seeded varieties have been found less subject 

 to injury by wet weather at harvest time than are the soft-seeded 

 varieties. The use of improved machinery for harvesting the 

 seed crop is expected to increase the supply of seed and thus extend 

 the area devoted to cowpea culture. 



feeding a^alues 



The cowpea is a nutritious fodder plant as well as a soil- 

 improver. The following table of digestible nutrients per one 

 hundred pounds should be compared with similar data for soy 

 beans or other leo-umes : 



Cowpea seeds 



Cowpea hay ( in bloom ) . 



Ripe cowpea hay 



Cowpea straw 



Green cowpeas and corn. 

 Green cowpeas and sor- 

 ghum 



Green cowpea fodder. . . . 



A study of these figures will show that cowpea seed is about 

 equal to field peas in nutrients, and the hay made from both of 

 these plants is similar in value. As green fodder, cowpeas are not 

 equal to hairy vetch, and the mixture of cowpeas and sorghum is 

 not equal to sweet corn fodder with the ears removed. Where 

 field peas or red clover succeed well, there is little argument for 

 growing cowpeas for the feed produced. In the South it is man- 

 aged for fodder purposes in several ways. 



