768 Grasses and Leguminous Crops in New York 



feature is that the phiiit will grow on and add -nitrogen to 

 sour, run-down soils, where clovers would' require lime and 

 patience to show a benefit. The southern planter has in the cow- 

 pea ^ means of building up a profitable rotation of crops, if he 

 makes correct use of the cowpea as a soil builder. 



The most practical use made of the plant is where it is sown 

 between the rows of corn at the last cultivation, and the vines 

 turned under for manure for the succeeding crops in the rotation. 

 Sometimes the cowpeas are pastured after the corn is harvested, 

 but sheep and cattle are liable to bloat on this pasturage. In 

 some sections a crop of cowpeas is grown between the harvest 

 of wheat or oats in early summer, reseeding with grain in the 

 autumn. Cotton, sugar cane, and wheat have all shown marked 

 benefit from preceding crops of cowpeas. Especially do the crops 

 of the grass family seem to profit by the increased store of avail- 

 able nitrogen following the culture of cowpeas. 



COWPEAS FOR NEW YORK 



Owing to the tenderness of cowpeas, their use in New York 

 will always be restricted to the wanner parts of the state. On 

 Long Island and in parts of the Hudson Valley they may be util- 

 ized as a catch crop for soil improvement on sandy land. They can 

 never compete successfully with red clover or alfalfa for hay 

 production, and it is doubtful if they will ever prove superior to 

 soy beans for the live stock feeder. At the Ohio Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, which is located in a climate similar to that 

 of portions of New York, after a series' of experiments Williams 

 and Welton reported that " cowpeas are inferior to soy beans 

 except possibly as a soil renovator on the poorer and more acid 

 soils." It seems very likely that the statement will hold true for 

 nearly all parts of New York. 



VARIETIES 



Of the few worth-while varieties of cowpeas, the New Era, 

 Whippoorwill, and Iron seem to be the ones worth trying under 

 New York conditions. The Iron variety has a valuable property 

 in its resistance to the wnlt disease and to root-knot caused by eel- 

 worms. It is also vigorous, and quite erect in habit of growth. 



