21 



COWPEAS. 



Of all annual plants used for liay, cowpeas are tlie most important, 

 the most widely used, and the best. The cowpea is one of the few crops 

 which will make rich fall grazing or yield abundant crops of good hay, 

 aiul at the same time leave the soil iu an improved chemical and 

 mechanical condition for succeeding crops. Cowpeas make the best 

 " catch crop " which can be grown for hay. They are the best crop 

 which can be grown on land from which wheat, oats, or any early matur- 

 ing crop has been gathered. There are many cultivated varieties of 

 cowpeas, some maturing within sixty days from planting, while others 

 continue to grow six months or more. If a heavy yield of hay is wanted 

 the Clay, Whip-poor-will, and Unknown are the best varieties. If the 

 crop is to be pastured the Black, Ked Ripper, and Unknown are good; 

 while for stock Black Crowder, Clay, and Unknown give heavy yields. 

 When the crop is to be saved for hay it should be cut as soon as the 

 first pods become yellow, and the planting should be timed so that this 

 will occur during the dry weather of September and October. Although 

 the hay is regarded as being somewhat difficult to cure, it is not so when 

 cnt at the proper stage of maturity and handled with care. Bulletin 

 No. 40 of the Mississippi Experiment Station gives the following direc- 

 tions for saving the hay: 



Tlie mower is started in tlie moi'uiug as soon as tlie dew is off, and run until noon, 

 or until as much lias been cut as can be bandied in the afternoon. As soon as the 

 top of the cut vines is well wilted the field is run over with a tedder to turn the 

 vines over and expose them more thorougly to the air and sun. When the crop is 

 very heavy the tedder is used a second time, though this is seldom necessary. Vines 

 which have been cut in the morning and teddered in the afternoon are usually dry 

 enough to put into small cocks the nest afternoon, and if the weather promises to 

 be favorable they are left in the cocks two or three days before being hauled to the 

 barn. 



If it should rain before the vines are put in cocks they are not touched until the 

 surface is well dried off, and then they should l)e teddered as though freshly cut. 

 The vines in cocks are not opened until well dried on the outside, and are then 

 handled as little as is possible to secure a thorough airing. A light rain does very 

 little damage to the hay, even after the curing has begun, if handled promptly and 

 properly, and a heavy rain for a day or two may fall on freshly cut vines and do little 

 or no damage. The essential point in making the hay is to do the work as ra])idly 

 as possible, and to avoid any handling of the vines when wet with either dew or rain. 

 We find that it pays well to use a tedder for stirring up the freshly cut vines so as 

 to admit the sun and air freely, though if a tedder can not be had the work can be 

 done nearly as well, though more slowly, with a fork. 



Cowpeas may be planted at any time from May until August, either 

 broadcast or in drills. If the large growing varieties are planted in 

 hills early in the season, 4 quarts will plant an acre, while if dwarf 

 varieties are sown broadcast in August, 2 bushels should be used. 



CRAB-GRASS. 



Crab-grass is one of the volunteer grasses used largely for hay. It 

 is a universal growth in fields from which oats, wheat, and other early 

 crops have been harvested, and on rich soils will make a heavy yield of 



