Nu. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 277 



i-ipcued ill Wisconsin and Micliij^an, There is no doubt that the 

 cow pea, like Indian corn, has a gi-eat capacity for gradually ac- 

 climatizing as it is brought slowly north. Years ago we sent to 

 the Delaware Station a great many varieties of peas. Among them 

 was one known in the south as the "Unknown" and "Quadroon," 

 and recently renamed the "Wonderful."' This is one of our latest 

 peas, and when brought to Delaware it rip<med very few peas, but 

 since then Dr. Neal has told me that it regularly ripens a full crop. 

 Several years ago 1 had a letter from a farmer in Iowa. He said 

 that he moved there from Southern Missouri, where he had been 

 accustomed to the Black Eye pea as a table vegetable, and thought 

 he would try them in Iowa. He got some seed from Missouri and 

 planted a row in the warmest part of his garden. Of the whole 

 row but one plant matured three pods. These he saved and the 

 next summer planted in the garden and every plant ripened a crop, 

 showing that it was getting acclimated. The following summer he 

 planted three rows along side his corn field. That summer there 

 was a severe drought and the hot winds nearly destroyed the corn 

 crop. A neighboring stockman came over to his house one day 

 to condole over the loss of the corn crop, and he showed him the 

 rows of peas growing rankly and of a dark green color. His neigh- 

 bor begged him to save every seed, for, said he, "that plant will be 

 the salvation of this country in a drought." In Kansas, further 

 south, the crop is being grown with great success and is highly es- 

 teemed. These localities, though north of Pennsylvania, with the 

 exception of Kansas, have dilferent soil and climatic conditions. In 

 the eastern part of the Middle states the mountain sections come 

 in with a climate verj- different from the lower country, and condi- 

 tions less favorable to plants that need hot summer nights. But 

 it is evident that in such locations in the Middle states, where the 

 soil is light and warm, and the nights are hot enough to give corn 

 lis best condition, the southern pea can be grown with success as 

 a forage crop. The investigations of scientists have shown that 

 the nitrogen-fixing power of the legumes is in direct proportion 

 to the amount of available nitrogen in a combined state in the soil, 

 and that where the soil has a large store of available nitrogen these 

 plants will not go through the more difficult method of getting 

 it from the air. In other words, it would seem that the nitrogen- 

 fixing is better done in a soil very poor in nitrogen. But in such a 

 soil it is difficult to get clover to grow at all. And here comes in 

 «n advantage of the cow pea in the fact that it Avill grow in a soil 

 far poorer than clover Avili. From various sections we hear that it 

 is increasingly difficult to get a stand of clover as they once did. 

 In such cases the cow pea stands ready to help. It has been shown 

 that acidity in the soil is detrimental to the growth of clover be- 



