48 The Bulletin. 



past few years. The greatest drawback to growing them is the cow pea 

 wilt, a disease that will live for years iu the soil and for which there is 

 yet no known remedy, except a long crop rotation in which cow peas nor 

 beans of any kind should be grown. Even then it might require sev- 

 eral years for the disease to die out of the soil. 



Wilt is a soil disease and attacks the pea at any time from germina- 

 tion up to its full growth, but usually when they are from four inches 

 to a foot high. The leaves begin to droop, turn yellow and fall off, and 

 the plants die. Where the wilt exists the only way to grow cow peas 

 is to plant wilt-resisting varieties, the best of which are the Iron and 

 Brabham varieties. 



Another great drawback is the manner of harvesting them for seed. 

 The usual custom is to hand-pick, which is very slow, but about the 

 surest of any way yet tried. There have been several pea harvesters 

 put on the market, but I do not know that any of them have proven a 

 success under all conditions. Where the peas are of the bunch varietv 

 and stand up in good shape, the harvester will gather them all right, 

 but when they sprawl all over the ground I know of nothing but the 

 hand picker that will get them clean. Until some means of gathering 

 them cheaply is broughl nut we may continue to expect high priced peas. 



Fig. 31. — Method of curing cowpea hay, near Goldsboro, N. C. 



Original. Photo, by J. M. Gray. 



Pea Vine Hay. 



For hay making the more erect varieties are easiest handled. Cut- 

 ting the long vined trailing varieties for hay is a job. For that reason 

 I prefer the erect or semi-erect varieties for this purpose. 



In making pea vine hay 'it will be well for farmers who have been 

 making it for some years and who have succeeded with their method* 



