MG 



ton, all lVrtiliz(Hl alike with acid i)]i<>si)li;Lle and kaiuit. 

 The i-owpeas and velvet beans were planted thickly in 

 drills, iisin<; per acre 112 iMtunds ol" cowpeas and 120 

 pounds of velvet beans. The variety of cow^K^as used 

 wmis the Unknown or Wonderful. Both cowpeiis and 

 velvet l)(\nis were pickinl and removed from the field, 

 thouiih the hitter did not fuUv mature. The vines Avere 

 turned under in March, 1891), and all plots were planted 

 to cotton; each plot of cotton was fertilized at the rate 

 of 240 pounds of acid phosphate and DO pounds of kaiuit 



per acre. 



The yield of seed cotton per acre in 1899 was 1,533 

 pounds followini*- cowpeas, 1,373 pounds following velvet 

 beans, and 837 pounds following cotton. 



These figures show that the increased yield of seed 

 cotton attributable to manuring with cowpea vines was 

 G9() pounds per acre; the gain apparently due to the 

 fertilization with velvet beans was 546 pounds per acre. 

 In percentages the increase is S3 and 61 per cent., re- 

 spectively. Valuing seed cotton at 2^ cents per pound 

 (wluch is equivalent to 6^ cents per pound of lint and 

 $7.50 per ton of seed), the gain with cowpeas and velvet 

 beans is worth, respectively, $17.40 and $13.65 per acre. 



Surely it was more profitable to grow cotton every 

 alternate year at the rate of a bale per acre than to 

 grow continuous cotton crops of about one-half bale per 

 acre. Additional proof of this is found in the fact that 

 one of these plots afforded in 1898 a yield of 18^ bushels 

 of cowpeas per acre, besides increasing the cotton crop 

 of the following year to the extent of $17.40 per acre. 



