COWPEAS. 15 



a o;oo(l crop will carrv 25 head of lOO-pouiul pi<rs nearly all suniuier. 

 Generally spealcin«>-, it is used only to till in during dry, hot weather 

 when alfalfa is at a standstill. 



fOWPKAS. 



Cowpeas are just l)eo:inning- to be recognized in this section as hav- 

 ing great feeding and fertilizing value. They do much toward restor- 

 ing the fertility of the soil, and some farmers are making use of the 

 vines as a forage crop for their hogs. "Wherever they have been tried 

 the farmers are enthusiastic in their praise of them. Xot enough data 

 have been obtained cm pasturing to be able to say how many head of 

 hogs cowpeas will sui)port i)er acre; but in a comparison of their feed- 

 ing value with corn for hogs the results obtained by the South Caro- 

 lina Experiment Station show their importance. In this test 6.02 

 pounds of corn and 4.91 pounds of cowpeas were necessary to produce 

 a pound of pork. One farmer in Oklahoma reported that his hogs 

 preferred the cowpea hay to alfalfa hay. All kinds of stock are fond 

 of the hay and do well on it. 



The value of cowpeas as a forage crop lies in the fact that they fur- 

 nish a food on which the hogs make good gains. The plants Avill 

 make a good growth on rather poor soil and furnish feed during late 

 summer and fall when other green crops may be short. They also 

 bring the soil into a more productive state, the same as clover or 

 alfalfa. 



If cowpeas are planted in May they will make late summer pasture. 

 The best pasture is obtained after the peas are formed and well grown, 

 as the peas are very nutritious and cause the hogs to gain in flesh 

 rapidly. 



In this same latitude in the higher altitudes, as in the San Luis Val- 

 ley in southern Colorado, where it is too cold for corn, the farmers 

 have found the Canadian field pea a very profitable crop for forage 

 both for sheep and hogs. A large acreage of these peas is put in each 

 year, the peas being sometimes sown alone, but more frequently' with 

 oats or barley. The seeding is done in April or early in May, and the 

 crop can be pastured by midsummer. The best season for pasturing 

 however, is later, when the peas have formed, the stock being allowed 

 to harvest the crop. Hogs make a very thorough harvesting, clean- 

 ing up the peas and the vines quite thoroughly. What vines are left 

 on the ground, together Avith the manure, enrich the soil and add more 

 humus to it. In addition to this the labor of harvesting is saved. 

 Some fields, of course, are harvested for hay and make excellent win- 

 ter forage for cattle, horses, and sheep. The hogs raised in this valley 

 receive no corn. They go on the market as bacon hogs and top the 

 market in competition with corn-fed hogs. These hogs usually get no 



. Ill— IV 



