III. CULTURE, FERTILIZATION, AND USES OF THE COWPEA. 



Preparation and Cultivation.— The cowpea will thrive under very 

 unfavorable conditions of soil and prej^aration, except where the 

 land is wet and cold. Where peas follow grain or other crops it is 

 practically impossible in many cases to break and prepare the land 

 well, on account of season and pressure of other work, and under 

 these conditions they should be put in in the best way possible and 

 will usually pay well for the expenditure, even urider unfavorable 

 conditions. While the above is true, there is no plant that delights 

 more in a thoroughly broken and well-prepared soil or that returns 

 greater profits for the expense and time in putting the soil in good 

 condition before planting. 



The cowpea and other leguminous plants are of more value for 

 soil improvement than plants not belonging to this class, because 

 they are able, through the bacteria that live on and in nodules on 

 their roots, to gather a portion or all of their nitrogen from the 

 air and use it in their growth. This nitrogen is taken from the air, 

 which circulates in the soil and which comes in contact with the 

 roots of the plant. The more deeply and thoroughly the soil is 

 prepared the greater will be the root development of the cowpea 

 or other plant, and the more air will circulate in the soil, thus en- 

 abling the crop to make a greater growth and accumulate more 

 nitrogen for its own use and for the use of crops of corn, cotton, 

 and grains which follow. 



Peas may be planted broadcast or drilled with a grain drill, 

 when one bushel per acre is a good quantity of seed ; or they may 

 be put out in rows 2^ to 3% feet apart, when one-half bushel per 

 acre will give good results. When planted in rows peas should be 

 cultivated two to three times with weeder, harrow, or cultivator. 

 The extra growth of crop and increase of nitrogen gathered from the 

 air give profitable returns for the cultivation. 



The size of seed of the different varieties of peas vary, some 

 being twice as large as others, and it is not necessary to 'use so 

 large a quantity of the small as of the large seeded kinds. The fol- 

 lowing table gives the results of three years' test of different quan- 

 tities of seed in 31/3-foot rows, the variety used being the New Era, 

 the seed of which are small. These results show one-half bushel in 

 rows of the above width to be a good seeding. 



Fertilization. — As the cowpea is able to get a portion of its nitro- 

 gen from the air, it is not necessary on soils in fair to good condition 

 to supply this constituent in fertilizers for this crop. Our experi- 

 ments presented in this report confirm this view. Other experi- 



