FIELD CROPS. 865 



of hay per acre, and on 8 of these either no ripe peas or only a small (inantity was 

 l)ro(luced. The hi<j;hest yield of hay for this season, 8,750 lbs. per acre, is recorded for 

 Clay, and the lowest, 750 lbs. per acre, for New Era and Extra lOarly Black Eye. The 

 yields of shelled peas were 2.9 bushels and l,'.i'.>7 and 1,025 ll)s. per acre, respectively. 

 Since 1898 over 550 plats, includinja; about 50 vai'ieties, have been cut for hay. It 

 was found that young or vigorously growing vines are always difficult to cure, while 

 mature vines are cured much more rapidly. Varieties producing few or no peas are 

 the most difficult to cure because they continue to grow until checked by frost. Late 

 shallow cultivation prolongs the period of growth and the author recommends that 

 cultivation should cease when the first pods appear, if the crop is grown for hay. 

 Vines bearing a fair or full crop of peas well ripening together are easily cured when 

 about one-fourth of the peas are ripe and no second growth is taking place, while if 

 the peas ripen through a i)roU)nged period the plants contimie in vigorous growth 

 and are difficult to cure unless the weather is most favorable. 



Cowpea seed of the same varieties but obtained from different sources showed 

 great variations in the yield of hay. At the station. Clay cowpeas from Virginia and 

 Arkansas-grown seed in adjoining plats yielded 3,800 and 8,700 lbs. of hay per acre, 

 respectively. Black Eye from Indiana produced 800 lbs., and the same variety from 

 North Carolina 4,000 lbs. of hay per acre. New Era from Maryland seed yielded 

 700 lbs. of hay and 22 bu. of peas, and from home-grown seed 1,900 lbs. of hay and 

 19 bu. of peas per acre. Yields of hay for all varieties and seed from different sources 

 are tabulated, and reference is made to previous work along this line (E. S. R., 15, 

 p. 666) . 



In another experiment cowpeas were mown at different stages of growth to observe 

 the effect of the degree of maturity on the curing of the vines for hay. The varieties 

 under test ripened their first pods as follows: Warren New Hybrid August 15, 

 Warren Extra Early August 20, Whip-poor-will August 28, Taylor September 8, and 

 Clay September 14. The first mowing, made when the varieties were forming 

 their first pods, proved unsuccessful for haymaking. The second mowing, made 

 when the first pods ripened, gave good hay from Warren New Hybrid and Warren 

 Extra Early. The first and second mowings of Clay and Taylor were failures, but 

 good hay was produced from Taylor mown when half or all of tlie pods were ripe. 

 The lunnber of days from sowing until the first ripe pods appeared was as follows: 

 Warren New Hybrid 67, Warren Extra Early 72, Whip-poor-will 80, Taylor 90, and 

 Clay 97 days. Clay is a late grower and did not prove to be a very successful variety 

 for hay. 



In 1908, 12 varieties were planted on May 13 and July 8, and both varieties were 

 mown at the same time. Of the different varieties New Era, Black Eye, and Warren 

 P^xtra Early ripened a full crop of peas and the vines cured well. Brown Eye, Cali- 

 fornia Black Eye, Large Black Eye, and Whip-poor-will ripened a fair quantity of 

 pods and the vines cured into very good hay; while Brown Crowder, Clay Crowder, 

 Conch, Lady, and Red Ripper were in vigorous growth with only a few ripe pods 

 when mown, and produced a very inferior hay. 



The results of four years' experiments with Whip-poor-will cowpeas show that the 

 quantities of seed i)roducing the largest yields of hay wen- in no case bi'low 12.5 lbs. 

 nor above 25 lbs. per acre, the average being about 16 lbs. Varying with 6 varie- 

 ties in 1903, using from 6.25 to 100 lbs. per acre, the highest average yield of hay was 

 produced from 25 lbs. of seed. Whip-poor-will in this test produced the lieaviest 

 yield from 12.5 lbs. per acre, Taylor from 100, and Warren New Hybrid from 25 and 

 from 75 lbs. From 100 lbs. of seed Taylor yielded only 350 lbs. of liay more than 

 from 37.5 lbs. The best yields of shelled peas were secured from not less than 12.5 

 nor more than 37.5 lbs. of seed per acre. Directions for harvesting and curing cow- 

 pea hay are given. 



Observations on potato culture, A. Carue (Prog. A(jr. ft Vit. {Kd. J' KM), 25 

 {1904), No. 8, pp. 235-342).— The culture of the potato in France is discussed, sta- 



