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COLD STORAGE FOR COWPEAS.'^ 



By J. W. T. DuvEL. i^eed Lahoratori/, Bureau of Phtnf Industry. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The value of cowpeas for the improvement of the soil as well as 

 for forage has long been recognized. In recent years the area on 

 which cowpeas are grown has been greatly extended. With the in- 

 creased acreage there has been a more widespread distribution of the 

 weevils destructive to cowpeas. Large quantities of seed are destroj^ed 

 annually in this way, entailing a great loss to seedsmen. 



Carefully conducted experiments, extending over a period of nearly 

 two years, have shown that cowpeas can be kept free from weevils if 

 stored at a temperature of 32° to 84° F. It is understood that this 

 method is practiced to a limited extent by a few seedsmen, who find it 



Fig. 1 



-a. BQichiis ohtcctus; J), B.^ cJiinamis ; c, B. QuadrimacuU ilus — all much enlarged 

 "~ fafter'ciiittenden). 



far more satisfactory than the niethods of fumigation which have 

 been so generally used. 



WEEVILS INFESTING COWPEAS.^ 



There are three kinds of weevils which do considerable damage to 

 cowpeas during storage — the common bean Aveevil {Bruchus obteetus 

 Say), the cowpea weevil {Brvchis chinensis Linn.), and the four- 

 spotted bean weevil {Brvrlvis quadrhnaculatus Fab.). The adult 

 beetle of each of these species is shown in figure 17, a, J), and c. The 



o What is here said concerning tlie storage of cowpeas applies equally well to 

 garden peas and beans, and presumably to other seeds of a shnilar character 

 which are attacked by weevils. 



6 The notes on the ravages and life history of these weevils are based on Dr. 

 F. H. Chittenden's " Insects injurious to beans and peas," Yearbook United 

 States Department of Agricultuns for 1 898, pp. 233-260. Figure 17 is taken from 

 the same paper. 



o,s7.39_Xo. .54—05 m- 



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