PLANT FOOD 51 



When grown simply for soil fertilizing" purposes, 

 the crop should be plowed under in the fall ; it will 

 decompose before spring - and be in shape for feeding 

 the corn plants. When it is desirable to save the crop, 

 it can be cut with the mower, cured and the seed 

 threshed with an ordinary separator. Part of the 

 concaves and teeth should be removed and the machine 

 run slowly in order not to break or injure the seed. If 

 the seed is to be used for future planting, it should 

 be dried before storing away in a bin. Otherwise it 

 is likely to heat and the vitality be destroyed. 



Before planting the seed it is absolutely neces- 

 sary to test the germination or vitality of the seed. 

 Select samples of fifty seeds from ten representative 

 places in the seed bin and mix together. Take out 

 two hundred seeds and test in the germinator. Exper- 

 iments in growing corn on cowpea land prove that 

 cowpeas are very valuable soil fertilizers. This crop 

 is rapidly extending to all corn growing sections. By 

 drilling in cowpeas between the rows of corn after the 

 last cultivation a considerable growth can be secured 

 and the fertility of the soil increased. When cowpeas 

 are so seeded, they should be drilled in between the 

 rows of corn or sown broadcast at the time of laying 

 the corn by. These cowpeas generally will not mature, 

 but the fertility of the soil will be improved. 



Soy beans are grown by the same methods as 

 cowpeas. They seem to do fairly well in the winter 

 wheat section of the United States and southern 

 Canada. There are several varieties, the most common 

 of which are early yellow, medium and late soy beans. 

 The early yellow and the medium will mature in north- 

 ern United States, the late in the southern sections. 



This crop is frequently planted, as is the cowpea, 

 by drilling in with the corn planter. In this case large 



