FOR BETTER CROPS IN THE SOUTH 59 



though it makes fine grazing. When wanted for hay, it is 

 usually sown with winter oats, the oats being sown in September 

 or October and grazed through the winter. About February 

 the field is harrowed and the lespedeza seed is sown at the rate of 

 half a bushel per acre; the oats are harvested in May, after 

 which the lespedeza makes a vigorous growth and is ready for 

 cutting in October. Though it re-seeds the ground so freely it 

 never becomes a troublesome weed, as it is killed by a single 

 plowing at any time before the seed ripens. 



Gowpeas — As said before, temporary hay fields are more 

 common in the South than are permanent meadows, as the grow- 

 ing season is so long that it is often possible to secure a good hay 

 crop when the field is not needed for other crops. The most 

 important of these annual hay crops is thecowpea, some varieties 



Cowpeas ready for the thresher 



of which will make a good yield of hay during any two months 

 of warm weather, while other varieties may be used to occupy 

 the ground through the entire season. All varieties will mature 

 if sown after oats or other early crops have been harvested, and 

 all mature so early that the land may be used for the fall sowing 

 of wheat, oats, alfalfa, or other winter-growing crops. A large 

 part of the crop is grown in cornfields, the seed being planted 

 when the corn is being given its last cultivation. The peas do 

 not interfere with the growth of the corn, and after the corn is 

 gathered a good crop of hay is secured which has cost nothing 

 but for the planting and gathering. Of course this hay is mixed 

 with the cornstalks and the weeds which may have grown since 

 cultivation ceased, and is rough and coarse, but of high quality, 

 and makes one of the best of feeds. Mules fed on this hay, with 

 no grain feed, go through the winter in fine condition, and there 



