200 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



touched until the surface is well dried, and are then ted- 

 dered as though freshly cut. We find the only safe plan is 

 to put the vines in a stack covered with straw for a few 

 weeks, or, still better, in the barn, where they should not 

 be piled too deep. After a month the hay may be baled 

 with safety if it appears then to be well dried out. 



Harvesting Cowpea Seed. Commonly the seed is 

 picked by hand as the pods ripen, negro women usually 

 doing the work. This is a rather slow and costly method. 

 The vines may be cut and threshed with a special pea 

 thresher. After being threshed the haulm is readily eat- 

 en by stock. The use of this machine should make cow- 

 pea seed cheaper, the chief difficulty in using the plant 

 having been the cost of seed. 



Cowpeas in Corn. Cowpeas are commonly planted in 

 corn at the time of the last cultivation. They may be 

 sown broadcast or put in with a drill. In the South there 

 may be much growth during and after the ripening of the 

 corn, and a notable gain in fertility. The peas may be 

 harvested or fed off by pigs or other animals or all the 

 growth left to enrich the soil. The peas may be drilled at 

 the time the corn is planted, or soon after. Thus planted 

 they may make too much growth for the best develop- 

 ment of the corn, though some experimenters believe that 

 the corn is fed with nitrogen directly from the associa- 

 tion of the peas. The mass of corn and peas may be put 

 into the silo. Commonly, soybeans planted with corn 

 give better results for the silo. 



The Cowpea as a Soil Enricher. The cowpea is to 

 the South what clover is to the North and alfalfa to 

 the West. It is a stepping-stone to sufficient fertility 



