124 



DESCRIPTION OF FEEDING STUFFS 



at the last cultivation, and will furnish a subsequent crop for green 

 manuring or hay. 14 



Cowpea (Vigna cutjang) is grown for both forage and seed. 

 The latter is used as a food for both. man and beast. The plant 

 reaches its highest development in the South, where it has been of 

 untold value in enriching poor soils and furnishing abundant green 

 and dry feed for farm animals. During the last decade experiments 

 have been conducted in many States with the view to determining 

 the value of the cowpea as a forage plant, and its cultivation has 

 extended considerably northward as a result. It has been found 

 to do well in the lower New England States, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, 

 Missouri, and Kansas; in the States east and south of those men- 

 tioned its agricultural value is fully established. The entire plant 

 has a high feeding value, and it is generally fed, seed and all, to 

 farm animals in the South. The Alabama station obtained an 

 average yield of about 3600 pounds of hay and 510 pounds of peas 

 in trials continued for three years. 15 A good quality of cowpea 

 hay possesses a similar value as alfalfa hay, and is nearly as valuable 

 as wheat bran, ton for ton; hence it is often used in rations for 

 dairy cows to take the place of a portion of the concentrates, as is 

 the case with alfalfa. In this way it is often possible to lower con- 

 siderably the cost of production of milk and butter fat. In a feed- 

 ing trial with dairy cows at Alabama station 16 a saving of 23 per 

 cent in the cost of the ration was thus effected by substituting cow- 

 pea hay for wheat bran. Experiments have shown that one-half 

 of the concentrates fed to cows or fattening steers may be replaced 

 by cowpea hay without decreasing the feeding value of the rations. 

 The chemical composition of the different parts of the cowpea plant 

 is shown in the following table : 



Composition of Parts of the Cowpea Plant, in Per Cent 



Cowpeas are often planted with either sorghum or Indian corn, 

 especially if the Indian corn is intended for silage; this makes a 



14 Farmers' Bulletin 515. 



16 Bulletin 118. 



16 Bulletin 123; Experiment Station Record 15, p. 72. 



