HARVESTING COWPEAS 371 



swath. In wet weather, frames are sometimes used to raise 

 the hay off the ground, and admit air to all parts of the cock. 

 After the hay is cured, it may be stacked or put in the mow 

 in the same manner as other hay. 



491. Harvesting the Seed Crop. The best crops of cow- 

 pea seed are produced when the plants are grown in rows 

 and cultivated. The crop should not be harvested till two 

 thirds or more of the pods arc fully ripe. The pods may 

 be picked by hand, or the entire plant may be harvested 

 by cutting with a self-rake reaper, a beam harvester, or an 

 ordinary mower with or without a buncher attachment. In 

 any case, the pods and vines should be thoroughly dry be- 

 fore they are threshed. If the vines are harvested, the use 

 of racks for drying is quite generally advisable to prevent 

 the peas from molding in the cocks. After the vines are 

 cured, they may be put in the mow or stack and threshed 

 out as desired. The threshing may be done with a flail, 

 with the ordinaiy threshing machine with part of the con- 

 caves removed, or with a special pea thresher. 



492. Cowpeas as Feed for Stock. Cowpea hay may be 

 fed to all classes of stock, but is particularly good for feeding 

 to dairy cows, sheep, and hogs. It makes an excellent addi- 

 tion to the ration for beef cattle, and is also largely fed to 

 horses in some districts. The hay, particularly if it contains 

 a fair percentage of seed, is very rich in protein, and contains 

 a good supply of the other food constituents. The straw 

 from the production of cowpea seed is less valuable than cow- 

 pea hay, since it contains fewer leaves, practically no seeds, 

 and the vines are coarser and less palatable. It does con- 

 tain considerable nutriment, however, and, when fed with 

 other material, makes good roughage. The seeds of cow- 

 peas are usually too high m price to be fed with profit, but 

 they are an excellent feed for stock of all kinds, including 

 poultry. The cowpea plant makes very good pasture, though 

 better results are usually obtained from other uses. A 



