LEGUMES FOR SEED 251 



the most profitable returns. 1 Connecticut Storrs Station 2 also found after 

 twelve years' experience only mineral fertilizers could be profitably used in 

 growing the crop for forage or for green manure. 



The Alabama Station 3 conducted two experiments on the effect of lime on 

 cowpeas, using the variety Wonderful. The cowpeas were seeded with a drill, 

 fertilized with acid phosphate, and cultivated several times. In one test, on 

 reddish loam soil, the yield was 5.6 bushels of peas without lime, and 5.2 

 bushels where slaked lime at the rate of 640 pounds per acre had been ap- 

 plied broadcast in February of the preceding year. In the other test, on 

 gray sandy soil, water slaked lime at the rate of 1,000 pounds per acre of 

 unslaked lime was used as a top dressing on oats. The oat stubble was 

 plowed and seeded with a drill to cowpeas. On the plot not limed the yield 

 was 13 bushels of cowpeas per acre, while the limed plot yielded 10.2 bushels 

 per acre. There was no notable difference in the appearance of the vines. 



311. Time of Seeding. The time of seeding will vary with 

 the latitude, the variety, and the purpose for which the crop is 

 to be used. Where grown for seed, seeding should occur later 

 than for hay, since late planting tends to produce a more erect 

 habit and hence greater seed production. Early planting pro- 

 motes a luxuriant growth of vines. In the regions north of 

 the cotton belt, planting may occur after maize has been planted 

 or about the time of common field beans. In the cotton states, 

 planting may occur between April i and August 15, but May, 

 June, and the first half of July are the best months. For seed 

 production, June is the best month. 



The Delaware Station * planted cowpeas at intervals from May 18 to July 25. 

 The seedings of the latter part of June and of early July were the most 

 profitable. The Alabama Station planted New Era cowpeas (an early maturing 

 variety) on April 26, picked seeds July 22, planted these seeds July 26, which 

 produced a crop of seeds before frost, 90 per cent, of the pods being ripe 

 on November I. 5 Cowpeas sown in Arkansas in May, June, and July produced 

 twice a* much hay and three times the quantity of peas as when sown in 

 August. The Arkansas Station, however, believes it usually profitable in that 

 latitude to sow as late as August IS. 8 



1 Tennessee Sta. Bui. Vol. XIV. (1902), No. 1, p. 16. 



2 Connecticut Storrs Sta. Rpt. (1901), p. 138. 



3 Alabama Sta. Bui. No. 118 (1902), p. 20. 

 * Delaware Sta. Rpt. (1895), pp. 232-6. 



6 Alabama Sta. Bui. No. 118 (1902), p. 6. 

 Arkansas Sta. Bui. No. 70 (1901), p. 123. 



