LEGUMINOUS CROl'S. "ili.", 



inches long, and easy to pick. One of its chief qualities is the even ripening 

 cf the pods, which necessitates fewer pickings than do many of the other 

 varieties. 



Poona is a very late-maturing variety, which does not mature its pods as 

 evenly as the Black, but which equals, if it does not excel it in the produc- 

 tion of green fodder. It is a distinctly upright-growing variety, thereby 

 facilitating harvesting and cultivation, till the pods begin to form and the 

 vines fall and block up the path between the rows. The seed is light brown 

 and very small, the pods being only 4 inches long. 



New Era is a medium early variety which produces a large bulk of green 

 fodder and a heavy yield of seed. It is medium upright to slightly recum- 

 bent in its habit of growth, and the pods are very long and straight. The 

 seeds are a bluish colour, marbled and dotted with brown. This is one of 

 the best varieties for sowing among early maize, for, owing to its earliness, 

 a quantity of seed can be picked before the heavy bulk of fodder is ploughed 

 in. 



Victor is the best of the new varieties. It is a little later maturing $ian 

 the New Era, and makes a very good growth of fodder. It is the only 

 variety of which seed is at present obtainable in the State and which is 

 resistant to the attacks of eelworm, a troublesome pest on the North Coast. 

 At Wollongbar Experiment Farm, in 1920, Victor easily surpassed all others. 

 The seed is fairly small, of a brownish colour, with dark-brown marblings 

 tinged with crimson. 



As a Green Manure. 



Cowpeas form a very valuable green-manure crop for orchard and general 

 farm work. Their deep-rooting and nitrogen-fixing propensities especially 

 adapt them for this purpose. A good deal of difficulty is experienced in 

 ploughing the vines in, and the use of the mouldboard plough is only 

 partially successful. It is the usual practice at Hawkesbury Agricultural 

 College to roll the crop first, and then, after running over it with a corn- 

 stalk chopper or disc cultivator, to plough it in with a single-furrow disc 

 plough. The crop should be ploughed soon after the pods are set. At a later 

 stage than this the stems become woody and are hard to deal with. If it is 

 desired to collect some seed for the next year's planting it would be more 

 satisfactory to allow certain rows to mature all their seed, rather than allow 

 the whole crop to mature to that stage when it is ready for the first picking. 



As a Fodder Crop. 



Ploughing cowpeas under in this manner is sometimes a very wasteful 

 practice. The crop has a very high feeding value, and if fed off on the 

 ground where it is grown at least 50 to 75 per cent, of the manurial value 

 will be returned, while the full feeding-value of the crop will also have been 

 obtained. 



The growth of such crops as maize, sorghum, and millets, with the ccwpea 

 is a very good practice. Such a mixture not only forms a better mixed 

 ration for stock, but also increases the total produce. 



The seeds of the legume and cereal are usually sown together in rows 2 

 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 6 inches apart, and there is a tendency for the cow- 

 peas to climb the upright-growing crops — more particularly the sorghum 

 and millet. These two crops can be broadcasted with cowpeas, and make a 



