4 8 7 



the seeds of some being closely crowded together, called "crowders," 

 and others with the seeds wide apart and the pods constricted 

 between each seed, called "kidney" peas. The bunch varieties are 

 the ones which are best adapted to growing for hay and ensilage, 

 while the runners and trailers are valuable for soiling purposes or for 

 turning under as green manure. The length of season required for 

 maturity also varies greatly, the bunch varieties, as a rule, requiring 

 only a very short season. The feeding value of cowpeas, either 

 green, fed as hay, or preserved as ensilage, is very high, being con- 

 siderably above that of red clover. Cowpeas require a deep, rich, 

 sandy loam, although, because of their strong root system, they are 

 adapted to grow upon almost any soil which is not too wet. The 

 ground should be \vell prepared and the seed should be sown until 

 the soil is thoroughly warmed. Cowpeas, by means of the tubercles 

 on the roots, gather large amounts of nitrogen from the air, and 

 also pump up large amounts of valuable mineral fertilizers from the 

 subsoil. When the stubble is ploughed under after the crop has 

 has been removed, these valuable fertilizing elements potash, 

 nitrogen, and phosphoric acid are left in the surface soil for the 

 use of succeeding crops. At the Rhode Island Experiment Station 

 the total crop of green vines per acre was 35,000 pounds, contain- 

 ing 157 pounds of nitrogen, 109^ pounds of potash, and 32*2 pounds 

 of phosphoric acid, and the additional quantity estimated to be 

 contained in the roots was 17! pounds nitrogen, 10 pounds of potash, 

 and 5*15 pounds phosphoric acid. The pecentages of fertilizers vary 

 greatly, according to the fertility, and to some extent according to 

 the variety grown. Experiments at southern stations have 

 unanimously proved that the best way to utilize fertilizers 

 so produced by a crop of cowpeas is to cut the vines 

 for hay, returning the manure to the fields. A common 

 practice is to plough under a crop at the end of the season, 

 or sometimes to permit it to remain on the ground through the 

 winter, both of which methods result in a loss of a very large 

 part of the value of a crop through leaching. The best method, if 

 the crop is turned under, is to at once plant a winter forage crop to 

 cover the surface of the ground and so prevent washing by the 

 winter rains. The cultivation of cowpeas has extended to California. 

 Some of the varieties having a short season may be grown in the 

 prairie region as far north as Iowa and Nebraska, and are there of 

 considerable value for dairying purposes, because of their resistance 

 to drought, furnishing on rich soil a palatable and nutritious food 

 during the hottest and driest summer months. 



Yucca haccata (Spanish bayonet ; bear grass). A perennial of 

 the lily family, with stout, woody trunk several feet high, crowned 

 at the top with a rosette of long sword-shaped leaves. Of no value 

 as a forage plant, except in seasons of drought, when cattle and 

 sheep on the ranges of Texas and Arizona, where it grows, eat the 

 leaves, perhaps as much for the water which they contain as the food 



