134 SOILING CROPS AND THE SILO. 



excellent results, but it can seldom be spared for the 

 crop of cowpeas. 



Sowing. Cowpeas are commonly sown with 

 the grain drill. If sown broadcast and covered with 

 the harrow, and rain should fall soon after the crop 

 has been sown, many of the peas will lie upon the 

 surface and will fail to sprout. When sown for 

 pasture, all the drill tubes are used in sowing the 

 seed, but when the land is measurably clean and the 

 other conditions are favorable, it may be advanta- 

 geous to sow only with alternate tubes. The same 

 mode of sowing is sometimes adopted when the crop 

 is sown for soiling uses or for the production of hay 

 or grain. But when ground is to be cleaned, or when 

 moisture is not abundant, the crop ought to be drilled 

 in rows far enough apart to admit of cultivation. 

 With the large varieties these rows may in some 

 instances be made as distant from one another as 

 thirty inches, and even thus far distant, the vines 

 will in time completely cover the ground. But the 

 distance between the rows must be measurably deter- 

 mined by the variety of the peas and convenience in 

 cultivating them. 



In growing this crop for soiling food, it will 

 oftentimes prove advantageous to sow the seed of 

 some other forage plant along with them, as, for 

 instance, millet, sorghum, or Kaffir corn. These 

 plants help to sustain the peas and consequently to 

 improve the quality of the vines and to increase the 

 quantity of the grain. Kaffir corn is very suitable 

 for being grown thus, owing to the stiff growth of 

 stem which it sends upward and to its power to 

 grow in dry weather. About ten pounds of seed 



