COWPEAS 147 



The cowpea will respond to good tillage. A well- 

 fined, loose seed bed is the ideal one. Never plant 

 until the ground is warm. Sow broadcast or with 

 grain drill at the rate of one to two bushels to the 

 acre. If sown broadcast the seed bed should be well 

 prepared. When the seed is sown the land is well 

 harrowed with a disk or cutaway. If planted in 

 drills make rows about 28 inches apart, and cul- 

 tivate a few times. This not only hastens the 

 growth, but increases the yields considerably. The 

 saving of seed is also an item in planting in drills, 

 as only half as much seed is needed by this method. 



Cowpea Hay. In feeding value well-cured 

 cowpea hay is similar and about equal to alfalfa 

 and red clover hay. Curing of cowpea hay requires 

 especial care to avoid the dropping of the leaves, 

 which occurs if the vines are overripe when cut, 

 or if in curing they are too long exposed to sun- 

 shine. Cut just after the dew is off, turn the vines 

 several hours before sunset and put in windrows 

 or cocks toward the middle of the next day. Hay 

 caps are very useful in curing pea vines. German 

 millet has been satisfactorily used for the same 

 purpose with the early varieties of cowpeas, sowing I 

 bushel of the latter and I peck of the millet per acre. 



DURUM WHEAT. -The group of wheat that 

 furnishes the great bulk of macaroni paste. Until 

 recently these wheats were grown quite entirely 

 outside of the United States. The experiments 

 made in this country have been favorable to their 

 production and large areas are now annually given 

 over to the durum varieties. These wheats are 

 desired in this country because of the hard grain. 

 No wheat has such a hard, flinty character as the 

 durum. The plants are somewhat different from 



