14 THE COW PEA. 



ally speaking, the cow pea is not at its best on heavy soils ; 

 and deep ploughing is not so essential on light soils ; still, no 

 matter what the nature of the soil, the work of preparing it 

 for this crop needs to be intelligent and thorough. Plough- 

 ing must never be so deep that the undersoil in any quantity 

 is turned up over the top soil, and, if the plough has been 

 habitually worked shallow, this will be avoided by using 

 the subsoil plough. On stubble ground or on old corn land, 

 in light soils, a disc harrow is usually the only implement 

 needed, and has the advantage of rapid working, but shal- 

 low ploughing or any other means by which the surface is 

 thoroughly loosened and then worked down fine and smooth 

 is sufficient. 



The seed germinates quickly on land well prepared 

 before planting; the young plants make a stronger start; the 

 whole crop grows uniformly and matures at the same time ; 

 the work and waste of harvesting are less and the yield larger. 



It is on the principle that the plant under favorable 

 soil conditions furnishes its own nitrogen as fast as needed, 

 and practically on this fact, depends the whole economy of 

 the crop. Rarely, indeed, would it pay to grow cow peas if 

 the nitrogen needed for their growth had to be supplied by 

 purchased fertilizer. In this connection, and in a measure 

 supplementing what has just been stated, it is noteworthy 

 that, while the cow pea responds readily to good culture, no 

 other legume will do as well with a hurried or imperfect 

 working of the soil. Frequently old pastures, " thin spots " 

 and waste fields have gone out of cultivation because it 



