26 THE COW PEA. 



bushel per acre should be used. In the north five pecks 

 are suggested. When put in drills these should be 2 to 3 J 

 feet apart, and the sowing may be done with an ordinary 

 corn drill. A wheat drill can also be used to advantage by 

 plugging or tying up the holes so as to make the rows 3^ 

 feet apart. This will require about three pecks of seed per 

 acre. When neither a corn drill nor a grain drill is available 

 the planting may be done by hand, scattering the seed in 

 previously opened furrows, and covering by hand or by any 

 convenient implement. The covering should be from i to 

 2 inches deep ; on very light soils 3 inches does no harm, 

 in a dry season or in naturally loose, dry land, deep planting 

 is advisable. When seed is cheap and labor scarce broad- 

 casting is usually the better plan; but when seed is dear 

 and labor cheap and abundant, drilling pays better. In 

 whatever way the planting be done the ground should be 

 left level and smooth, especially if the crop is to be cut for 

 hay. In the south where crab grass is abundant, its 

 growth is liable to choke out the young peas and check their 

 development in a wet season a point which should be given 

 careful consideration in the choice between broadcasting 

 and drilling. 



CULTIVATION* 



When sown in drills, peas should be cultivated two or 

 three times to keep down weeds and mellow the soil until 

 the vines are large enough to shade the ground. The first 

 cultivation should be given with a smoothing harrow or 

 weeder just as the peas are coming up, and the after-culti- 



