CHAPTER XIV. 



Cow Peas and other Vegetables. 



EGG-PLANTS and sweet peppers should be treated just 

 as tomatoes, and like them, must, in this section, be 

 protected from the ravages of the Spanish fly by Paris 

 green, Uii'T'tJ ' \ .-'_..' r M t - 1 rr * v *' \ ; , A itc 1. Snap 

 beans are also a good crop generally, both spring and fall, but 

 as the rabbits are very fond of their leaves, the vines must be 

 lightly sprayed with water that has had a small quantity of 

 coal or gas tar mixed with it, and then strained out. A rab- 

 bit will touch nothing that has a trace of that smell about it. 

 It is almost useless here to sow beans before the first of 

 March, if then, as the spring winds whip the vines to pieces. 

 Green peas are nearly always hardy through the winter, espe- 

 cially if not in bearing when a freeze comes. Their main 

 enemy is the black-bird, who is particularly fond of them, and 

 must be driven off with a gun. Beets, carrots, spinach and 

 other vegetables are so well understood that comment is not 

 necessary. 



A book treating of crops for the South and soil improve- 

 ment would be incomplete without a full mention of that 

 wonderful plant, the southern cow pea. An experience of 

 many years' use has convinced me and all who have tried it 

 of its great value. Every waste place on the farm or in the 

 garden which needs enriching should every season be covered 

 with its luxuriant foliage and penetrated by its deep, far-reach- 

 ing roots. The old idea was to plow the vines under green, 

 and I practised it for several years, but soon found out that it 

 was a much better plan to let them mature and die on the 

 ground, and then turn them under in the fall. Such treat- 

 ment will nearly always cure the dead or alkali spots, as well 

 as those where plants turn yellow, that occur at intervals, 

 particularly in the coast country of Texas. The penetrating 



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