388 



COTYLEDON 



COWPEA 



sessile, cuneate-obovate, thick, flattened, slightly con- 

 cave, cuspidate ; panicle branches long, scorpioid: fls. 

 large, 1 in. long, pendent ; calyx lobes short, broadly 

 ovate-acute ; corolla tube much longer than the calyx, yel- 

 low-green and dull red; corolla-lobes reflexed. S. Afr. 

 B.M. 5602. J.H. III. 29:443. 



orbiculata, Linn. Plant erect, 2-4 ft. high: Ivs. 

 opposite, flat, obovate-spatulate, obtuse, mucronate, 

 glaucous and mealy, with red margins : fls. large, reddish, 

 panicled. Fls. June-Sept. S. Afr. B.M. 321. R.H. 

 1857, p. 347. Grows well from cuttings. 



Hispanica, Linn. (Pistorinia Hispdnica, DC.). An- 

 nual or biennial, branched, 6 in. high, erect: Ivs. small, 

 nearly cylindrical, oblong, few, sessile : fls. erect, in 

 cymes, reddish; corolla trumpet-shaped, lobes spread- 

 ing. Spain, Morocco. R.H. 1895, p. 472. 



AAA. Lvs. crowded at the ends of the branches. 

 reticulata, Thunb. Stems much-branched, fleshy : 

 Ivs. few at the ends of the branches, cylindrical, acute, 

 /erect, fleshy, soft, smooth: fls. in an erect, dichotomous 

 panicle. The wiry fl. -stalks remain on the plant and give 

 it the appearance of being enclosed in a network. G.C. 

 :IIL 21:282. 



gibbifldra, Moc. (Echeveria gibbi flora,, DC.). Stems 

 1-2 ft. high: Ivs. flat, wedge-shaped, acutely mucronate, 



crowded at the ends of the branches: fls. short-petioled : 

 panicle branches 1-sided, spreading; corolla gibbous at 

 the base between the calyx lobes, the tube white, the 



: tips touched with crimson. Mex. B.R. 1247. 



Var. metallica, Hort. (Echeveria metallica, Hort.). 

 Lvs. large, obovate-spatulate, 6 in. wide by 7 in, long, a 

 beautiful glaucous purple with metallic reflections: fls. 



; yellowish with red tips. Mex. Saunders' Ref. Bot. 65. 



- An excellent bedding plant. 



The following are doubtful species : Echeveria Mexicdna, 

 '. Hort. Stems 8-12 in. high : fls. pink and yellow. Blooms in 

 'Tex. all winter. Beautiful for borders. Echeveria superba, 

 -Hort. Annual, with yellow fls., used for carpet-bedding. 



<7. atropurpurea, Baker (E. sanguinea, Hort.), and C. re- 

 *Aa, Baker, have been catalogued in this country. The former 

 lias red fls. and dark purple spotted Ivs.; the latter has yellow- 

 ish fls. and glaucous green more or less retuse Ivs. 



JARED G. SMITH. 



COUCH GBASS. Agropyrum repens. 



COVER-CROPS. The use of Cover-crops in orchard- 

 ing marks a specific advance brought about by changed 

 soil conditions. The term is less than 10 years old, hav- 

 ing been first applied in this connection by Bailey, in 

 Bulletin 61, Cornell (N. Y.) Experiment Station, p. 333, 

 December, 1893, though Cover-crops were used previous 

 to that date. In the early days of orcharding in this 

 country, the soil, rich in humus and undepleted of its 

 natural resources, gave satisfactory crops of fruit with 

 trees growing in sod. As time went on, the waning 

 vigor of the trees was stimulated by breaking up the 

 sod, adding barnyard manure to the soil and giving 

 thorough cultivation throughout the season. This sys- 

 tem gave unsatisfactory results in many instances, par- 

 ticularly in the north, as it appeared to prevent the 

 trees from ripening their wood sufficiently to enable 

 them to endure the winters without frost-injury to the 

 tips; root-killing was also noted as being occasionally 

 severe on soils uncovered with vegetation during the 

 winter. About this time the value of the members of 

 the pea and bean tribe, as enrichers of the soil, became 

 recognized more fully than formerly through the dis- 

 covery of the nitrogen-collecting agents housed in the 

 nodules borne by the- roots of legumes. The best or- 

 chard practice of the present day, whether in the peach- 

 growing areas of the south or the apple districts of 

 the north, consists in giving the most thorough culti- 

 vation possible during the wood-producing period of 

 the year, that is, till about the time the fruit trees' 

 terminal buds are formed, then seeding this thoroughly 

 pulverized surface with a suitable Cover-crop, which 

 is plowed under early the following spring. 



Cover- cropping is the raising of a crop in the orchard 

 after cultivation should cease (about midsummer), that 

 Will protect the roots of the trees by preventing alternate 

 freezing and thawing and deep freezing of the ground ; 



that will add something to the fertility of the soil when 

 turned under in spring; that will improve the physical 

 condition of the soil ; that will occupy the ground to the 

 exclusion of weeds. In the south the considerations are 

 practically identical, except that the contingency of 

 root injury from frost is not weighed. 



There are two classes of Cover-crops: the nitrogenous 

 and the non-nitrogenous. Of the latter, rye, buck- 

 wheat, oats, millet, corn (maize), rape and turnips are 

 principally used. These plants should be sown much later 

 in the season than the clovers, cowpeas or most nitrogen- 

 ous covers. They are valuable where the soil is hard and 

 tough in texture, as advance agents of the legumes which 

 may be used when an improved physical condition is se- 

 cured. Buckwheat is particularly useful in ameliorat- 

 ing hard soils. It should not be sown early enough to 

 allow seed to form before frost. These add compara- 

 tively little nitrogen to the soil. Among nitrogenous 

 Cover-crops, crimson clover, red clover, cowpeas, soy 

 beans, field pea, and vetch are the most prominent. In 

 the south, crimson clover and cowpea (of which there 

 are many varieties) are much in vogue. Cowpeas are un- 

 satisfactory, however, north of the peach belt, owing to 

 their sensitiveness to light autumn frosts. In apple- 

 growing sections where the soil is mellow, red clover 

 does well. A mixture of crimson clover and oats is used 

 in peach sections in Michigan with success ; 12 quarts 

 of the former to 3 pecks of the latter per acre are sown 

 about the middle of August. The Geneva Experiment 

 Station recommends a mixture of % bushel of buck- 

 wheat to 1 bushel of field peas per acre for clay soils. 



The question of what Cover-crops to use is best deter- 

 mined by an examination of the character of the soil, 

 and the condition of the orchard trees. If the trees are 

 growing slowly on mellow and friable soil, it will prob- 

 ably be advisable to use a nitrogenous Cover-crop. If, 

 on the other hand, the trees are making a luxuriant 

 growth, and the soil is of the heavy order, a member of 

 the non -nitrogenous group should be tried. 

 Kinds of Cover-crops. 



1. Non-nitrogenous 



a. Rye, two bushels per acre. 



b. Buckwheat, /^ bushel per acre. 



c. Oats, 2% bushels per acre. 



d. Corn, broadcast 1 bushel per acre. 



e. Rape or turnips, 3 pounds per acre. 



2. Nitrogenous 



a. Crimson clover, 16 pounds per acre. 



b. Red clover, 14 pounds per acre. 



c. Sand vetch, 1% bushels per acre. 



d. Soy beans, 2 bushels per acre. 



e. Cowpeas, 2 bushels per acre. 



/. Field peas, 1% bushels per acre. 



3. Mixtures of Nos. 1 and 2 



a. Buckwheat, l/^ bushels per acre. 

 Field peas, 1 bushel per acre. 



b. Crimson clover, 12 pounds per acre. 

 Oats, three pecks per acre. 



c. Oats, 1 bushel per acre. 

 Vetch, 1 bushel per acre. 



JOHN CRAIG. 



COWBERRY. Usually means Vaccinium Vitis-Idcea. 

 In parts of Scotland, Comarum palustre. 



COW-HERB. Saponaria Vaccaria; not cult. 



COWPEA. Fig. 567. The American name for Vigna 

 Cdtjang, Walp. ( V. Sinensis Endl.),one of the Legu- 

 minossB allied to Dolichos and Phaseolus. From Phaseo- 

 lus (the common bean), Vigna differs in not having a 

 spiral keel, style hairy above, stigma oblique or in- 

 trorse, and other minor technical characters- In other 

 than American literature, the Cowpea is known as China 

 Bean and Black-Eyed bean. In the S. it is commonly 

 known as Black Pea. Botanically it is a bean rather 

 than a pea. The Cowpea is a rambling, tender annual, 

 native to China and Japan. In this country it is exten- 

 sively grown in the southern states, as a hay crop. It 

 is also invaluable as a green-manure crop (see Cover- 

 crop). It is to the south what clover is to the north 

 and Alfalfa is to the west. It is sown broadcast after 

 the manner of field peas. From 3 to 5 pecks of seed are 

 used per acre. See Cowpeas, Farmers' Bull. 89, Dept. 

 of Agric., by Jared G, Smith, L H B 





