LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I33 



after any g-arden or field crop that has been har- 

 vested early, as potatoes, for instance. When soils 

 are much worn a crop of cowpeas turned under after 

 rye will bring speedy renovation to the land. And 

 if the peas should be pastured off upon the land, the 

 soil would still be left almost as rich as though the 

 entire crop had been buried. Hence it is that the 

 growing of cowpeas for soil renovation and pas- 

 turing them ofif may go hand in hand. And since, 

 owing to the long season of open weather in the 

 south, two crops can oftentimes be grown in suc- 

 cession in one season for renovating the land, two 

 can also be grown in one season for pasture. 



Soil. — Cowpeas will grow better on a rich soil 

 than on a soil that is poor. But in soils that are 

 overrich, they will produce an excess of vine in pro- 

 portion to the fruit which they bear. Notwithstand- 

 ing, one of the grand properties of the cowpea arises 

 from its ability to grow in poor soils. It is a deep 

 and also a gross feeder; hence, when once started, 

 the plants will go down into the subsoil and gather 

 food to sustain growth in soils where various other 

 useful farm products would pine and die. 



Though this plant will give a good account of 

 itself on poor soils even, it is much better able to do 

 so when some fertilizer, as superphosphate, for 

 instance, has first been applied to the land. The 

 cowpea, however, like the common pea, will give the 

 best returns from soils in which the clay element is 

 present in considerable quantities. And even on 

 stiff, red clays, tlie plants are able to make a strong 

 growth. But they are easily injured by a super- 

 abundance of moisture, even though confined to 

 the subsoil. 



