CHAPTEE X. 

 COWPEAS, SOY BEANS AND PEANUTS 



COWPEAS, OR KAFFIR BEANS. 



The cowpea has been cultivated in Asia and Africa as a 

 food for human beings for a great many centuries. It is really 

 a bean and not a pea. Its natural habitat is Central Africa, 

 and although the kaffir bean (cowpea) has been cultivated in 

 South Africa for a long period the introduction of the better 

 known varieties from America is recent, as is the general use 

 of the cowpea on a large scale. It is the chief legume in the 

 Union which lends itself to rotations with maize as the main 

 crop. The importance of this plant as a forage crop and as a 

 crop to increase the protein content of maize silage is becoming 

 more generally recognised, particualrly in the maize-growing 

 areas. 



Description and Classification. — The cowpea is an 

 annual summer legume of indeterminate growth adapted to very 

 much the same climatic conditions as maize. It is very readily 

 injured by frost, withstands shade to a greater extent than most 

 crops, and will thrive on a wide range of soils, giving a good 

 growth even on fairly acid soils. 



There are three cultivated species : — ^ 



(1) The Catjang {Vigna catjang) ; (2) the Asparagus bean 

 (V. sesquipedalis) and (3) the cowpea (V. sinensis). The cat- 

 jang has small erect pods, with little sub-cylindric seeds, and, 

 like the asparagus bean, is of small economic importance. The 

 asparagus bean has very long inflated pods which on ripening 

 collapse about the kidney-shaped seeds. The cowpea possesses 

 hanging thick-walled pods which preserve their form and con- 

 tain various shaped seeds. The ]ilant may be bushy, erect or 

 prostrate; maturity varies with the varieties, from seventy to 

 one hundred and twenty days. The seeds are kidney-shaped, 

 or crowder Cangular), and the colour of the pods may be creamy, 

 purple or purple streaked, while the seeds may be black, brown, 



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