COW PEAS. 



n ROTATION of cow peas and 

 m\ potatoes may be followed among 

 /Til the trees, while they are growing 

 to bearing size. 



We started the use of cow peas in one 

 corner of the farm on a poor, thin, 

 sandy field. It was so notoriously poor 

 that the neighbors selected it as a place 

 for burying their dead horses. Our first 

 work was to chop this field up with the 

 Cutaway harrow ; it was covered with 

 briers and dried mullein stalks. We 

 applied at the rate of three hundred 

 pounds of kainit and five hundred 

 pounds of basic slag per acre. The same 

 quantity of dissolved phosphate rock 

 would have answered as well, except that 

 the slag contains a large amount of lime, 

 which we find very useful on poor thin 

 soil that has been exhausted of organic 

 matter. After Cutawaying this field, we 

 broadcasted five pecks to the acre of 

 Early Black cow peas, which were 

 worked in with the Acme harrow ; in 

 August we cut a part of this growth and 

 used the vines for mulching strawberries, 

 but most of the growth was permitted to 

 die down on the ground. A small 

 amount of nitrate of soda applied to the 

 cow peas will quicken up and improve 

 their growth, but too much nitrogen 

 would be unprofitable. The cow pea is 

 one of those plants that absorb nitrogen 

 from the air. My conviction is that 

 when you sow this crop on land that is 

 very rich, or where you use a large 

 amount of nitrogen in your fertilizer, the 

 plant will, from choice, take the nitrogen 

 out of the soil, and will not prove so 

 valuable as a soil improver. We are now 

 raising the second crop of sweet corn 

 after that crop of cow peas, and there is 

 no question in my mind that the growth 



of vines was fully equal to twenty loads 

 of stable manure per acre. Where the 

 vines were worked into the ground the 

 corn has a better color and is far better 

 able to withstand the drouth. I have 

 noticed both in corn and potatoes that 

 where a thick mat of cow peas was 

 turned into the ground the crop was far 

 better able to withstand a drouth. In 

 this respect I think green manures are 

 superior to stable manures, as the latter 

 appear to dry out more quickly and are 

 not so useful for holding moisture. The 

 objection to the cow pea is that it re- 

 quires practically the whole season to 

 make its best growth. I have, however, 

 sown the peas after a crop of early pota- 

 toes and secured a fair growth before 

 frost. We have also sown the cow 

 peas among the currants, raspberries, 

 and other bush fruits, with very fair 

 results. The first sharp frost, however, 

 kills the cow pea, and in order to make 

 it most useful it is necessary to give it 

 an entire summer for its growth, although 

 it may be sown after such crops as early 

 peas or lettuce. My advice, however, 

 would be to ' use the cow pea on the 

 poorer lands of the farm. Where one 

 has considerable idle land, it would be 

 safe to keep one-fifth of the farm con- 

 stantly in cow peas, which would be a 

 cheap and effective way of manuring. 

 My advice would be to use at least 

 seventy-five per cent, of the potash and 

 the phosphoric acid on the cow pea 

 crop, with perhaps a small amount of 

 nitrogen. The balance of the fertilizer 

 I would use on the crop following the 

 cow pea, and in my experience potatoes 

 or sweet corn have given the best results 

 for this purpose. — Report Mass. Horti- 

 cultural Society. 



486 



