Legumes 



303 



The Virginia variety is usually shelled by hand before 

 planting, but the Spanish variety is often planted in the 

 pod. The average yield is about 25 bushels of nuts and 

 a ton of hay per acre. The old notion that the yellow 

 flowers should be covered with earth is a mistake. After 

 pollination takes place the showy yellow male flower fades 



away, while the small 



female flower grows 

 downward by the ex- 

 tension of the flower 

 stem until the sharp 

 pointed "pegs" or 

 ovaries are thrust into 

 the ground where the 

 pod develops. It is 

 well to keep the soil 

 quite mellow until the 

 pegs or ovaries begin 

 to reach the ground. 



436. Cowpeas, in 

 Europe are more prop- 

 erly called "China Beans," being in reality a bean and 

 not a pea. They have long been recognized as being 

 highly suitable for soil renovating crops, whether planted 

 in the spring, or as catch crops on stubble land, or 

 inter-planted with corn or other crops. They are grown 

 more largely in the Southern States, but in recent years 

 their use as a soil renovating crop in the Corn Belt 

 States has greatly increased. The last named section 

 depends largely on the South to supply the seed for their 

 plantings. 



437. Harvesting Legume Hay. Peavine hay is very- 

 nutritious, but requires some care in order to cure with- 



Fig. 192. Peanut Stacks stacked for curing. One 

 bare vertical stack pole shown in foreground. 

 Courtesy of Prof. A. D. McNair, United States 

 Department of Agriculture. 



