56 VEGETABLE GARDENING 



98. Hairy vetch, a legume, is valuable as a cover crop 

 on the sandy soils of the North. To secure a maximum 

 growth it should be sown in July. It is sometimes sown 

 with rye. 



99. Oats and Canada field peas when grown together 

 make a large amount of vegetable matter. It is customary 

 to sow about one bushel of peas with two or three bush- 

 els of oats. Both crops require cool climatic conditions. 

 If they are allowed to attain considerable size, a rope 

 or a chain must be adjusted to the plow to turn under the 

 dense vegetation, which will undergo a rapid decomposi- 

 tion if plowed under when about 2 feet high. These crops 

 should be started as early in the spring as possible. Oats 

 may be used alone as an early spring crop or as a late 

 fall crop. 



100. Cowpea. This is a valuable soil-improvement crop 

 in all sections of the South. It requires a large amount of 

 heat and no attempt should be made to grow it in the 

 coolest parts of the North. Under favorable conditions 

 the plants produce a large amount of highly nitrogenous 

 vegetable matter in a remarkably short time. The seed 

 should never be sown in the spring until the ground is 

 thoroughly warm. Cowpeas, also, work in to good ad- 

 vantage between spring and fall crops; that is, in many 

 sections spring vegetables may be sold, and cowpeas 

 grown and plowed under before the time for starting fall 

 crops, such as kale, spinach and early cabbage planted 

 in the fall. The Virginia Truck Experiment Station 

 states that a crop of cowpeas plowed under green in the 

 fall gave as large a yield of cabbage to the acre as 20 tons 

 of stable manure. This station urges the use of lime in 

 conjunction with green crops. 



The most valuable varieties for manurial purposes are 

 Whippoorwill, New Era, Iron and Unknown or Won- 

 derful. It is necessary to chop up the vines with a disk 

 harrow before they can be plowed under with any degree 



