THE COWPEA 



It is the plant of adversity as well as prosperity, 

 adding rich organic matter to thin soils, but mak- 

 ing its full returns under better conditions. Lime 

 applications on acid soils give increase in yields. 

 Its one absolute requirement is heat, and in a cold 

 summer its northern limit is markedly de- 

 pressed. 



Inoculation. The inoculation of the soil with 

 cowpea bacteria is necessary to best results in 

 most regions new to the plant. Self -inoculation 

 is quicker in the cowpea than in alfalfa because 

 the vines carry some soil on them, and thus the 

 dust in the seed crop may be rich in bacteria. 

 However, most new seedings of the cowpea do not 

 show a large number of nodules on the plant roots, 

 and inoculation pays. In some cases it makes 

 the difference between failure and success. Two 

 hundred pounds of soil from an old field should 

 be well harrowed into each acre of land when pre- 

 paring for a cowpea seeding in a new region. The 

 soils of the southern states contain the bacteria 

 just as the states in the clover belt are supplied 

 with clover bacteria. 



Fertilizers. -- The light soils of Maryland, New 

 Jersey, and the southern states are not naturally 

 rich in phosphoric acid or potash. The cowpea 



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