CROPS AND SOIL IMPROVEMENT 



can draw its nitrogen from the air, but on all 

 thin land it pays to use 200 to 300 pounds of acid 

 phosphate and 50 pounds of muriate of potash per 

 acre for this crop which should have a luxuriant 

 growth for the soil's benefit. Such use of ferti- 

 lizers is more profitable than their use on the crop 

 which follows. 



Harvesting with Livestock. When the cowpea 

 is made into hay, there is always danger that the 

 most of the plant-food contained in it never will get 

 back to the soil on account of a careless handling 

 of the manure. The practice of pasturing with 

 cows and hogs is excellent. The feed is rich, 

 and the manure is left on the ground. There is 

 a saving of labor. 



If the full fertilizing value is wanted for the 

 soil, the crop should be plowed down. The trail- 

 ing varieties form a tangled mass that cannot 

 be handled by an ordinary breaking-plow, but a 

 stalk-cutter, run in the direction the plow will 

 follow, makes plowing possible. Pasturing with 

 cattle and hogs sufficiently to reduce the growth 

 so that a plow can be used is good practice. 



The Cowpea for Hay. The hay is one of our 

 most palatable feeding-stuffs. Livestock may 

 reject it the first time it is put into the manger, 



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