3 



drils, but twines like beans, or runs upon its own foliage. It is of 

 rapid growth, making in three months on ordinary land, an almost 

 impenetrable mass of foliage two feet high, and so very dense that it 

 destroys all other vegetation, even the thistle, ragweed, and other 

 noxious plants. When well cured these vines ai-e simply invaluable 

 for hay, and worth as ascertained by actual experiments, thirty-three 

 to fifty per cent, more than timothy. The only difficulty in making 

 them the leading crop for hay, is that it takes three days to cure 

 them. Cattle and horses prefer such hay to the best of herds-grass, 

 and even to corn. Pea vines are the best fertilizer we can use, de- 

 composing very rapidly. I have frequently cut off the vines before 

 they began to run (Jul}- 1), and by August the roots would throw out 

 new vines two feet long. The seed sold in May for seventy-five cents 

 per bushel." 



The experimental plats were seeded down towards the latter 

 part of May, and produced a handsome dense foliaceous growth 

 about 18 inches high at the beginning of August, when the samples 

 for analysis were collected. The early frost in September injured 

 the crop. The plant apparently deserves the importance claimed 

 for it in the above stated re[)ort. Its cultivation has proved a suc- 

 cess in New Jersey. The only objection which might be raised against 

 its introduction consists in the circumstance that matured seeds can- 

 not be relied on in our section of the country. As green fodder it 

 compares well with clover, and most likely would produce a valuable 

 ensilage. 



173. COW PEA. 



Var. : Whippoorwill. 

 From Experimental Plats of Station; collected August 1, 1883. 



