VIGNA. COW PEA. 3«3 



tlirivo in cool, moist, temperate regions. Like other legumes, 

 they draw much from the air and subsoil, and are most ex'cellent 

 crops to alternate witii wheat and the true forage grasses. They 

 like moist loamv soil, hut this should not be in the highest con- 

 dition, else the plants "run too much to vines." at the expense 

 of a good crop of seeds. 



From IMo 4 bushels of seed to the acre is sown Itroadcast or 

 in drills, yielding 15 to 25 bushels of seed, which is a very nu- 

 tritious food for swine and sheep. 



Tiie greatest enemies to this crop are the jiea weevil or ''bug" 

 and mildew. 



Of "buggy" peas only about twenty-five per cent Avill tisually 

 grow, and these produce feeble plants. Seed can be obtained 

 from the North, where the bugs are not troublesome, and the 

 young crop can be fed out bugs and all. 



The weevil can be killed when young, I)y i>utting the peas as 

 soon as threshed in a tight box with some bisulphide of carbon. 

 There is some difference in varieties, but hot, dry weather is quite 

 sure to favor the development of mildew, which weakens and 

 often prevents the growth of the plants or the jjroduction of a 

 good crop of seeds. In favorable localities enough attention is 

 not i>aid to this crop, both for feeding and to precede a crop of 

 wiieat. 



VIGNA, U cow PEA. 



Calyx campanulate, lobes or teeth short, often obtuse, the two 

 upper more or less united. The banner rounded, Avith inflexed 

 appendages at the base ; the ivinr/s falcate-obovate adhering to 

 the ket'I, which is incurved and often beaked, but not spiral. 

 The odd stamen free from the banner. Anthers uniform. 

 Ovary subsessile, many ovulcd ; style curved, barbed, or with u 

 pencil of hairs below the terminal stigma. Pod shaped like a 

 scymetar, falcate, or linear, compressed, 2-valved, often thickened 



