﻿10 BULLETIN 6, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



COWPEA. 



For a century the cowpea, of many varieties, has been the chief 

 leguminous crop of the Southern States, grown for hay, for its edible 

 seeds, and as a green manure. Only recent Ij" has its resistance to 

 acidity been recognized. The experiment stations have carried the 

 plant much farther north in the past few years, until now some of 

 the varieties are in successful cultivation in Massachusetts, New 

 York, and Michigan. Sometimes the yield of tops is so dense and 

 heavy that only by the use of special attachments to the plow can 

 the 'crop be turned under. 



SOY BEAN. 



The soy bean is of much more recent introduction into the United 

 States than the cowpea. In its tolerance of acidity the soy bean 

 probably equals the cowpea. and it has two points of superiority. 

 It grows farther north and its yield of seed is much greater, often 

 being as high as 30 bushels per acre. Some of the varieties have 

 been grown with success as far north as New. Hampshire, Ontario, 

 and Wisconsin. The seed of the soy bean has one remarkable char- 

 acteristic. It contains no starch, but about 35 per cent of nitroge- 

 nous matter. Such a composition ought to give these beans a special 

 value in rations for cattle. Within the climatic limits of its profit- 

 able cultivation this plant may prove to be exceedingly valuable on 

 the acid dairy farms of New England, where enormous sums are 

 spent for the purchase of southern and western nitrogenous cattle 

 feeds. 



HAIRY VETCH. 



Hairy vetch differs in one conspicuous feature from the cowpea 

 and soy bean. Both these plants are sown in the spring or early 

 summer and mature and die in the fall of the same year, but the 

 hairy vetch is what is known as a winter annual. It is sown in late 

 summer, germinates at once, passes the winter as a small plant, 

 makes a heavy growth in the following spring, and matures its seed 

 in early summer. It so closely accords in season with rye that the 

 two form an ideal mixture when the rye is to be plowed under for 

 green manure or cut for early hay. 



CRIMSON CLOVER. 



Crimson clover is a leguminous plant that does well in sandy soils 

 from New Jersey southward. It appears to be tolerant of acidity 

 and may come to be definitely recognized as a plant .of this class. 

 The seed is sown in late summer, becomes well established before 

 winter, makes a luxuriant growth in early spring, and is ready for 

 the scythe or the plow in May. 



