CORN TILLAGE 181 



170. Sowing cowpeas in corn fields. — It is customary 

 among the best farmers throughout the cotton-belt to sow 

 cowpeas during the cultivation of corn. The objects 

 aimed at are : — 



(1) Soil improvement, or an increase in the next year's 

 crop on the same land ; 



(2) The production of cowpeas for seed or for pasturage; 

 and 



(3) The making of cowpea hay, which is rarely the main 

 object and which usuaUy requires that the corn rows be 

 about 6 feet apart. 



There is need of investigation to determine whether 

 there are any disadvantages resulting from the planting of 

 cowpeas between the corn rows. In at least one experi- 

 ment in a very dry year, the yield of corn was materially 

 reduced by the presence of broadcast co\\'peas. This in- 

 dicates the possibility of cowpeas making undue demands 

 for moisture in a year of scant rainfall. With ample rain- 

 fall cowpeas in the corn apparently do not reduce the yield 

 of the latter. As a rule cowpeas .should be sown in the 

 corn field, using one of the customary methods. 



171. Broadcast planting versus drilling of cowpeas in 

 corn. — Both broadcasting and drilling are extensively 

 used, but drilling is much more prevalent. The advantages 

 of drilling are the followdng : — 



(1) It permits earlier sowing of the co\\'peas ; 



(2) It permits later cultivation of the corn ; 



(3) It economizes seed, 1 to 2 pecks sufRcing for an acre, 

 or less than half the seed necessary for broadcast sowing ; and 



(4) The cowpeas are more certain to produce a crop of 

 seed. 



