80 SHEEP FEEDIXCI 



tlie peas by hand or vise a seeder that can be carried on his 

 shoulder ; a more even distribution can be obtained with the 

 latter method. The same varieties should be sown when 

 broadcasting as when drilling. 



A practical farmer's experience. A northeast Missouri 

 farmer, who plants cowpeas in three hundred and twenty 

 acres of his corn, states : " I have tried putting peas in corn 

 at planting time, drilling them in at laymg-by time, and 

 broadcasting at laying-by time, and I find that those planted 

 with the corn are incomparably better at all times of the 

 year than those planted in the other ways ; drilling at laying- 

 by time is much better than broadcasting. On July 30 one 

 year I made a very careful examination of my cornfields to 

 see what effect the peas were having on the corn, for I had 

 an agreement with my renters that I would make good any 

 decrease in the yield of corn that was caused by the peas. 

 The results of my observations and the conclusion to which 

 they have led are as follows : first, peas that were put in 

 at corn-planting time had made vines seven and eight feet 

 long ; second, in September I pulled up a vine that had 

 thirty-seven well-matured pods on it ; third, I had one 

 forty-acre field of corn that did not have peas in it, and 

 it was the only corn on my farm that fired. All during the 

 driest part of the year the soil remained moist where the 

 cowpeas were, but became quite dry in the forty-acre field ; 

 fourth, the best corn and the heaviest growth of peas were 

 invariably growing together ; fifth, from the standpoint of 

 the corn alone I believe it is advisable to plant cowpeas in 

 it, and I do so whether I have any way of pasturing them 

 or not." The planting of the corn and cowpeas at the same 

 time, with a pea attachment to the planter, is undoubtedly 

 the best method known at present. 



