THE COW PEA. 23 



about three pecks of seed per acre. When neither a corn 

 drill nor a grain drill is available the planting may be done 

 by hand, scattering the seed in previously opened furrows 

 and covering by hand or by any convenient implement. 

 The covering should be from i to 2 inches deep; on very 

 light soils 3 inches does no harm. In a dry season or in 

 naturally loose, dry land, deep planting is advisable. When 

 seed is cheap and labor scarce broadcasting is usually the 

 better plan, but when seed is dear and labor cheap and 

 abundant, drilling pays better. In whatever way the plant- 

 ing be done the ground should be left level and smooth, 

 especially if the crop is to be cut for hay. In the south 

 where crab grass is abundant, its growth is liable to choke 

 out the young peas and check their development in a wet 

 season, — a point which should be given careful considera- 

 tion in the choice between broadcasting and drilling. 



CULTIVATION. 



When sown in drills, peas should be cultivated two or 

 three times to keep down weeds and mellow the soil until 

 the vines are large enough to shade the ground. The first 

 cultivation should be given with a smoothing harrow or 

 weeder just as the peas arc coming up, and the after-culti- 

 vation with a five tooth cultivator, or at least a cultivator 

 which runs very shallow, for deep cultivation is wholly un- 

 necessary. Peas planted between rows of corn, sugarcane 

 or other crops are sometimes given one cultivation when 



