THE COW PEA, 



is not acid, and, therefore, land rich in decaying vegetable 

 matter, and hence likely to be acid, should not be planted 

 to cow peas, and could be but little improved thereby. The 

 chief object in cultivating this plant is to add to the fertil- 

 ity of the land and leave it in better shape to produce crops 

 like corn, which subtract from, rather than add to the 

 supply of plant food in the soil. If the cow pea is to be 

 sown on land with a hard-pan subsoil, the breaking up 

 should be well done with a subsoil plough so as to give it 

 necessary drainage. A water soaked soil is not well adapted 

 to growing the pea because water cuts off the circulation of 

 air, which is essential to the chemical changes by which 

 nitrogen of the air is taken up by the plant. A poorly pre- 

 pared soil is also unfavorable for plant development because 

 it prevents the roots from reaching out and obtaining food, 

 no matter how hungry the plant may be. Every means 

 should be employed to improve the ph3-sical condition of 

 the soil so as to enable the crop to absorb the largest possi- 

 ble amount of nitrogen from the air. In deep, mellow and 

 well drained soils the roots act to the best advantage, and, 

 practically free of cost, turn otherwise unavailable atmos- 

 pheric nitrogen into rich and necessary plant food stored up 

 for future use. On heavy soils, deep ploughing is indispen- 

 sible, and the seed-bed must be made fine-, firm, smooth and 

 level to secure best results. Generally speaking the cow 

 pea is not at its best on heavy soils, and deep ploughing is 

 not so essential on light soils, still, no matter what the nature 

 of the soil, the work of preparing it for this crop needs to 



