8 TH£ COW PEA. 



varieties. As already stated, every extreme of form and 

 habit may appear; the compact, upright bush, only a foot 

 high without runners, thriving side by side with one of 

 spreading habit, trailing its densely loaded branches 20 to 

 30 feet on the ground or climbing over trees, fences, corn 

 or any other support within its reach. The pods range 

 from 4 to i8 inches in length, of every color and variety 

 and combination of color containing seeds of every possible 

 shape and form. They are of every possible combination 

 of color, into which white, yellow, green, gray, pink, brown, 

 red, purple and black can enter or blend or mix, as in the 

 " Speckled " and " Calico " varieties. 



The season of ripening is as extended as its habits of 

 growth; some kinds mature in two months; others require 

 from six to eight months between planting and harvesting. 

 In general, the habit of growth bears a definite relation to 

 the period required for ripening. The smaller the plant 

 and the more nearly it approaches the bush form, the 

 shorter the time required for the production of its seed; 

 while the more rank its habit and the larger its growth of 

 vines and runners the longer the time required for its 

 maturity. The fertility of the soil, the rain-fall and other 

 climatic conditions, the length of the growing season in the 

 locality, each has its influence and modifies the fidelity with 

 which any given variety will reproduce itself. Bush 

 varieties which mature in the comparatively short seasons 

 of Virginia, planted a few successive years in the longer 

 growing season of Florida or Texas, tend to become 



