230 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



crops, such as corn, Kafir-corn, and sorghum for hay. When 

 planted in these combinations there is danger of cow-peas be- 

 ing stunted in growth if the crop with which it is combined is 

 planted too thick. Sown broadcast, cow-peas often make but 

 little growth with these crops, but when planted in rows with 

 corn and cultivated the growth is quite satisfactory. 



Soiling and Ensilage. 



As a soiling crop cow-peas are very satisfactory. As they 

 should not be planted until the weather and soil are warm, the 

 crop is not available for feed until the latter part of summer, 

 where they fill a place in a well-planned system of soiling and. 

 furnish an abundance of succulent green feed, although per- 

 haps less palatable than alfalfa. 



When used alone the cow-pea does not make an exceptional- 

 ly good quality of ensilage, due to the large amount of water in 

 the green vines making a watery silage that keeps poorly and 

 is not well relished by stock. When combined with corn in the 

 proportions of about one- fourth cow-peas to three- fourths corn, 

 it makes an excellent silage that keeps well and is relished by 

 all classes of stock. The combination has greater feeding value 

 than corn silage, for the reason that cow-peas, being relatively 

 high in protein, make the cow-pea-corn silage a more nearly bal- 

 anced ration. 



It is a common practice in dairy sections to grow cow-peas 

 and corn in separate fields and mix them as the silo is being 

 filled. It would seem a more desirable practice to grow the 

 corn and cow-peas together. An experiment along this line 

 was conducted at this Station during 1003, 1904 and 1905, the 

 corn and cow-peas being planted together in rows. When 

 planted the right thickness — corn 12 to 24 inches and peas 4 to 

 6 inches apart in drill-rows sy 2 feet apart — each grew 

 equally well and produced from ten to fourteen tons of green 

 fodder per acre. The cow-peas twined around the corn-stalks, 

 making the crop easy to harvest with the corn-binder. 



