234 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



Table II. — Yield per Acre of Wheat. 



TREATMENT. 1904. 



1905. 



1906. 



1097. 



1908. Average. 



Wheat continuously 13.40 



Wheat continuously with 

 cow-peas as catch crop. .14.49 



12.02 

 16.53 



13.41 

 15.54 



11.79 

 16.37 



11.08 1^.31 

 20.13 16.61 



the cow-pea rotation, while after five years the plot which re- 

 ceived the green manuring produced nine bushels more wheat 

 per acre, the average difference being four and one-third bushels 

 per acre in favor of planting cow-peas as a catch-crop between 

 crops of wheat. In carrying out this test every effort was made 

 to put the seed-bed in as good condition as possible before the 

 wheat was sown. After plowing, the subsurface packer was used 

 and the seed-bed made as firm as possible. 



While the effect of the cow-peas in maintaining the fertility 

 of the soil, where used as a catch-crop with wheat, is clearly 

 shown by this experiment, the practice can hardly be recommend- 

 ed in general farming. In the wheat belt of the central and west- 

 ern parts of the state there is not sufficient moisture to produce 

 a crop of cow-peas for green manuring and still leave the ground 

 in condition for starting the wheat the same fall, except in very 

 favorable seasons. Also, the extra labor involved in preparing 

 a good seed-bed for wheat after cow-peas makes this method un- 

 practical. 



A more practical rotation is to plant cow-peas in wheat or 

 oats stubble, plow the crop down before heavy frost in the fall, 

 and follow with corn the next year. A common practice at this 

 Station is to plant the cow-peas during the wheat harvest, follow- 

 ing the binder directly with a single-disk drill; or, if the stubble- 

 land is weedy or trashy, it is advisable to disk ahead of the drill 

 behind the binder, thus preparing a more suitable seed-bed. Thus 

 when the harvest is finished the field has been replanted and, if 

 the extra labor can be supplied, this is an economy of time, and 

 the new crop will have all the advantages which may come by 

 timely rains and favorable growing conditions. If it is not pos- 

 sible to plant during the harvest of the grain, then the cow-peas 

 may be sown as soon as possible after the harvest, preferably 



