Thirty-fourth Annual Convention. 



259 



the cultivation may be done either with double shovel, heel sweep 

 or cultivator. In the southern portion of the State, where corn 

 rows are at times five feet apart, it is preferable to plant the peas 

 with corn planter, half way between the rows of corn after the 

 next to the last cultivation, since the space between the rows of 

 corn and peas will admit of cultivation after the peas have begun 

 to grow. It is not advisable to plant the climbing varieties in 

 corn if the land is rich, since the dense growth of pea vines will 

 overrun, interfere with gathering and possibly injure the corn. 

 Ob such land the bunch varieties should be planted. Cowpeas 

 may also be planted between rows of sorghum as suggested for 

 corn. If the sorghum is planted early and early maturing varie- 

 ties of cowpeas seeded when the sorghum is given the last cultiva- 

 tion, the cowpeas will make a profitable growth after the sorghum 

 is harvested in September. 



The depth to which cowpeas should be planted varies with 

 the season of the year and the condition of the soil as regards 

 moisture. A large majority of the varieties of cowpeas will rot 

 in the ground if planted before the soil has become warm in the 

 spring and the early plantings should be as shallovv as possible if 

 the soil has in it suf^cient moisture to sprout them. As the 

 season advances they should be planted deeper, but not deeper 

 than three inches. If a hard, baking rain should fall after the 

 seed are planted and before they have come up, the soil should be 

 stirred, preferably with a weeder or harrow. After comparing 

 many tests of drilled and broadcasted cowpeas the practice of 

 broadcasting has been abandoned, except in special cases. Drilled 

 cowpeas have always produced more grain than broadcasted, and 

 more hay, except in abnormally wet seasons. One-fifth or one- 

 fourth of a bushel of seed drilled has usually given a heavier yield 

 of vines and from two to five times as many bushels of peas per 

 acre as any amount of seed sown up to three bushels per acre 

 broadcast. In 1900, one peck of Whippoorwill peas gave 3314 

 pounds of hay and 31.4 bushels of peas per acre, while 8 pecks of 

 seed gave only 1747 pounds of hay and 16.4 bushels of peas. The 

 two plots were treated alike in every respect, excepting the 

 quantity of seed sown, and no difference could be detected in the 

 fertility of the two plots. ( See pp. 100 and 101, Bulletin No. 70.) 

 In 1901, 12.5 pounds of seed per acre yielded 2675 pounds of hay 

 per acre and 36.17 bushels of peas per acre, while 100 pounds of 



