260 Illinois State Dairymen's Association. 



seed under identical circumstances gave only 2275 pounds of hay 

 and 19.66 bushels of peas per acre. There was not only a waste 

 of seed in both years' trials, but the large quantity gave a reduced 

 yield equal in some cases to very near half that produced by the 

 smaller quantity of seed. In these two tests the larger quantity 

 of seed was eight times greater than the smaller. 



Cultivation. 



In the Southern States cowpeas usually produce profitable 

 crops upon the poorest soil and with the most indifferent cultiva- 

 tion or none at all. This fact has led many growers to neglect 

 their cultivation, and the prevailing custom of sowing broadcast 

 usually prohibits it. In the cotton section a person cannot go 

 further in expressing the extremest degree of a soil's infertility 

 than by saying ''it is too poor to grow cowpeas." That they will 

 grow in any soil, and with so little care and attention emphasizes 

 the value of this crop, and at the same time interferes with its 

 being given the cultural attention it deserves. While good prep- 

 aration is half the battle in the culture of any crop, a large portion 

 of its benefits is lost if not supplemented by cultivation, if the 

 nature of the crop admits of it. In a number of tests on the Sta- 

 tion grounds, cultivation has never failed to give a profitable in- 

 crease in the yield of hay, while the increase in the yield of peas 

 has invariably exceeded 50 per cent, and in several cases been 

 more than 100 per cent greater than secured from uncultivated 

 areas. The best and the most economical cultivation, while the 

 crop is in its early stages of growth, is secured by the use of the 

 weeder. This valuable implement must be used when the weeds 

 are quite young, or it will not destroy them. It is to prevent the 

 growth of weeds rather than destroy them after they have gained 

 headway. The destruction of weeds is but a secondary object of 

 cultivation. The greatest benefits are in the improvement of the 

 physical condition of the soil, encouraging aeration, nitrification 

 and the conservation of moisture. The weeder accomplishes 

 these if its use is begun early and repeated frequently. The heel- 

 sweep, the double-shovel and the cultivator are among the best 

 tools for cultivating drilled cowpeas. The weeder may be used to 

 advantage on both broadcast and drilled peas from the time they 

 are planted until the fourth or sixth week of their growth, w^hen 

 cultivation should cease with those broadcasted, but continued by 

 the use of the heel-sweep, cultivator or double-shovel in the drills. 



