MILLET — COWPEA. 47 



excellent hay plant, It should be cut between the time of heading out 

 and that of late bloom, for if cut too early the hay is too laxative in 

 its effect and if cut too late the seed has injurious effects, especially 

 upon horses. The hay is succulent and requires more time to cure 

 than does timothy. About one-half bushel of seed per acre is used. 

 Different varieties are called Hungarian grass, German millet, Siberian 

 millet, etc. 



In the pasturing tests (see Bulletin 69 of the Nebraska Experiment 

 Station) millet gave eighteen and a half days 1 pasturage for one cow 

 and was available at the same time as sorghum, Kafir corn, and cowpeas. 

 "It did not have as favorable an effect upon the milk flow or butter fat 

 production as did any of these crops or as did the mixed grasses." 



Broom-corn millet {Panicum miliaceum) is a different species, some- 

 times called hog millet. This gives good results in the Dakotas and 

 other Northern States and also promises well for Nebraska. In 1903, 

 a one-half acre plot of Red Orenburg (S. P. 1. 9423) sown June 12 and 

 cut August 15 yielded at the rate of 3,250 pounds of hay to the acre. 



COWPEA. 



Cowpea ( Vlgna catjang) is an annual legume which has been grown 

 in oriental countries for an indefinite period. It is now one of the 

 standard forage plants of the South, being extensively cultivated as an 

 annual summer crop for haj T , pasture, and green manure. During 

 recent } T ears its range has been steadity pushed northward, until now 

 it is grown with more or less success as far north as Wisconsin and 

 New York. There are a large number of varieties, differing greatly in 

 their method of growth, time necessar}^ to reach maturity, hardiness, 

 and many other characters that affect the adaptability to conditions. 



Although one of the standard ha}^ plants of the South, it is not 

 adapted for hay in Nebraska. It is difficult to cure and can not com- 

 pete with alfalfa and clover. It is an excellent soiling plant, but under 

 present conditions of agriculture it is not likely to be needed for this 

 purpose in Nebraska in the near future, except possibty on a small 

 scale in dairy districts. It is not well adapted for silage on account of 

 its succulence, but has been used in this way when mixed with other 

 plants. (See Circular 21 of the Division of Agrostology, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture.) 



The chief field of usefulness of the cowpea in Nebraska is for pasture 

 during the autumn. The seed must be sown when the ground is well 

 warmed, which in Nebraska may not be until June. Although late 

 varieties, which produce no pods in this State, can be utilized for for- 

 age, yet the plant gives best returns when the pods are forming. 

 Hence, those varieties should be grown which mature at least a part of 

 the seed before frost. This is especially advisable, because of the high 

 price of seed. Where adaptability to climate is so important as in the 



