38 



HEMDERSOM'S TESTED FA 



COW PEAS 



/ VIGNA \ 

 ICATJANGJ 



Improve Worn-out Soils. Make Good Land More Productive. Valuable for Pasture, 



Green Forage or Ensilage 



Cow Peas are the great leguminous crop of our Southern states, where they play the same important 

 role in rotation farming that Clovers and Canada Peas do in the North 



BLACK-EYED COW PEAS. A popular and productive early 

 sort. $3.75 per bushel of 60 lbs.; lO-bushel lots, $3.65 per bushel. 



NEW ERA COW PEAS. A new, extra early variety, earlier than. 



The early varieties of Cow Peas are also quite ex- 

 tensively and successfully grown for forage and soiling 

 as far north as Massachusetts, but so far north the 

 crop may not ripen seeds. Cow Peas are nitrogen- 

 gathering legumes, growing more like Beans than Peas, 

 producing enormous crops of bushy vines and yielding 

 in warm climates a bountiful crop of edible Peas. As 

 a soil renovator and enricher, Cow Pfeas are very valu- 

 able. The large root development ramifies over large 

 areas, going down deeply in search of moisture and 

 food thus improving the soil's porosity and adding 

 humus when the roots decay. A crop of Cow Peas 

 collects nitrogen from the air in large quantities and 

 fixes it in the soil, thus adding this expensive element 

 of fertilizers to the land without cost, and leaving it 

 richer and in splendid condition for the future crop. 

 It has been fully demonstrated at a number of experi- 

 ment stations that a crop of Cow Peas plowed under, 

 will add 110 lbs. of nitrogen per acre to the soil, having 

 an actual cash value of §14.00 per acre. In addition 

 to that the Cow Pea crop renders available as food for 

 succeeding crops, 24 lbs. of phosphoric acid and 100 lbs. 

 of potash per acre. All crops grown after Cow Peas do 

 well. Moreover, the plants shade the soil, keeping it in 

 best condition for rapid nitrification. The shading 

 of the soil crowds out all weeds; thus Cow Peas serve 

 as a cleansing crop on weedy land. Cow Peas grow on 

 all soils from the stiffest clays to porous sands, barren 

 uplands and alluvial bottoms. It stands the heat 

 and sunshine of southern summers and its rapid 

 growth there enables two crops to be grown in the same 

 land in one year. The feeding value of Cow Peas is 

 high, whether as green forage, cured hay or silage, being 

 especially rich in blood, bone and muscle-forming 

 material. Hogs do well pastured on Cow Peas; an 

 acre of ripening Peas will feed and fatten 15 to 20 

 young hogs ; sheep and cattle may also be fed on the 

 green fodder cut and wilted a Uttle, otherwise they eat 

 it so ravenously, they are liable to bloat. For green 

 manuring clay land, the crop should be turned under 

 green. On sandy soil, already too light, the vines 

 should decay on the surface and then be turned vmder. 

 'Sow 2 bushels per acre. {See engraving.) 



the Black Eye, the quickest growing of any of the Cow Peas, 

 maturing in about 60 days, specially adapted for plantmg North. 



Yields well. „ , , , 



$3.50 per bushel of 60 lbs.; 10-bushel lots, $3.40 per bushel. 



VELVET BEAN ( 



MUCUNA\ 

 UTILIS ) 



VELVET BEAN {Miicuna utilis). A rank growing leguminous 

 vine, attaining a length of 10 to 40 feet and densely covering the 

 ground. As a green manuring and forage crop it is of great value 

 in the South and in tropical countries. No other forage crop makes 

 such enormous growth in such a short time. On the sandy lands 

 of Florida it averages 5,000 pounds of cured forage per acre, while 

 on richer soils in Alabama the weight is often over 8,000 pounds 

 per acre. The crop may be used as green forage, pastured or cured 

 into hay, for which purpose it should be cut when in full flower 

 or before the pods get large. The feeding value is high, as nutritious 

 as Cow Peas, or Clover. Cattle and hogs thrive especially well on it. 



As a soil enricher the Velvet Bean crop is not surpassed. It gathers 

 nitrogen from the atmosphere, and when the crop — or at least the 

 roots and stubbl^-is turned under, this expensive element m fer- 

 rilizers is added to the soil, which with the humus added from the 

 decayed crop, increases the fertility of the land, puttmg it m fine 

 condition for the succeeding crop. No fertiHzer containing nitrogen 

 need be used to grow Velvet Beans, but if the soil is poor an appli- 

 cation of about 250 pounds of acid phosphate and 100 pounds of 

 muriate of potash per acre would be beneficial. Plant the seed a 

 few inches apart in rows 4 feet apart, requiring about 1 bushel of 

 seed per acre. $1.50 per peck, $5-00 bushel of 60 lbs. 



^^ advice ^^^^^ subjects in connection with preparation and maintenance of grass lands, forage crops, soiling, rotation, silos, etc> 



