HSTOEY OF THE COWPEAS AND ITS VARIETIES. 



35 



South Africa its common appellation is Kafir bean. The early 

 history of the cowpea has been fully discussed by Wight. 1 Early 

 in the nineteenth century it became of considerable agricultural im- 

 portance throughout the Southern States, an importance which has 

 grown greater in recent years. 



During the nineteenth century a number of articles on the cowpea 

 were written for agricultural journals and have been preserved. As 

 early as 1822 Mr. John MacLeod, of Johnston, N. C., wrote in the 

 American Farmer as follows: 



I have myself been in the habit of planting as many as five different kinds 

 of peas for the last seven or eight years, and am acquainted with nearly as many 

 more. Of these there are three that possess superior advantages as stock crops ; 

 others are esteemed more delicate for the table, and are consequently more 

 commonly grown for market. The former are what we here call the Cow pea, 

 the Tory, and the Black pea. The comparative values of the three kinds 

 according to my experience are that the Cow pea, of a light-gray color, is 

 rather the most prolific, the pods being much the largest, though not quite 

 so thick set on the vine ; they are also, I think, more inclined to vine horizon- 

 tally, not attaching themselves so much to the corn as the others, consequently 

 doing it less injury ; and they are a little preferred by laborers as a diet, 

 who give either kind a preference to any other vegetable production accom- 

 panying their meat. But they lack the durability of the other two kinds 

 and will never remain in the field without rotting, as the others will, until late in 

 the winter. 



This is the first published record we have found of the name 

 "cowpea," which, as used by MacLeod and by later writers, was 

 applied to a particular variety, apparently one of the varieties 

 now known as Clay. 



In an article on the Indian pea in the Farmers' Eegister for 1835 

 (vol. 2, p. 752), "J. M. G." gives considerable information regard- 

 ing the varieties of the cowpea grown at that date. Among the sorts 

 mentioned by the writer are six Crowder varieties: Jet Black, 

 White with a black eye, Gray, Straw-Colored or Sugar pea, Claret- 

 Colored, and Yellowish Brown. Of other varieties, not Crowders, 

 the following are mentioned: (1) The Xorth Carolina pea, having 

 white seeds with a pale-greenish eye; (2) the common black-eyed 

 pea, of which there are two varieties, one with large seeds and one 

 with small; (3) the Ladies pea or Gentleman pea; (4) a white pea 

 with a brown eye, also called the Yohorn (a name which this author 

 states is sometimes applied to two other very different varieties) ; 

 (5) a red-and-white pea; (6) the Cow pea, also called the Yeatman 

 pea, with yellowish-colored seeds; (7) the Tory pea, with jet black 

 seeds. Most of these varieties are described in considerable detail. 



The next writer found mentioning varieties of cowpea s is Mr. 

 P. M. Edmonston, in his " Essay on the Properties and Yalue of the 



1 Bulletin 102, pt. 6, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1907. 

 229 



