CATALOGUE AND DESCRIPTIONS OF VARIETIES. 



79 



S41S. Iron. From Mr. T. S. Williams, Monetta, S.C., 1901. Half bushy, quite 

 viny, vigorous ; the row mass 24 to 28 inches high, 30 to 36 inches 

 broad ; trailing branches green, 4 to 5 feet long ; leaflets large, dark, 

 plane, immune to rust, very slightly subject to white leaf-spot, but 

 sometimes attacked by mildew, held late ; flowers violet-purple ; 

 moderately prolific; pods well filled, held medium high, straw 

 colored or often purplish, usually rough, 6 to 8 inches long, the 

 first maturing in 90 to 100 days; seeds rhomboid, cream buff to 

 vinaceous buff, 4 to 6 mm. broad by 7 to 9 mm. long. According 

 to Orton 1 the first authentic knowledge of the Iron cowpea was its 

 discovery by Mr. T. S. Williams, who found it in Barnwell County, 

 S. C, in 1SSS, and later called the attention of the Department of 

 Agriculture to it. Seedsmen and others have modified the name 

 into such forms as Ironclad, Iron Mountain, and Little Iron. Iron 

 volunteers more readily than any other cowpea, being in fact the 

 only variety that volunteers at Arlington in abundance. The at- 

 tempt was made to increase this tendency by selecting seed from 

 such volunteer plants, but with no apparent success. Where the 

 seeds are plowed under in the fall a fair stand may result, but 

 not if they are simply scattered on the surface. Selection in this 

 variety has given no appreciable results. It has been grown under 

 many numbers: 11370, 13466, 13462, 13464, 17367, 17391, 17395, 

 17396, 17397, 17419, 17423, 17430. 17431, 17433, 17434, 17435, 17436, 

 19777, 21S32, 22055, 22391, 27544, and 27872. All but the last six 

 are known to be the progeny of seed originally from Monetta, S. C. 

 No. 22391 is from Manila, P. L. where it was received from 

 Venezuela. It apparently differs in no particular from Iron. No. 

 0701, received from the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station 

 as Early Boolock, is apparently identical with Iron. Iron is 

 especially valuable on account of its resistance to wilt and to 

 root-knot. On this account it is largely grown where these dis- 

 eases prevail, but its excellent qualities are such that it is grown 

 over a much wider area also. Its moderate seed yield is its chief 

 weakness. 



8498. Progeny of 6311. 



8499. Progeny of 6327. 



8500. Progeny of 6328. 



8501. Progeny of 6413. 



8687. Catjang. From Surat, India, 1902. Vernacular name " Chowali," 

 " Chola," or " Choli." Tall, very vigorous, suberect, very viny, the 

 row mass 2 to 3 feet high and 4 feet broad ; trailing branches 

 many, 4 to 7 feet long; leaflets large, dark, not affected by rust, 

 but somewhat subject to red leaf-spot ; flowers violet purple ; very 

 late, not even blooming at Arlington Farm ; pods grown in green- 

 house and at Chico, Cal.. straw colored, slender, torulose, thin, 4 

 inches long ; seeds buff with a yellow to brown iris, about 3 by 

 5 mm., oblong. This variety has been grown at Arlington Farm for 

 four seasons with similar results : at Chico, Cal., it has produced 

 small crops of pods in about 140 days. The seeds retain their 

 viability to a much greater degree than most vignas, some of the 

 original seed still germinating over 90 per cent in 1908. This is one 



J Orton, W. A., loc. cit. 



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