September, 1908. J 



,249 



Miscellaneous Products. 



mentioned. The insects are all indi- 

 genous, and no doubt they find a happy- 

 feeding ground on the abandoned vines. 



It occasionally happens that the pepper 

 leaves are attacked by caterpillars, but 

 I have only once met a case ; this cater - 

 pillar, belonging to a Limacodid moth, 

 was a green oval disc beset laterally with 

 hairy processes, and covered all over 

 with irritant hairs. A more destructive 

 caterpillar is one which bores the stem 

 penetrating at the base of a petiole. 

 Subsequently the stem withers up, and 

 part or the whole of a vine may be 

 destroyed. 



The roots are also subject to the 

 attacks of insects ; not infrequently, 

 certain white ants commit ravages on 

 the root system and the plant may suffer 

 considerably. Occasionally, too, some 

 damage is done to the roots by the pre- 

 sence of large fat grubs, ditty white iu 

 colour and sparsely covered with short 

 brown hairs ; these burrow in the ground 

 and by their movements disturb the 

 delicate vine roots though they do not 

 appear to feed theieon. The large grubs 

 are larvae of a stag-horn (Dynastids) 

 beetle, and may be those of Oryctes 

 rhinoceros, the well-known coconut 

 beetle. An application of lime water to 

 the neighbourhood of the roots is con- 

 sidered effectual in driving away the 

 intruder. The most serious disease from 

 which the roots are apt to suffer is of 

 rather obscure cause, though most pro- 

 bably it is to be attributed entirely to 

 the action of fungi. The symptoms are 

 a serious shedding of the leaves usually 

 throughout a well-defined area of the 

 vine which is in relation with the fibro- 

 vascular bundles coming from the 

 affected part of the root. A clever 

 gardener can usually guess which part of 

 the root system is damaged, and he pro- 

 ceeds to remove the earth so as to ex- 

 plore the sickly area. Then he scrapes 

 or cuts away the blackened tissue and 

 allows the cut surface to dry directly 

 exposed to the sun's rays. Afterwards 

 he replaces the earth and the vine 

 usually recovers. This disease is more 

 likely to occur in the damp parts of a 

 pepper garden. The roots of pepper 

 appear to be specially sensitive to water, 

 and prolonged rains sometimes bring 

 about the rotting just mentioned. 

 Drought also is prejudicial and may 

 cause the leaves to drop off. — Agricul- 

 tural Bulletin of the Straits and Feder- 

 ated Malay States, No. 6, Vol. VII. 



COWPEAS. 



By H. T. Nielson, 

 Scientific Assistant, Forage Crop Investi- 

 gation Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Introduction. 



A system of agriculture without the 

 use of a leguminous crop tends to lessen 

 the productivity of the soil and makes 

 necessary large outlays for nitrogenous 

 fertilizers. With a leguminous crop 

 grown at frequent intervals, the pro- 

 ductivity may be maintained or even 

 increased. The cowpea is at the present 

 time, and probably will continue to be, 

 the most valuable legume for the entire 

 cotton belt, and can be depended upon to 

 succeed on practically all types of soils, 

 It has been well said that the cowpea is 

 to the South what red clover is to the 

 North and alfalfa to the West. 



It is safe to say that no one thing can 

 add more to the agricultural wealth of 

 the South than the more extensive grow- 

 ing of the cowpea. This will supply the 

 southern markets with much of their 

 hay, which is now shipped in from the 

 North and West. It will tend to increase 

 the production of live stock which is 

 very essential in securing the maximum 

 returns in any system of agriculture; 

 and it will go far toward keeping the 

 soil in good tilth and maintaining its 

 productiveness, 



While cowpea culture has greatly 

 increased in late years, this very fact has 

 in part brought about a large increase 

 in the price of seed. The more extensive 

 use of the crop will be seriously retarded 

 until seed becomes more plentiful than 

 at present. Fortunately the develop- 

 ment of improved machinery for hand- 

 ling cowpeas makes it certain that this 

 will soon be the case, and that the price 

 of seed will be materially reduced with- 

 out lessening the profit to the grower. 



Cowpea seed for planting should be 

 fresh and of good quality or, if old, 

 should be tested for germination, as seed 

 more than one year old is likely to be 

 very low in vitality. It is practically 

 certain that seed which ripens and is 

 harvested in dry weather is of superior 

 quality. Varieties with hard seeds are 

 injured to a less extent by wet weather 

 at harvest time than those with soft 

 seeds. They also retain their vitality 

 for a longer time and are less subject to 

 the ravages of weevils. The Iron cow- 

 pea is the only common variety which 

 has any advantage over other sorts in 

 this respect. 



