Miscellaneous Froducts. 



254 



[September, 1908. 



shows a field of cowpeas of the Whippoor- 

 will variety planted in rows one-fifth 

 rod (about 3 feet 4 inches) apart and 

 cultivated three times, while figure 3 

 shows a field of the same variety broad- 

 casted thickly. Attention is called^ to 

 the fair crop of pods and the larger* size 

 of the plants in the cultivated area. 

 Figure 4 shows a field of Iron cowpeas 

 planted in rows one-fifth rod apart and 

 cultivated three times. The plants are 

 much larger than those shown in figure 

 5, a field of the same variety broadcasted 

 thinly ; but the plants in both fields are 

 well podded. When grown in rows 

 24 to 36 inches apart one peck to a half 

 bushel of good seed per acre is required. 

 When the seed is broadcasted the quan- 

 tity ranges from three to six pecks to the 

 acre, depending on the soil, the method 

 of seeding, and the size of seed. Heavy 

 clay or light sandy soils require more 

 seed than loam soils. If sown with a 

 grain drill only about two-thirds as 

 much as for broadcasting is required. 

 Of the smaller seeded varieties, such as 

 the New Bra and the Iron, two or three 

 pecks will give the best results ; while of 

 the larger seeded varieties, such as the 

 Black, the Unknown, and the Whippoor- 

 will,the quantities range from three pecks 

 to five pecks to the acre, a bushel generally 

 being the best amount to use. In most 

 of the cowpea region planting for seed 

 production should be rather late in the 

 season, since late plantings as a rule 

 give much better seed yields than early 

 plantings. This is not the case, however, 

 in Oklahoma and northern Texas, where 

 early seeding gives the best yields, 

 owing probably to the light rainfall. 

 In certain sections near the Gulf, two 

 seed crops in a season may be secured 

 by growing in rows and planting the 

 first very early. 



Hand Picking. 



The method of gathering seed by hand 

 is the only one practicable where the 

 peas are planted in corn, which is a very 

 common practice throughout the South. 

 The cowpeas are planted at the last culti- 

 vation of the corn and are nearly always 

 ripe before frost. The vines climb the 

 corn stalks, so most of the pods are well 



above ground, which greatly facilitates 

 gathering them. They are picked by 

 hand into bags, and later flailed or run 

 through a pod huller. The cost of hand 

 picking ranges from 40 to 75 cents a 

 hundred pounds of pods, or the picker is 

 given one-third to one-half of the total 

 quantity gathered. This method of 

 harvesting naturally makes the price of 

 seed high. Fields grown to cowpeas 

 alone for seed production are often hand 

 picked. The yield of seed in such cases 

 is as a rule much larger, and a larger 

 number of pods can be picked in a day 

 than when grown with corn. The Black- 

 eye and similar varieties grown for table 

 use are usually picked by hand. 



Machine Picking. 

 The scarcity of seed and the difficulty 

 of securing labour have resulted in the 

 invention of several so-called pea pickers. 

 These machines are intended to gather 

 the pods from the vines in the field. The 

 peas must be planted in rows for the 

 most successful operation of a pea picker, 

 and the entire plant must be ripe and 

 dry before the machine will do satis- 

 factory work. Two of these pickers are 

 constructed on much the same principle, 

 that of a winged drum revolving rapidly 

 over a stationary moderately sharp edge. 

 The pods are thus knocked back upon a 

 platform and then elevated into a receiv- 

 ing box or bag. A third machine differs 

 from the foregoing in that the picking 

 apparatus is very much in the nature of 

 a flailing operation, the cylinder consist- 

 ing of four arms made up of pieces of gas 

 pipe. This revolves rapidly and knocks 

 the pods back into the gathering box. A 

 fourth machine is a harvester and 

 thrasher combined. In this, the vines 

 are cut with an ordinary mowing 

 arrangement and passed directly to the 

 thrashing part of the machine, which is 

 essentially the same as that of any 

 thrasner. This last-mentioned machine 

 is very satisfactory for harvesting 

 perfectly ripe peas, since it very nearly 

 completes the operation. For harvesting 

 varieties grown for table use, such as the 

 Blackeye, the Lady, and other white peas, 

 it may find considerable demand. 

 (To be concluded.) 



