£)dible Products, 



352 



[October, 1908. 



power required is very materially 

 reduced, aud the percentage of cracked 

 peas is decidedly smaller. The straw 

 is also chopped, so it is in fine condition 

 for feeding. A one-cylinder machine 

 with the spikes sharpened does very 

 satisfactory work except that a small 

 percentage of the pods may pass through 

 in the straw unopened, while by the 

 use of a two-cylinder machine practi- 

 cally all the peas are secured. 



In a third device all the spikes in 

 both cylinder and concaves are sharp- 

 ened, and there is a minimum of 

 clearance. The concaves are arranged 

 in two sets, one of two rows and the 

 other of three. The two-row set is at 

 the front of the cylinder on a plane 

 with the shaft ; the other is below the 

 cylinder and at the back of it about 

 120° from the first. There is a perforated 

 web under the cylinder which is hinged 

 at the three-row set of concaves and 

 has the front part attached to the 

 shakers, so that it is worked up and 

 down by their backward and forward 

 motion. When the vines come through 

 the first concaves they drop on the 

 web, rest momentarily, and are then 

 picked up by the cylinder again and 

 taken through the second concaves. 

 The momentary rest results in rearrange- 

 ment of the straw, so that it virtually 

 amounts to passing through a second 

 cylinder, as in the . two-cylinder 

 machines. A perforated feeding table is 

 used to get loose peas to the separating 

 surface without passing through the 

 cylinder. This machine is by far 

 the most satisfactory pea thrasher yet 

 devised. The number of cracked peas 

 is very small ; the vines are chopped 

 as fine as if they had been through 

 a cutting box, and all the peas are 

 gotten out of the pods, while the 

 material which can be run through in 

 a given time is the maximum for 

 present-day machines and the power 

 required the minimum 



It is very essential in thrashing 

 cowpeas that there be sufficient power 

 to give a uniform speed to the separator. 

 It is also highly desirable that the 

 cylinder be kept uniformly full in order 

 to get the best results, as running 

 empty means an increase in the number 

 of cracked peas. 



The price of cowpea thrashers now 

 on the market ranges from $300 to 

 $600, exclusive of the engine. If the 

 peas are stacked or put into a barn 

 they need not be thrashed imme- 

 diately, one machine will be sufficient 

 for 2,000 acres, as the crop from 20 

 acres can readily be handled in one 

 day. As a rule, only a moderate acreage 



of cowpeas for seed should be grown 

 by any one farmer, as unfavourable 

 weather may cause great difficulty at 

 harvest time. It is very desirable to 

 have enough cowpeas for seed grown 

 in a community to justify the local 

 ownership of a thrashing machine. 



Cowpeas for Soil Improvement. 



The beneficial results of growing 

 cowpeas are due largely to the ability 

 of the plants, like those of alfalfa 

 and red clover, to take nitrogen from 

 the air by means of the bacteria 

 which live in the nodules on the roots. 

 Cowpeas also improve markedly the 

 physical condition of the soil. This, 

 taken in connection with their ability 

 to produce a crop quickly on even 

 the poorer soils, makes the cowpea 

 particularly valuable both as a catch 

 crop and in regular rotations when 

 utilized either for hay or seed pro- 

 duction. 



At the present time the most popular 

 rotation for the entire South is one 

 which allows the largest possible area 

 to be planted in cotton each year. 

 A system of cropping which is in 

 general use is three years in cotton, 

 the fourth year in corn and cowpeas, 

 and then three years in cotton again. 

 This system allows three-fourths of the 

 farm to be in cotton each year, and 

 is applicable to all of the better 

 agricultural land. On the poorer soils 

 of the cotton belt it is likely that 

 better results would be secured by 

 growing cotton only two years and 

 corn and cowpeas the third year. This 

 would leave two-thirds of the farm for 

 cotton each year, and would undoubt- 

 edly be an excellent system of cropping. 

 The Alabama Agricultural Experiment 

 Station reports an increase in yield in 

 one case of 696 pounds of seed cotton to 

 the acre, or 83 per cent, due to ploughing 

 under a crop of cowpea vines on land 

 which had been in cotton the previous 

 season. The Arkansas Agricultural 

 Experiment Station secured an increase 

 in yield of 59 per cent, where a crop of 

 cowpeas had Peen grazed the preceding 

 year. 



Practically the same plan of rotation 

 is followed in the sugar-cane districts of 

 Louisiana. Three crops of cane are taken 

 off the land, and the fourth year it is 

 planted to cowpeas or to corn and cow- 

 peas. The work stock are fed almost 

 exclusively on pea- vine hay or are 

 grazed on cowpeas in the cornfield after 

 the corn has been gathered. This rota- 

 tion gives excellent results in the suc- 

 ceeding crops of cane. 



