1882 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
411 
•wards packed in bran, dry sand, or other sim¬ 
ilar material. These methods will answer for 
home use, but whatever may be the coating 
material, the surface of the shells will have an 
unnatural appearance, which will prevent 
their ready sale in the markets. So far as we 
are aware, the only practical method to pre¬ 
serve eggs to be sold, is to place them in Milk 
of Lime. Lime is slaked and prepared as for 
white-wash and the eggs are covered with and 
kept in this, until wanted for market. The 
eggs, according to the extent of the opera¬ 
tions, are placed in barrels or in -brick vats 
built for the purpose. Some recipes advise 
the addition of Cream of Tartar to the Lime- 
wash, but this is of doubtful value. The eggs 
when sent to market are removed from the 
lime and thoroughly washed, and when dry 
are packed in barrels of cut straw, like other 
•eggs. In the N. Y. market they usually bring 
.about five cents a dozen less than fresh eggs. 
The Southern Cow Pea, and Its Uses at 
the North. 
Some ten years ago, finding that the Cow 
Pea, so important in southern agriculture, 
had no recorded history, we undertook to 
investigate it. Through the kindness of 
friends in several Southern States, we re¬ 
ceived samples under more than thirty dif¬ 
ferent names. These were reduced, by classi¬ 
fying them according to the size and color of 
the seeds, to twenty distinct varieties, ranging 
in size from that of the ordinary “Marrow” 
white bean down to some much smaller than 
a pepper-corn. The colors ran from dead 
white, through yellow, red, and purples, with 
variously marked kinds, to black. Some of 
these are cultivated in the South as table 
varieties, but the majority are of value as 
farm rather than as garden crops. It may 
be added that the plant is not properly a pea 
( Pisum ), nor is it a true bean ( Phaseolus ), but 
it belongs to the tropical genus Vigna, and 
The numerous varieties are probably forms of 
V. Sinensis, of the East-Indies. As to the 
method of introduction of these generally 
cultivated plants, we have as yet no definite 
information. To the southern farmer this 
pea (the name being well established, can not 
be changed even if incorrect) is as important 
as is clover to the northern farmer. As a 
green manure, as a green fodder, and made 
into hay, it is in each case of the greatest 
value. Within a few years the attention of 
Northern farmers has been drawn to the Cow 
Pea, as shown by the fact that some seedsmen 
•offer them in their catalogues, as well as by 
the inquiries that come to us by letter. 
There are two uses for which this pea may 
be of value in the Northern States—as a green 
manure and as a green fodder, or soiling 
crop, either directly from the field, or in the 
form of ensilage. For these uses, it does not 
matter if the seeds will not mature in the 
Northern States, as a supply can always be 
had from the South. It is not likely that it 
will be of much value in the North as a hay 
crop or for human food. As a crop to plow 
under it has the advantages of quick growth 
and of producing a heavy mass of vegetation 
—indeed, almost too heavy, it being some¬ 
times difficult to turn it under, a peculiarity 
that however does not detract in the least 
from its value as a soiling crop. 
The varieties most esteemed in the Southern 
States for plowing under are the “ Clay,” 
“ Black,” and “Whippoorwill,” and these are 
the kinds offered by Northern seedsmen. 
These will grow on very poor soil, and in the 
Southern States two crops are grown in a sea¬ 
son, which will not be practicable at the 
North where the season is shorter. 
Wherever the Cow Pea is tried, it should 
not be sown before the ground becomes warm 
and the weather settled. Being a tropical 
plant, it should not be put into the ground 
before “ corn-planting time.” For all but the 
poorest lands, one bushel of seed to the acre 
is the usual quantity, but on veiy poor soil 
six pecks are used. The seed is sown broad¬ 
cast on plowed land, and turned under with 
a light furrow and harrowed in. 
The Proper Treatment of Pears. 
Many who have planted pear trees, fail to 
have the fruit in its best condition; suppos¬ 
ing that it is not mature until it is mellow, 
they allow it to hang until it is soft. We 
know no exception to the rule that pears 
should be ripened off of the tree. After a 
pear has made its growth and matured its 
seeds, it rests for a while. Sooner or later 
decay begins ; the first step in this is for the 
flesh to become soft and juicy throughout, 
a mellowing, and this is when it is in eating 
condition; the next step is actual decay or 
rottenness. The time between complete 
maturity and the mellowing varies greatly in 
different varieties, from a few days to, in the 
winter pears, several months. When the 
fruit is mature, it makes preparations for 
dropping. The hold upon the tree is grad¬ 
ually loosened, a line of demarcation, a joint, 
so to speak, is found where the stem joins the 
twig. A short time before the pear could 
not be picked without using force and break¬ 
ing the stem ; when mature, merely raising 
up the pear to a horizontal position will rup¬ 
ture the slight hold its stem has upon the 
tree, and it will break off with a clean, 
smooth surface. This, the readiness with 
which the stem will separate, is the best test 
of maturity; when the hold is so readily 
broken, the fruit can receive no more from 
the tree, and the sooner it is gathered the 
better. In picking, merely lifting the pear 
to a horizontal position will cause a separa¬ 
tion, and make the task easy. Where there 
are many pears, it is well to have a fruit-room, 
with shelves upon which they may be laid 
and can be easily inspected. Exclusion of the 
air appears to aid the ripening, and drawers 
or shallow boxes are preferred to shelves. 
Unless a very dry one, a cellar is not so suit¬ 
able as an upper room. The finest-colored 
pears we ever had, was where the fruit was 
spread upon a blanket and covered by an¬ 
other. Winter pears should be kept as cool 
as possible in barrels or boxes, treated, in fact, 
just like winter apples, until needed for use, 
when a few at a time may be placed in a warm 
room to finish and mellow them. The im¬ 
portance of gathering as soon as full-grown 
is seen in Clapp’s Favorite; when picked 
early and carefully kept, it is one of the most 
beautiful of pears, and of good quality. If 
left on the tree until mellow, it will be rotten 
at the core and utterly worthless. The uni¬ 
versally popular Bartlett is ordinarily second- 
class as to quality, but by picking very early 
and carefully ripening, it is so much improved 
as to seem like another variety. 
Leaves for Bedding. 
In the scarcity of rye straw, and the ab¬ 
sence of saw-dust, and other material for bed¬ 
ding cattle, we have been forced to use forest 
leaves to keep the horse and cow in cleanly 
condition, and on the whole are much pleased 
with them. The gathering was from the 
road side, and along the walls, where brush 
and leaves had accumulated for years. A 
few basketfuls were put under the animals 
every morning, and kept there until they 
were well saturated with the urine, and then 
thrown out into the manure heap. With a 
plenty of this material, kept dry under a 
shed, and used abundantly, there is very lit¬ 
tle loss of liquid manure. As an absorbent, 
it is much more effective than we expected 
to find it. Leaves have a high reputation as 
a material for the hot-bed and the compost 
heap, and are worth the labor of gathering, 
in most cases for their fertilizing properties. 
Cords of them are going to decay in the sight 
of almost every rural home, and it is the rare 
exception that they are utilized. Meanwhile 
the fields and garden are famished for wane 
of manure, or supplied with concentrated 
fertilizers at forty dollars a ton. C. 
A Home-Made Hoe. 
• “Reader,” Worcester Co., Mass., saw in 
the June American Agriculturist (1881) a de¬ 
scription of several useful tools made from 
old scythes, and sends us a description of a 
hoe made from an old scythe. He writes: 
“ It is the best tool I have ever used amongst 
small vegetables in the early part of the sea¬ 
son. Take 18 
inches of the 
point-end of the 
scythe, cut the 
blade from the 
back, leaving 6 
inches of the 
point; .heat and 
bend it into the 
shape shown in the engraving, so it will 
hang right, and drive it into an old hoe han¬ 
dle. Large weeds can be pulled With it by 
forcing the point down close to the weed, 
and pulling gently on both until the weed 
gives way. It is also a useful implement for 
the women to use in their flower gardens.” 
IJcsti'oyiiig- Wild Carrots.— The car¬ 
rot is one of the most troublesome weeds 
with which the farmer has to contend. It is 
so hardy and prolific, that in some of the 
States laws have been passed for its sup¬ 
pression. If neglected, it will spread over 
pastures and meadows, and take possession 
of the road sides. They do not show them¬ 
selves much in the early part of the season, 
but after the mowing in June and July, they 
shoot up rapidly, and show their white blos¬ 
soms in every direction. Some farmers seek 
to destroy them by pulling them up by the 
roots, an effectual, but very expensive pro¬ 
cess. The plant is a biennial, and if it is not 
permitted to scatter its seeds it can just as 
surely be eradicated by mowing, while in 
blossom, or any time before it drops its seeds. 
There is little danger of leaving it until Au¬ 
gust, or early in September. If cut before 
seeding, the plants may be left upon the 
ground. If later, gather into heaps and 
burn, or put into a compost heap. 
