001 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
755 
NORTHERN EXPERIENCE WITH COW PEAS. 
A Heavy Growth in Pennsylvania. 
The photograph shows a single volunteer plant of 
the Black Renovator cow pea, which grew in the 
garden at Woodbine Farm the past season. This 
plant completely covered a circle 12 feet in diameter. 
The stem was three-quarters of an inch in diameter 
where it entered the ground, and was still growing 
rapidly when taken up, September 23. This plant 
did not come to the blossoming stage, owing to the 
abnormal season, bast year the Black Renovator 
matured seed on this same ground. Cow peas have 
come to stay at Woodbine Farm. It was formerly 
claimed that this pTant was of doubtful value this far 
north (latitude of Cleveland, 0.), but our experience 
has proven the error of such claims. We have grown 
chiefly the Early Black, but have also tried other 
varieties, notably Warren’s Early and Renovator. On 
the whole, the Early Black gives as good growtk of 
vines as any. Besides, the seed is much cheaper to 
buy and much easier to shell, if we save our own seed. 
With us all the varieties mentioned matured seed 
in 1900. 
In the season of 1900 we sowed a bushel of Elarly 
Black on 1% acre of thin land, w'hich had been in 
meadow for a number of years. The ground was 
plowed and fitted during tne second week of June, 
and on June 15 the seed was drilled in with a nine- 
hoe grain drill, running three hoes, this making the 
rows wide enough to admit of cultivation. Twice 
during the season we went through them, once to the 
row with the Planet Jr. 12-tooth cultivator. At 
the last cultivation we sowed a plot to Crimson 
clover, a plot to turnips and one to oats. This was 
some time after the middle of July. The grasshop¬ 
pers destroyed the clover, and the growth of vines 
smothered out the turnips and oats. These peas rip¬ 
ened a full crop of seed. We saved enough for our 
own sowing, and .left the remainder on the field— 
not the most economical thing to do. Early in the 
Spring of 1901 we plowed the vines under and planted 
potatoes. The soil was noticeably of a darker color 
and in finer physical condition where the peas grew. 
We applied several loads of good barn manure along 
one side, and bordering on the plot where the cow 
peas grew. Our potato neld extended clear across 
both the cow pea and manured plots. The potato 
crop was slightly better upon the manured portion. 
The potatoes ripened several days earlier upon the 
portion which had been in peas. The tops of the po¬ 
tatoes were a darker green where we used the cow 
peas. As the matter appears to us now, we made the 
following mistakes in this experiment; We did 
not use enough seed; we should have used acid phos¬ 
phate and potash in the drill when sowing; we should 
have saved the crop of seed; the vines should have 
been plowed under and the ground seeded to rye in 
the Fall. 
The past season we plowed and prepared three 
acres for cow peas, this time turning under a liberal 
growth of grass and weeds. The peas were sown 
June 15, in the same manner as above described, ex¬ 
cept that we used 100 pounds per acre of high-grade 
complete fertilizer. We cultivated them three times. 
Owing to extreme wet, growth was slow at the first 
and but few pods were matured when killed by frost 
on the night of October 6. The growth of vines was 
satisfactory, with the exception of a few wet spots. 
These vines will be plowed under, and rye sown, to¬ 
gether with as much ground lime as the drill will 
apply. This land is intended for potatoes next sea¬ 
son. Our favorite method in the future will be to mow 
a portion of our meadow land, say during the fore 
part of June; immediately fit the soil and seed to 
cow peas, using a small quantity of chemicals; as 
soon as the vines are frosted, plow under and seed 
to rye, using lime, the rye to be turned under the next 
Spring for potatoes. Soy beans have promise with 
us. We shall try sowing a mixture of cow peas and 
Soy beans next season. In theory, this seems to us 
an ideal method; how it will work out in practice 
remains to be ascertained. j. t. c. 
Hartstown, Pa. 
Good Success in Massachusetts. 
June 28, 1896, I sowed cow peas in a worn-out pas¬ 
ture—light, sandy soil. In October, after several se¬ 
vere frosts, I plowed in the peas—a light crop—and 
sowed rye. In the following Spring the rye was 
plowed in and corn planted, with no manure to speak 
of. The result was a crop of corn, which was a sur¬ 
prise, considering the soil, due to the peas. These 
were the Black. Since then I have sown cow peas 
every year, for green manuring and fodder, with good 
results, using the Whippoorwill, which is smaller, 
earlier, and makes a better growth than the Black. 
This variety readily matures a crop here In central 
Massachusetts. During the season just closed I tested 
another variety, the Warren, which Is three weeks 
earlier, and does not make as large a crop. For green 
manuring there is an advantage in having the crop 
nearly matured, as it is then much richer. If not 
matured, they should be well frosted or cut and par¬ 
tially dried before turning in, as there is danger of 
souring the soil by turning in too large a mass of 
very green matter, requiring lime as a remedy. Cow 
MRS. cow PEA TAKES THE CHAIR. Fio. MS. 
peas, which are not peas at all, hut beans, must not 
be so-wn until it is safe to plant corn or other beans. 
On good soil they make a tremendous amount of 
green fodder, which is good feed until after frosts. 
If cut off early, they make a lighter second growth, 
'they produce a large mass of roots, which with the 
coarse stems and the pods and beans, are rich in nitro¬ 
gen, and excellent food for the soil, and (except the 
TALL CORN ON LONG ISLAND. Fif. 344 
roots) for the cow. Some cows must learn to like 
them, but this they will do if mixed with other green 
feed which they like. If they are pastured, cows eat 
the leaves and tender tops, leaving the coarse stems 
and roots for fertilizer and humus in the soil. After 
haying, you can sow the Whippoorwill as late as July 
5 in this region, where we had no severe frosts until 
October 4 ana 5, obtain a large quantity of green feed, 
and have left also a large mass of roots and stems for 
fertilizer. If the land is plowed again and rye sown 
as a cover crop, and to prevent waste of nitrogen, it 
is In good condition for the Spring crop, without 
manure. If manured, so much the better. If the 
vines are not plowed in, much of their nitrogen is 
lost during the Winter. I have found them especially 
adapted to sandy soil, but they also do well on clay, 
especially if sown in rows and cultivated. But for 
building up and renovating worn-out soils, there is 
nothing like them, so far as my experience goes. 
They will grow on soil so poor as to be unable to raise 
anything else. I have always sown them alone, not 
with other crops. h. 
So. Hadley, Mass. 
Report from Northern New York. 
I live In the southiern part of Warren Co., N. Y., 
and that is pretty well north. We have sown cow 
pees for the last five years; have found the seed 
rather expensive to buy, as we had to pay $3 per 
bushel the past Spring for Black. This year we 
raised about 25 bushels of Mt. Olive, from seed we 
grew last year. We saved about one-half bushel of 
Black last year, but none seeded this year. We 
planted this year about the middle of June. 
One piece of Mt. Olive was podded well; an¬ 
other, planted the next day, did not have a pod. 
They were planted with Eclipse corn planter in drills, 
as I wished to save seed. It was quite a job to pick 
them, and brought a good many grunts from the boys. 
We thrashed with a thrashing machine; it broke lots 
of them, but I tried a flail with about the same re¬ 
sults. We generally drill them in with grain drill, and 
plow under in Spring for manure. I think it would 
be better to plow under in Fall and sow to rye, and 
turn that under in Spring for corn. 
I have one plot of about two acres this year of 
Black, sown broadcast by hand, and dragged in about 
July 8, that has made a growth of about two feet, and 
was a perfect mat of vines when frost struck it, Oc¬ 
tober 5. We think they are a grand thing for bur 
light, sandy soil; would as soon have a good growth 
of cow-pea vines to turn under as the general run 
of manure we buy, and it is a great deal cheaper. 
Last year I had sweet corn on cow-pea ground. I 
plowed on one side, wnere there were no cow peas, 
wide enough for two rows, and did not get one ear 
of corn on these two rows, while the othe” was gbod 
corn. F. P. w. 
Glens Falls, h*. Y. 
Seed Grown in Latitude 43. 
We are situated about three miles from the New 
Hampshire College of Agriculture, in latitude 43. 
In 1900 we planted a few of Salzer’s Pt-olific cow peas, 
just to try them. I do not know the exact date of 
planting. They made a fine growth, and were cut and 
fed to the cows before seed matured. In 1901, June 
8 and 11, we sowed about four acres of the land 
where we planted silage corn to the same variety. 
After marking off the ground in rows about 3% feet 
apart, we dropped the silage corn by hand, one kernel 
in a place, from 10 inches to one foot apart; then 
went over the ground again at a rapid walk, dropping 
the peas, one, two or three, in a place, as it hap¬ 
pened, ana, perhaps, two feet apart. We covered both 
corn and peas with a two-horse hoe. You will ob¬ 
serve that the peas cost us nothing but the seed, and 
the dropping, a mere trifle. Now, as to results. On 
the major part of the four acres the peas came up 
well, and flourished, nearly covering the ground 
under the corn. We were hoping that they would 
climb the cornstalks, so that we could cut them with 
the corn, and let them go into the silo. This they 
failed to do to any great extent, so we pulled many 
of the vines before the f'orn was cut, feeding the vines 
to the cows with green corn fodder. The cows were 
crazy for them, eating them up root and branch, and 
increasing their yield of milk. There were many ripe 
pods on them for the past three weeks. In the future 
we will plant them by themselves. We note in our 
farming that the land where we had beans and other 
legumes in 1900 gave us, much better crops this year 
than land beside it planted to oats in 1900. 
New Hampshire^_ h. m. de r. 
TALL CORN ON LONG ISLAND.—I noted the ar¬ 
ticle on a “Two-story Cornfield” in your issue of Oc¬ 
tober 12, with interest, the height of it being stated as 
14 feet, but I can go that one better. I enclose a pic¬ 
ture (see Fig. 344) of corn on my place which is 1614 to 
18 feet In height by actual measurement, which you 
can judge by the picture. The seed was sent here by 
a corporal at Angeles, Luzon, Philippine Islands, but 
he says It does not grow to that height over there. 
It was planted without any care or cultivation, and 
with an idea that it wouldn’t grow here, not to speak 
of its enormous height. The corn is red, round, bead¬ 
like, and very easy to shell; the stalks are very hard 
and strong, withstanding the winds better than the 
domestic, regardless of its height; the leaves are 
long, wide and sweeping. It has attracted the atten¬ 
tion of many on the street, and wagers have been 
made on its possible height; even the local papers 
have commented upon it. c. 
College Point, L. I. 
