sow them in the corn-field when laying by the crop. In no other way 
can poor land be so cheaply and permanently improved or the fertility 
of good land be preserved. 
PLOUGHING UNDER. 
On a dead, poor soil it may pay to plow under a mature crop, but 
beware how you plow under a green crop in the South. Ordinarily the 
value of the vines for hay is far greater than their manurial value, since 
they are the best possible cut hay. Do not cut them till the pods are 
well filled. The vines are then at their best. But do not let any ripen 
before you cut, or you will have their leaves dropping. 
CURING THE VINES. 
There has long been a notion that the cow pea is a very hard crop 
to save in the form of hay. This is erroneous. The whole method is 
simply to cut the peas, leaving them as cut without raking into windrows 
or cocks, and when they are dried enough so that a bunch twisted hard 
in the hands shows no sap running to the twist, they will do to go in the 
barn. The barn should be tight, and the peas should not be disturbed 
while heating. They will get very hot, and if the hay is moved with the 
idea of cooling, all will be spoiled. The packing in layers with fodder 
is not a bad plan, but is not necessary, and salt is not only unnecessary, 
but harmful to any hay. Let it severely alone in a close barn and it 
will cure perfectly, even though it gets hot enough to burn your feet. 
“ Care must be taken, however, that there is no dew or other external 
moisture on them when stored.” The important thing is to store them 
while still limp (with no external moisture on them), so that the leaves 
are saved, for these are the best part of the hay, and are commonly lost 
in the usual mode of drying completely outside. 
Having this valuable forage at hand, and the corn fodder to balance 
the ration, we should be able to feed stock in the best manner. The black 
and the clay are good for all purposes, and can be sown from June to 
August. 
STOCK FEEDING THE GREAT NEED OF THE SOUTH. 
One may say, “ If peas are of such value in renovating the soil, why 
not turn them under without cutting? ” The plowing under of a mass 
of green vegetation in a warm climate, and especially on a sandy soil, is 
apt to result in the evolution of organic acid to such an extent as at times 
to render the land so treated for a time wholly unproductive. But the 
most important point is that we thus bury a crop worth usually $20 per 
acre as food for stock. The best way is to cure the peas as hay, feed 
them to stock and save all the manure carefully to be returned to the 
soil. The slavish dependence of the Southern farmer on the fertilizer 
manufacturer has been largely brought about by the failure to make the 
feeding of stock an important part of our work. Stock feeding and the 
saving of manure lie at the foundation of all successful agriculture. Or¬ 
ganic matter and plant food in the form of barnyard and stable manure 
have never been fully imitated in chemical matters alone. There are few 
localities where less cropping and more cattle raising would not yield 
greater returns. 
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