210 QUEENSLAND: AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Supr., 1897. 
ever introduced into Queensland, not excepting wheat and sugar-cane. The 
only faults to be found with it are its botanical and vernacular names, both 
of which are at the same time misleading and nonsensical. It is not a vigna;. 
it is still less a pea. It is more like a French bean than anything else in the 
vegetable kingdom, except that it is more vigorous, hardier, and more prolific. 
There are many varieties of it, such as the Black, the Large White, the 
Small White with a small eye, and the Clay-coloured, &e., each of which has its 
advantages. ‘The writer has so far grown only the two last-named, and found 
that the Small White is superior as a green vegetable (cut up like Irench 
beans or boiled as peas), whilst the Clay-coloured seems preferable for green 
manuring and as a fodder plant. 
Mr. Valder, whose opinions on all agricultural matters deserve always the 
greatest consideration, has grown successfully the four abovenamed varieties 
at the Wagga Wagga Experiment Farm, New South Wales. He recommends 
the Black and Clay-coloured for manuring, the Small and the Large White 
for culinary purposes. 
Here, in Queensland, the cow-pea is likely to do well in every part of the 
eolony. It might happen though, in the course of time, that in the hot moist 
North it will be attacked by the Common Bean Rust (Uromyces phaseoli). But, 
so far, no complaints of any kind have been heard, although I understand the 
cow-peais already extensively grown there by the Colonial Sugar Refining Com- 
pany and other planters who carry on agriculture on scientific lines and as a 
paying concern. 
In the West it does admirably. It likes a shower at planting and just 
before flowering time. But, taken all round, it stands—with proper cultiva- 
tion—the longest of droughts remarkably well. During the last trying season, 
after four months of uninterrupted drought, the cow-pea plot was standing 
vigorous and healthy, with its dark-green foliage as fresh as in a hothouse. 
The cow-pea thrives in almost any soil, although it does best, of course, on 
a friable, sandy loam. The land niust be ploughed deep, and be well pulverised. 
A dressing of wocd ashes is the manure most likely to be beneficial. It can be 
planted—for main crop—as soon as the frosts are over. It is very sensitive 
to cold, the slightest frost killing it. The rows should be 3 feet apart, and 
the plants 1 foot apart inthe rows. When planted in rows cne bean is enough 
for a plant, in which case about 8 lb. will sow 1 acre. With favourable 
weather, the plants appear over ground in from three to five days. Keep the 
weeds down-an@ the land in good tilth with the Planet junior, at first deep set 
and then gradually shallower (the last point is very important). In a couple 
of months, the plant will take care of itself, the whole field appearing as an 
uninterrupted mass of foliage. If grown for green manuring, now is the time 
—that is, when the flowers begin to appear—to roll it down and plough it 
under ; the plough being provided with a Yankee mouldboard, a sharp revolving 
coulter, and a heavy chain dragging in front of the mouldboard. If time 
permits, it is not a bad plan to let it rot on the soil. It can also be mown 
down and made into excellent ensilage, especially if mixed with corn or 
sorghum; or it can be turned into hay. This latter is a little difficult to gather 
at the proper stage of dessication. If too dry, the leaves crumble into dust ; 
if too green, the thick, juicy stems may turn mouldy in the stack. With care 
and attention, both drawbacks can be ayoided. In that case the whole stack 
will undergo a gentle fermentation, and the hay will appear of a slightly 
brownish colour and emit a sweet honey-like fragrance. 
The cow-pea can also be eaten down in the field by sheep, cattle, and 
horses, which are all very fond of it. 
And last, but not least, it can be grown for its beans as a money crop, and 
by no means a bad one either. 
The pods have to be gathered by hand as they ripen. Children are 
especially skilful at that work, provided they are shown that they must not 
pull on the plant, but gently break off the pods with their thumb-nail. There 
are, as a rule, from 20 to 40 pods per plant, each containing from 10 to 
2 
