94 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ava., 1898. 
cockatoos took a decided fancy to them, and then the crows. Mr. Tardent said 
in his paper we might expect the bean rust in course of time. This year the 
late-planted lots on low wet land were eaten up by rust. I daresay the 
Government Entomologist will have received information from the experimental 
farms about these pests, and in course of time will give us their life history, 
names, and best way of destroying them. The seed is not so much subject to weevil 
as maize. J bave some here that fae been lying about in bags for twelve months past, 
and there were fair samples of the hay, chaff, and seed at the show. In conclusion, I 
may say that the advantages of growing the cow pea are that it is a summer crop; a 
sort of a catch crop that grows quickly ; that it is off the ground in plenty of time for 
the general crops to be sown; it enriches instead of impoverishing the soil; it leaves the 
ground in better order than if it had been lying idle; is easily grown and saved; and 
is one of the most valuable all-round crops that a farmer could produce for his own 
use. And there is no doubt that when itis better known it will command a ready 
sale. (Applause.) 2 
Mr. A. H. Benson, in reply to questions from Messrs. Deacon and Twine, 
said that, unlike Mr. Adams, he had planted the cow-pea at Westbrook in 
drills 3 feet apart, putting in single seeds 18 inches apart in the drill. By 
doing this from 8 lb. to 10 lb. of seed was sufficient to plant an acre. Later 
in the season he had again planted cow-pea at Westbrook, but this time more 
simply. After the wheat had been taken off it, a three-furrow plough was run 
over the ground, and every third furrow a boy walked along and dropped seeds 
from 1 foot to 18 inches apart. Nothing was done to the land after that, and 
he anticipated getting about 15 bushels of seed per acre from the crop so 
planted. When he planted the cow-pea in drills he found the mowing machine 
would not cut it. The best thing to harvest the cow-pea with was a sharp hoe, 
which was really quicker than a sickle or a scythe. A man with a hoe, by turn- 
ing over the vines and chipping them off at the root, could cut over an acre a 
day of cow-pea, if he was a good hand at it. At Westbrook and Hermitage, 
where the seed had been planted in drills, the vines had made such a dense 
mass of growth, and had so intertwined themselves together, that no scythe or 
sickle could cut them. Where thick planting, however, was followed, the use’ 
of these tools was to a certain extent permitted. Ordinary ploughing would 
do for the cow-pea in dry land, and in the Maranoa district, which should be 
well suited for the cow-pea, ploughing from 6 to 7 inches deep should suffice. 
At Westbrook he had had some of the land subsoiled, but that was to get it ready 
for an orchard. In its green state the cow-pea was not relished by stock of any 
kind, but when dried it was readily eaten. The Clay Coloured variety, in his 
experience, was the one most relished by stock. 
_ Mr. W. D. Lame (Yangan) said he had closely watched the cow-pea at 
the Hermitage Experiment Farm, and he remembered that, shortly after it 
sprouted, a tremendous hailstorm came along and left it clean. Most other 
things would have succumbed and disappeared altogether, but the cow-pea 
came on again and finally gave an immense crop, which was converted into 
excellent hay. ; 
Mr. P. McLean said that Mr. Adams’ statement, that he would not 
recommend anyone to grow pea on rich land, ought to be qualified. If the 
crop was grown for manurial purposes, it perhaps held true; but if the cow- 
pea was grown for fodder or seed, the benefits of good land were quite as 
evident in the returns as with any other plant. The finest crop of cow-pea 
he had ever seen was grown on very qa land. Judging from the inquiries 
he was always receiying, there was a big demand for cow-pea seed in the 
colony, and last year he could easily have sold 1,000 bushels, if he had had 
them. 
Mr. Apams, in reply to Mr. Bromiley, said the leaves of the cow-pea did 
break up when chaffed. It made a splendid fodder, however, and the chaff 
never affected the lungs of horses taking it. Last year he had got about a 
ton per acre of chaff, but this year the returns went up from 30 ewt. to 2 tons 
per acre. He considered the cow-pea quite equal to lucerne for chaff, if not 
better, owing to the grain that was mixed with it. 
