[This report is taken from the Kansas State Board of Agriculture’s Seventeenth Biennial Report, Part I, printed circa 1907, beginning on page 82 of that volume. The electronic version below has been scanned from that original printing, and may not have perfect fidelity to the original.]
COWPEAS.
By H. T. NIELSEN, United States Department of Agriculture, in Farmers' Bulletin No. 318.
INTRODUCTION.
A system of agriculture without the use of a leguminous crop tends to lessen the productivity of the soil and makes necessary large outlays for nitrogenous fertilizers. With a leguminous crop grown at frequent intervals, the productivity may be maintained or even increased. The cowpea is at the present time, and probably will continue to be, the most valuable legume for the entire cotton belt, and can be depended upon to succeed on practically all types of soils. It has been well said that the cowpea is to the South what red clover is to the North and alfalfa to the West.
It is safe to say that no one thing can add more to the agricultural wealth of the South than the more extensive growing of the cowpea. This will supply the southern markets with much of their hay; which is now shipped in from the North and West. It will tend to increase the production of live stock, which is very essential in securing the maximum returns in any system of agriculture; and it will go far toward keeping the soil in good tilth and maintaining its productiveness.
While cowpea culture has greatly increased in late years, this very fact has in part brought about a large increase in the price of seed. The more extensive use of the crop will be seriously retarded until seed becomes more plentiful than at present. Fortunately the development of improved machinery for handling cowpeas makes it certain that this will soon be the case and that the price of seed will be materially reduced without lessening the profit to the grower.
Cowpea seed for planting should be fresh and of good quality; or, if old, should be tested for germination, as seed more than one year old is likely to be very low in vitality. It is practically certain that seed which ripens and is harvested in dry weather is of superior quality. Varieties with hard seeds are injured to a less extent by wet weather at harvest time than those with soft seeds. They also retain their vitality for a longer time and are less subject to the ravages of weevils. The Iron cowpea is the only common variety which has any advantage over other sorts in this respect.
COWPEAS FOR HAY.
Good cowpea hay is fully as valuable a feed, pound for pound, as red clover hay, and very nearly equal in value to alfalfa or to wheat bran. The principal value of this hay lies in its high percentage of digestible protein, which is nearly four times that of timothy hay. One reason why cowpeas are not more extensively used as a hay crop is the difficulty often experienced in curing the large growth of vines. Where proper care is taken in curing, especially where sorghum or a similar plant is grown with it in mixture, it is not a difficult matter to make good cowpea hay unless the weather is decidedly unfavorable.
When grown for hay production cowpeas are nearly always broadcasted or put in with a grain drill any time from May 15 to July 15. The quantity of seed used to the acre ranges from one to two bushels, broadcasting requiring from one-fourth to one-third more than is necessary when using a grain drill. The quantity most commonly used and which gives the most general satisfaction when the seed is put in with a grain drill is five pecks to the acre. The use of a grain drill is decidedly superior to broadcasting. Larger hay yields have frequently been secured by planting in rows twenty-four to thirty-six inches apart and giving two or three cultivations, the seed required in this way being from two to three pecks per acre. The increased yield of hay due to cultivation is not sufficient to cover the increased cost, especially as rather thick broadcast seeding is equally as effective in destroying weeds as cultivation in rows. The practice of broadcasting on small-grain stubble and plowing under the seed is still common; also that of putting in the seed on grain stubble with a disk drill without plowing. Both of these practices are rapidly being replaced by good preparation of the soil before seeding.
As nearly as average conditions will permit, cowpeas for hay should be planted so that they will be at the proper stage for hay making in the latter part of August, in September, or early in October, as the rainfall is likely to be small during that time. With four to six days of dry sunny weather, cowpeas can be cured into hay of excellent quality if they are at the proper stage of maturity when cut.
The proper time to cut cowpeas for hay is when most of the pods are full-grown and a considerable number of them are ripe. At this stage none of the best hay varieties have dropped their leaves. Of the large list of cowpea varieties, those with an upright habit of growth which seed fairly well and mature quite uniformly should be chosen for hay. The varieties most commonly used are Whippoorwill, Unknown, New Era and Iron. These hold their leaves well and stand up much better than most of the other varieties. Such varieties as Black, Red Ripper and Clay are not desirable for the production of hay, as they run to vine badly and are consequently very hard to cure and handle. The readiness with which the hay can be cured depends largely upon the maturity of the vine and the condition of the weather; hence the advisability of having the harvesting come when the season is most likely to be dry.
An ordinary mower is the most practical machine for cutting cowpeas for hay, and if an erect variety is grown the entire plant can readily be saved. The mowing should begin in the morning, as soon as the dew is off, and may be continued all day if desired, though some advocate cutting only till noon. The vines should be left in the swath until well wilted on top, but not till the leaves are dry and brittle. They should then be raked into windrows; this may be the same day or the day after mowing. They should be left in the windrows one or two days and then put into small cocks of one or two forkfuls. The cocks should be left till the vines are well cured, from two to five or six days, depending on the conditions which have prevailed during the curing period. A good rule to follow is that peas are ready for stacking or putting into the barn when it is not possible to wring moisture out of the stems by twisting a handful with considerable force.
The hay tedder can be used very advantageously in making cowpea hay. If the growth is very heavy the tedder should be used immediately after mowing, as it will open up the vines so the sun and air can get to them better. It can be used to good advantage on vines in the swath after the top part is wilted, as it opens them up so they will dry out more uniformly. It is also valuable for opening up the windrows a half day or a day before cocking. An ordinary rake can also be used for turning the windrows over. The tedder should never be used except when the vines are either green or damp, so as not to cause the loss of too many leaves.
In case of wet weather setting in shortly after mowing, the best practice is not to touch the vines at all until after the rain. It is a mistake to be in a hurry about handling after wet weather. If the vines are fairly mature before cutting, a wet spell during haymaking, unless prolonged, is not a very serious matter. If, however, the vines are immature when cut, great difficulty is always experienced in curing the hay in unfavorable weather.
Several special devices are more or less used in curing cowpea hay. The most common of these is a pole, usually with crosspieces nailed at right angles, around which the vines are cocked. Triangular pyramids from two to three feet high, built of poles with crosspieces nailed on to hold them together, are used to a small extent in the same way. The object of these devices is to get air into the vines by keeping them from becoming tightly packed together and to have an air space in the center of the cock. Canvas or other covers, or hay caps, to protect the cocks during rainy weather, also have a limited use. These devices give exce1lent results in curing cowpeas, but on account of the increased cost and labor they entail are not in general use. A good and comparatively cheap hay cap would find a ready market and could be sold in large numbers. It would be a great help in cowpea hay making.
_files/image002.jpg)
Leaves and Pods of the
Cowpea.
COWPEAS IN MIXTURES
While cowpeas can be satisfactorily grown alone for hay, it is a much better practice as a rule to grow them in mixtures. The most widely used crop for this purpose is sorghum. This includes both the sweet sorghums and the Kafirs. The sorghum serves to support the cowpea vines, and its use usually results in increasing the yield of hay considerably. An additional important advantage is that the hay is more easily cured, as the sorghum prevents the matting together of the cowpea plants. Corn is also used very extensively in mixture with cowpeas, but only to a small extent for hay purposes. The two are grown together very satisfactorily in cultivated rows. Other crops that have been used to grow in mixture with cowpeas are millet, soybeans, and Johnson grass.
Cowpeas and Sorghum.
In the Piedmont region of the South a large percentage of the cowpeas planted for hay is in mixture with sorghum, and the practice should spread rapidly, as this mixed hay is very nearly a complete ration and is relished by all farm stock. The mixture has given excellent satisfaction on the Arlington Experimental Farm, near Washington, D. C. The variety of sweet sorghum most used is the Amber, as it is not as coarse as the others and hence cures more rapidly. The seeding is best done with a grain drill on well-prepared land, the two kinds of seed being well mixed and sown at the same time. The best rate is one bushel of good seed of cowpeas to one-half bushel of sorghum to the acre. If a grain drill is not available for seeding, the cowpea seed should be disked or plowed in, and the sorghum seed should then be sown while the land is rough, and covered with a drag harrow. The Whippoorwill, Iron, Unknown and Clay cowpeas require about the same time as sorghum to mature and therefore should be used instead of the early varieties. In general, the planting may be done from June 1 to July 15.
Growing cowpeas and sorghum together in cultivated rows gives excellent results. They should be planted together in rows two and one half to three and one-half feet apart, three pecks of cowpea seed and about one-third of a bushel of sorghum seed being used to the acre. The Sumac and the Orange varieties are fully as good as the Amber sorghum for this use, as they grow larger and stronger plants. The harvesting is most satisfactorily done with a mower.
Cowpeas and Corn.
Cowpeas are most widely used at present for growing with corn. When grown in this way a farmer secures a crop of corn, sufficient cowpea seed for use the next season, and either a hay crop or a certain amount of grazing for his stock. The cowpea is an excellent plant to grow with corn for ensilage, and is being used quite extensively for this purpose on many dairy farms, especially in the northern part of the cowpea region. When planted in the cornfield it is usually at the last cultivation of that crop. The quantity of seed used to the acre ranges from a half bushel or less to two bushels, depending largely on whether the planting is broadcast or in rows close to the corn. Generally the best results are obtained by the use of about three pecks of seed and planting near the rows of corn, preferably with a corn, cotton, or other planter, immediately after the last cultivation of the corn. Usually the peas are allowed to ripen a fair percentage of pods, which are gathered for next year's seed, and the vines are then pastured.
In the sugar-cane districts of Louisiana and in parts of Mississippi and Alabama the cowpeas are made into hay instead of being pastured after the corn has been gathered. This is a very good practice and is becoming general. The work is very satisfactorily done with a strong wooden-toothed rake, which pulls the vines and leaves them in small bunches for curing. The harvesting is also done with a mower to some extent.
In a few localities, especially in parts of Maryland, corn and cowpeas are sown thickly together for hay, with excellent results. The seeding for this purpose is at the rate of one-half to one bushel of corn and one bushel of cowpeas to the acre. The two mature at practically the same time, and the yield is large, and the curing is easily done.
Cowpeas and Millet.
German millet has often been grown in mixture with cowpeas. As it matures in a relatively short time it is adapted for growing only with the early varieties of cowpeas, such as the New Era, and even with these the yield is rarely increased. The millet aids materially in curing the hay, however, and possibly improves its quality by adding variety. Millet should never be used in mixture with the late and rank-growing cowpeas, as the results obtained are not satisfactory, since in addition to maturing too early the millet is not strong enough to hold up the cowpea vines.
Cowpeas and Soy Beans
Little experimenting has been done in growing soybeans and cowpeas together, but the results obtained have been very promising. Only the larger-growing soybeans, such as the Mammoth variety, are suitable for this use. The soybeans are strong, enough to assist very materially in holding up the cowpeas, and they also aid effectively in curing the hay. The combination is therefore worthy of much more extended use. The hay of this mixture is an exceedingly rich one, as the composition of both plants is high in protein. Seeding should be at the rate of a bushel of soybeans and half bushel of cowpeas to the acre.
COWPEAS FOR PASTURE.
The use of cowpeas for pasture is not as a rule the best farm practice, but under certain circumstances it is advisable and fairly profitable. Grazing cultivated lands is likely to render succeeding tillage more difficult on account of the trampling by stock; and, unless care is exercised in pasturing cowpeas, loss of animals by bloating may result, especially in wet weather. However, the small amount of work and the insignificant cash outlay always associated with the grazing of stock commend the practice to the average farmer, and scarcity of labor often makes it necessary to pasture a crop whenever possible. Cowpeas when planted in corn are very commonly used for grazing, especially with hogs.
The best time to begin pasturing cowpeas is when the first pods are ripe. This practice is not generally followed, as at least a part of the seed is saved first. When the peas are grown in cornfields the grazing is deferred until the corn has been gathered.
In a feeding trial at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station it was found that pigs fed corn alone gained 0.36 pound daily, while pigs on cowpea pasture and corn gained 0.97 pound daily, consuming 36 per cent less corn for each pound of gain. The returns were $10.65 for an acre of cowpeas, with corn at 40 cents a bushel and hogs at 3 cents a pound.
The Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station reports that cowpeas planted early in July furnished two grazing periods for milk cows before frost in the fall and that the flow of milk was noticeably increased. At the Arkansas station steers were fattened on cowpea pasture and cottonseed, making an average gain of two pounds a day for ninety days. So long as the pea vines were green and considerable seed was available, very little cottonseed was eaten. The cost of each pound of gain was only two cents for the cottonseed, thus showing the high value of the cowpea pasture.
FEEDING VALUE OF COWPEAS.
Cowpea Hay
The feeding value of cowpea hay has long been recognized, as it has been used extensively for all kinds of stock in the Southern states. With a fair number of ripe peas in the hay it has been found to be satisfactory when fed alone to stock at work, and can be used very successfully as a maintenance ration for horses, mules, cattle, sheep, and even hogs. The farmers in the sugar-cane districts of Louisiana make a very extensive use of cowpea hay for their work stock, it being practically the only roughage used. It is generally claimed that horses or mules at work stand hot weather better when fed cowpea hay than when fed a grass hay and corn. The difference in the appearance of the animals is also very much in favor of the cowpeas.
In a three months' test at the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station the rations fed two high-grade Percheron mares, used as a team and receiving the same care and shelter, differed only in the use of ten pounds of cowpea hay in one and the same quantity of wheat bran in the other. The horse fed bran just held its own weight while the one fed cowpea hay gained a little. The cowpea ration was five cents cheaper in daily cost.
At the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station two three-year-old steers were fattened on cowpea hay and cottonseed in a feeding trial lasting ninety days. The daily ration consisted of 13 pounds of cottonseed and 20 pounds of pea hay. The average daily gain was 3 pounds for each steer, and the cattle were in excellent condition during the entire trial. The profit realized was $21.30. The Tennessee station found that 6 to 10 pounds of cowpea hay could be substituted for 3 to 5 pounds of cottonseed meal in beef production. This indicates that this hay can be utilized to advantage, in place of corn and cottonseed meal when these feeds are high priced.
In the production of milk and butter, the Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station reports that 1¼ pounds of chopped pea hay is equivalent to a pound of wheat bran, and 3 pounds of chopped pea hay to a pound of cottonseed meal. With bran valued at $20 a ton a yield of 2 1/2 tons of cowpea hay would mean a return of $40 an acre for the crop, based on its feeding value. Cowpea hay is equally as good as bran for producing a flow of milk.
Cowpea Seed
The seed of cowpeas is rarely obtainable at a low enough price to be used as a feed. Its composition indicates that it is a richer feed than wheat bran. The Alabama Experiment Station fed cowpeas to fattening pigs with excellent results. More lean meat was found in the bodies of the pigs fed cowpeas than in those fed corn meal only. A great many people have tried feeding the seed, either whole or in broken pieces, to poultry. Splendid results are obtained, the fowls being kept in good condition and producing a good supply of eggs, even in the winter months. Very good results are also obtained by feeding the hay, as the fowls eat all except the hard, coarse stems.
Cowpea Straw
Now that Cowpea seed can be secured by running the vines through a threshing machine, the straw is coming to be quite an important feed. While no authentic data are at hand in regard to this straw, farmers and stable keepers who have used it claim that it is an excellent feed, some even preferring it to ordinary peavine hay. There have been no ill effects reported from its use. The straw sells for about the same price as the hay.
GROWING COWPEAS FOR SEED.
The greater agricultural use of cowpeas has been seriously handicapped in late years by the high price of seed. Until the last few years cowpea seed has been almost entirely gathered by hand, though that harvested by machinery makes up an increasing percentage of the commercial seed each year. Cheaper seed will undoubtedly bring about an enormous increase in the culture of the crop.
Cowpeas when grown for seed or for combined seed and hay production are nearly always sown broadcast or with a grain drill. Occasionally fields are planted in rows and cultivated. Experiments generally prove that the largest yields are secured by planting in rows and cultivating, but in many localities this increased yield is not sufficient to offset the additional cost of cultivation.
The planting of cowpeas for seed production should always be thinner than for forage purposes. When grown in rows twenty-four to thirty-six inches apart one peck to a half bushel of good seed per acre is required. When the seed is broadcasted the quantity ranges from three to six pecks to the acre, depending on the soil, the method of seeding, and the size of seed. Heavy clay or light sandy soils require more seed than loam soils. If sown with a grain drill only about two-thirds as much as for broadcasting is required. Of the smaller-seeded varieties, such as the New Era and the Iron, two or three pecks-will give the best results; while of the larger-seeded varieties, such as the Black, the Unknown, and the Whippoorwill, the quantities range from three to five pecks to the acre, a bushel generally being the best amount to use. In most of the cowpea region planting for seed production should be rather late in the season, since late plantings as a rule give much better in seed yields than early plantings. This is not the case, however, in Oklahoma and northern Texas, where early seeding gives the best yields, owing probably to the lighter rainfall. In certain sections near the Gulf, two seed crops in a season may be secured by growing in rows and planting the first very early.
Hand Picking
The method of gathering seed by hand is the only one practicable where the peas are planted in corn, which is a very common practice throughout the South. The cowpeas are planted at the last cultivation of the corn and are nearly always ripe before frost. The vines climb the cornstalks, so most of the pods are well above ground, which greatly facilitates gathering them. They are picked by hand into bags, and later flailed or run through a pod huller. The cost of hand picking ranges from forty to seventy-five cents a hundred pounds of pods, or the picker is given one-third to one-half of the total quantity gathered. This method of harvesting naturally makes the price of seed high. Fields grown to cowpeas alone for seed production are often hand picked. The yield of seed in such cases is as a rule much larger, and a larger number of pods can be picked in a day than when grown with corn. The Blackeye and similar varieties grown for table use are usually picked by hand.
Machine Picking
The scarcity of seed and the difficulty of securing labor have resulted in the invention of several so called pea pickers. These machines are intended to gather the pods from the vines in the field. The peas must be planted in rows for the most successful operation of a pea picker, and the entire plant must be ripe and dry before the machine will do satisfactory work. Two of these pickers are constructed on much the same principle, that of a winged drum revolving rapidly over a stationary moderately sharp edge. The pods are thus knocked back upon a platform and then elevated into a receiving box or bag. A third machine differs from the foregoing in that the picking apparatus is very much in the nature of a flailing operation, the cylinder consisting of four arms made up of pieces of gas pipe. This revolves rapidly and knocks the pods back into the gathering box. A fourth machine is a harvester and thresher combined. In this the vines are cut with an ordinary mowing arrangement and passed directly to the threshing part of the machine which is essentially the same as that of any thresher. This last-mentioned machine is very satisfactory for harvesting perfectly ripe leas, since it very nearly completes the operation. For harvesting varieties grown for table use, such as Blackeye, the Lady, and other white peas, it may find considerable demand.
Harvesting and
Threshing.
Cowpeas for seed production are quite satisfactorily harvested with a mower. A bunching attachment has been used with excellent results. This gets the vines out of the way of the team, thus avoiding considerable loss of peas through trampling and crushing by the mower wheels. It also leaves the vines in a more desirable shape for curing, they being rolled into small windrows. The self-rake reaper is a very satisfactory machine for mowing cowpeas for seed, accomplishing even better results than the buncher on a mower, as the vines are left in bunches of very convenient size for curing and handling.
The bean harvester has been given careful trial in harvesting cowpeas for seed production, but it is not very satisfactory. Viny peas catch on parts of the machine and drag badly. There is also likely to be much soil worked into the vines, making the further handling difficult and disagreeable.
For seed production cowpeas should be allowed to mature a greater percentage of pods than when cut for hay. Half or more should be ripe before mowing, even at the expense of losing a part of the foliage. The vines should then be allowed to cure and become thoroughly dry, after which the threshing may be done. , The curing and drying may be done in the swath, cock, stack, or barn, as desired, weather conditions largely determining the method to be pursued. The hay or straw is of better quality if the curing and drying are done in the stack or barn, though, of course, the amount of work required is greater. It is a common belief that weevils do much less damage to seeds in the pods than to the threshed seeds. On this account some growers store their crop and thresh it late in the winter or early in the spring. However, the unthreshed material requires much space for storage, and there is no effective way of combating insects, while in clean stored seed all insect life is readily destroyed by treatment with carbon bisulphid.
Cowpeas may be threshed with an ordinary grain thresher. In this case the riddles are adjusted for cowpeas and satisfactory screens are provided. The most essential point in threshing cowpeas is to maintain low and even speed of the cylinder, 300 to 400 revolutions per minute, while the rest of the machine should be adjusted to run at least as fast as for threshing wheat or oats. Some operators prefer to have a greater clearance between the cylinder and concave spikes than for grain threshing, while others do not think this an advantage. While expert operators sometimes do very satisfactory work with an ordinary grain separator, there are three important difficulties encountered: (1) Too many of the pods pass through with the straw unopened; (2) the machine is easily choked by the tangled vines wrapping around the cylinder; and (3) the percentage of cracked peas is usually large.
To overcome these difficulties several modifications of threshing machines have been devised so as to adapt them for handling cowpeas. One modification which has been adopted in several different machines is the use of two cylinders. These cylinders are adjusted to run at different speeds, the front one slowly, about 300 revolutions per minute, and the rear one more rapidly, about 450 revolutions per minute. Apparently the only advantage gained by two cylinders over one is that a smaller percentage of the unopened pods pass through with the straw. The use of two cylinders, however, results in a somewhat larger percentage of cracked peas.
A second modification which has been applied, both to machines with one cylinder and those with two, is to sharpen the spikes on the concaves or on both the concaves and cylinders. This sharpening means bringing the face of the spike to as nearly a sharp edge as can be done by ordinary blacksmithing. The beneficial effect of sharpening the spikes is very marked, as the vines pass through much more readily, there is little tendency to wrap around the cylinder, the amount of power required is very materially reduced, and the percentage of cracked peas is decidedly smaller. The straw is also chopped so it is in fine condition for feeding. A one-cylinder machine with the spikes sharpened does very satisfactory work except that a small percentage of the pods may pass through in the
straw unopened, while by the use of a two-cylinder machine practically all the peas are secured.
In a third device all the spikes in both cylinder and concaves are sharpened, and there is a minimum of clearance. The concaves are arranged in two sets, one of two rows and the other of three. The two row set is at the front of the cylinder on a plane with the shaft; the other is below the cylinder and at the back of it, about 120 degrees from the first. There is a perforated web under the cylinder which is hinged at the three-row set of concaves and has the front part attached to the shakers, so that it is worked up and down by their backward and forward motion. When the vines come through the first concaves they drop on the web, rest momentarily, and are then picked up by the cylinder again and taken through the second concaves. This momentary rest results in the rearrangement of the straw, so that it virtually amounts to passing through a second cylinder, as in the two-cylinder machines. A perforated feeding table is used to get loose peas to the separating surface without -passing through the cylinder. This machine is by far the most satisfactory pea thresher yet devised. The number of cracked peas is very small; the vines are chopped as fine as if they had been through a cutting box, and all the peas are gotten out of the pods, while the material which can be run through in a given time is the maximum for present-day machines and the power required the minimum.
It is very essential in threshing cowpeas that there be sufficient power to give a uniform speed to the separator. It is also highly desirable that the cylinder be kept uniformly full in order to get the best results, as running empty means an increase in the number of cracked peas.
The price of cowpea threshers now on the market ranges from $300 to $600, exclusive of the engine. If the peas are stacked or put into a barn so they need not be threshed immediately, one machine will be sufficient for 2000 acres, as the crop from 20 acres can readily be handled in one day. As a rule only a moderate acreage of cowpeas for seed should be grown by any one farmer, as unfavorable weather may cause great difficulty at harvest time. It is very desirable to have enough cowpeas for seed grown in a community to justify the local ownership of a threshing machine.
COWPEAS FOR SOIL IMPROVEMENT
The beneficial results of growing cowpeas are due largely to the ability of the plants, like those of alfalfa and red clover, to take nitrogen from the air by means of the bacteria which live in the nodules on the roots. Cowpeas also improve markedly the physical condition of the soil. This, taken in connection with their ability to produce a crop quickly on even the poorer soils, makes the cowpea particularly valuable both as a catch crop and in regular rotations when utilized either for hay or seed production.
At the present time the most popular rotation for the entire South is one which allows the largest possible area to be planted in cotton each year. A system of cropping which is in general use is three years in cotton, the fourth year in corn and cowpeas, and then three years in cotton again. This system allows three-fourths of the farm to be in cotton each' year, and is applicable to all of the better agricultural land. On the poorer soils of the cotton belt it is likely that better' results would be secured by growing cotton only two years and corn and cowpeas the third year. This would leave two-thirds of the farm for cotton each year, and would undoubtedly be an excellent system of cropping. The Alabama Experiment Station reports an increase in yield in one case of 696 pounds of seed cotton to the acre, or 83 per cent, due to plowing under a crop of cowpea vines on land which had been in cotton the previous season. The Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station secured an increase in yield of 59 per cent where a crop of cowpeas had been grazed the preceding year.
Practically the same plan of rotation is followed in the sugar-cane districts of Louisiana. Three crops of cane are taken off the land, and the fourth year it is planted to cowpeas or to corn and cowpeas. The work stock are fed almost exclusively on pea-vine hay or are grazed on cowpeas in the cornfield after the corn has been gathered. This rotation gives excellent results in the succeeding crops of cane.
A rotation of wheat or oats and cowpeas is giving excellent results in parts of Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Cowpeas are sown on the land immediately after the removal of the grain crop and are utilized for hay or seed or for pasture. Grain is sown again in the fall, thus making two crops a year from the same land, In many instances landowners in Arkansas and Missouri have allowed tenants the use of land free of charge for producing a crop of cowpeas, stipulating, however, that the land must be well prepared. When the soil is given good preparation before sowing the cowpeas, it is not necessary to plow in the autumn for the grain. The fall preparation usually consists of disking the cowpea stubble and sowing the grain with a drill. Occasionally the seeding is done with a disk drill without any preliminary preparation. The increase in yield of wheat due to the cowpeas is generally given as from three to five bushels per acre. At the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station, an increase in yield of 63 per cent with oats and 49 per cent with wheat following cowpeas as a catch crop was secured. The Arkansas station reports as the average, of a four years' test on wheat an increase of 25 per cent from plowing under cowpea stubble the first fall, 39 per cent from plowing under cowpea vines, and 42 per cent where cowpeas were grown each year as a catch crop between the wheat crops, only the stubble of the peas being plowed under. The increased yield in the latter case amounted to 70 per cent in the fourth season, the yields having gradually increased from year to year, in addition to producing a fair quantity of very nutritious hay each season.
On farms where more or less live stock is produced the following three year rotation is very popular and is a good one: First year, cotton; second year, corn with cowpeas at last cultivation; third year, winter oats or wheat, with a catch crop of cowpeas for hay or seed after the grain has been removed.
A few striking results due to the growing of cowpeas are here noted. The Alabama station reports a yield of oats following cowpea vines plowed under 247 per cent larger than where German millet was plowed under. The Arkansas station reports an increase in yield of 63 per cent on corn where cowpeas were grazed the season before. The Missouri station increased the yield of corn 79 per cent by growing cowpeas on the land for two years before planting the corn. In yield of hay the Arkansas station secured an increase of 116 per cent on oats following cowpeas grazed the year before. The Alabama station increased the yield of sorghum hay 2.01 tons, or 55 per cent, by plowing under cowpea stubble on land where sorghum was grown the previous year.
These and many similar experiments conclusively prove that it is much more economical to use cowpeas for hay or seed production in rotation with other farm crops than to use them for green manuring. It is only in special cases that it is advisable to utilize cowpeas as a green manure. On very poor sandy land or on stiff, heavy clay soils in bad mechanical condition a crop of cowpeas plowed under will give markedly beneficial results. Cowpeas give very good satisfaction as a cover crop in orchards, for which they find a limited use. In case of bad weather setting in at harvest time it may be desirable to utilize the crop for green manure, or to pasture it if the land is of such a nature as not to be seriously injured by the trampling of stock.
VARIETIES OF COWPEAS.
There are about fifty varieties of cowpeas known, but only a few of the best of these are extensively cultivated. The varieties differ in such characters as habit, size, earliness, prolificness, disease resistance, and especially in the color of the seeds, which are either entirely white, red, buff, black, or blue, or variously blotched or speckled. The varieties are all very constant in their seed characters. The variation in vines, however, is very marked, being influenced by the time of planting, the nature of the season and the locality where grown. Early planting or a wet season usually results in a large growth of vines. Natural crosses between the varieties occur under favoring conditions, but they are far from common. The use to be made of the crop by the grower should determine largely which variety to select.
For table use the varieties with white or nearly white seeds are preferred, as they make a more attractive dish. The habit of growth of the table peas is of little direct concern, and, as a matter of fact, none of them is very satisfactory for forage purposes. The principal varieties are the Blackeye, of which there are several strains, the Browneye, the Lady, and the Cream. These are more properly considered vegetables. Several of the colored-seeded varieties are also used as table peas.
For forage purposes the most desirable varieties are those which have a fairly upright habit, grow to large size, hold their leaves well and produce an abundance of pods. Descriptions of the most important varieties follow. Of the numerous remaining varieties none is grown to a very large extent, and most of them are distinctly inferior to those described here.
Whippoorwill
The Whippoorwill variety is known under several other names, such as Running Speckled, Bunch Speckled, and Shinney. It may be considered the standard of all field cowpeas. It is suitable either for grain or hay production, or both. It makes a vigorous growth, is fairly erect, and still produces a large amount of vine. It can readily be handled by machinery which is bringing it more and more into prominence. The seed is mottled chocolate on a buff or reddish ground color.
Unknown, or Wonderful.
The Unknown, or Wonderful, cowpea is another field variety which is grown to a large extent. It is the largest growing and most vigorous of the cowpeas, but is late in maturing, it being difficult sometimes to secure seed of it as far north as Washington, D. C. The principal objection to this pea is its light seeding. It is nearly as erect as the Whippoorwill variety; hence it is quite readily handled by machinery either for grain or hay production. The seed is large in size and of a very light clay color.
New Era
The New Era is the smallest seeded of the cowpeas that have found a wide use. The seed is bluish in color, owing to the innumerable minute blue specks on a gray ground. The New Era is the most nearly erect of any of the varieties, rarely having any prostrate branches. It usually produces a heavy crop of seed, and matures in from seventy-five to ninety days. It is one of the earliest of the cowpeas and is the most easily handled by machinery. The small seed is not usually considered an undesirable character, as a smaller quantity is required for seeding than is the case with other varieties.
Groit.
The variety known as the Groit has been much confused with the New Era cowpea. In habit the two are much alike, but the Groit is a little superior, as it makes a larger growth and fruits more heavily. The seed is quite similar to that of the New Era, but has chocolate mottlings in addition to the blue specks. It is quite certainly a hybrid between the New Era and the Whippoorwill varieties.
Iron.
The Iron variety is coming rapidly into prominence. In its habit it is only slightly different from the Unknown, though it is not quite as vigorous or as large. It is earlier than the Unknown and the seed, though nearly the same color, is much smaller, being but very little larger than that of the New Era. The characteristic of the Iron cowpea which has been instrumental in bringing it into prominence is its resistance to wilt and to root-knot caused by eelworms. It is the only one of the cowpeas which has been found to resist these diseases. Where they are prevalent in the soil, the Iron cowpea is the only variety which can be successfully grown, and since the diseases are spreading the distribution of the Iron cowpea is also increasing. Regardless of its resistance to these diseases it is a valuable variety under nearly all conditions, being vigorous, prolific, and quite erect. The seed is hard and retains its vitality better than that of most varieties. It will lie in the ground through the winter and germinate the next spring. This variety and the Unknown hold their leaves better than any others.
Clay.
The Clay cowpea is more variable in its habits than any of the foregoing varieties. It is the most pronounced trailer of any of the peas grown quite largely, and is consequently in very slight favor where the pea crop is handled by machinery. The plants are very vigorous but low growing, and they usually seed sparingly. Since seed is such an important item at the present time, a variety which has but poor fruiting qualities is not apt to remain popular, even though it may be harvested readily by machinery. The seed is the same color as that of the Unknown and the Iron, but is intermediate in size and flatter and longer.
Black.
The Black cowpea is used to a considerable extent in the sandy coastal plain area of Virginia and North Carolina. On heavy clay land this variety makes a very heavy growth of vine, but produces very little seed, while on the sandy lands it grows more bushy and fruits quite heavily. It also finds some demand in the sugar-cane section of Louisiana, where it is grown with corn in rotation with sugar cane. Where other varieties thrive the Black is not a favorite. The seeds are quite large and entirely black.
Taylor.
The variety called Taylor has larger seeds than any other cowpea. The seeds have nearly the same markings as those of the New Era, though the ground color is somewhat lighter. The Taylor cowpea has met with considerable favor in Maryland and Delaware, where it is erroneously called the Gray Crowder, but outside of this region does not seem to be a very valuable variety. In most cases it is too much of a trailer to be desirable. It also has a tendency to drop its leaves earlier than any of the other varieties except the Black.
Red Ripper
The Red Ripper is a valuable pea, as it makes nearly as large a growth as the Unknown, or Wonderful, and is excellent for growing in corn. It is very late, usually maturing but a small number of peas at Washington, D. C. It is difficult to procure seed of it in quantity on account of its light yield. The seed is dark red and about the same size as that of the Whippoorwill variety.
SUMMARY.
To make good cowpea hay requires careful handling of the crop. The plant should have made its growth and have at least the first pods ripe when the mowing is done. Uniformity in maturing is essential in getting the best results. The use of a tedder is very helpful. The serious loss of leaves can be avoided by not handling the hay when the leaves are dry and brittle. The curing is best done in small cocks, and the hay is ready for the stack or barn when no moisture can be wrung from the stem by twisting it with considerable force.
Cowpeas for hay production are very advantageously grown in mixture with sorghum, Johnson grass, or soy beans. The yield is thus increased the quality improved and the curing more easily done. Cowpeas give very good results when grown with sorghum in cultivated rows and are very commonly planted in corn and used for grazing or ensilage.
Pasturing cowpeas is not the most economical practice, but it is frequently resorted to because of the small expense it entails. Cowpeas are especially suitable for grazing hogs.
Cowpea hay is very nutritious. It is nearly equal to wheat bran as part of a ration. It is satisfactory for work stock and for beef or milk production, and it gives good results when fed to poultry. The grain is a rich feed, excellent for poultry but little used for other feeding. Cowpea straw is an excellent roughage and nearly as valuable as the hay.
Cheaper cowpea seed will result in the much more extensive growing of the crop. Harvesting for seed can be done most cheaply by the use of machinery. The crop should be cut with a mower or self-rake reaper' when half or more of the pods are ripe. When thoroughly dry the threshing row, be done with an ordinary grain separator with some modifications, with a two cylinder cowpea thresher, or with a one-cylinder special machine which has all the threshing spikes sharpened in addition to having ingenious devices which make it the most satisfactory thresher for handling cowpeas.
Cowpeas add nitrogen to the soil and improve its mechanical condition. They are most profitably grown in rotation with other crops. The following rotations are good ones: (a) Cotton, three years; corn and cowpeas, fourth year; and then cotton again. This is all right on the better soils of the South, but the cotton should be planted only two years in succession on the poorer soils. (b) Wheat or oats with cowpeas each season after the removal of the grain crop, the land being seeded to grain again in the fall, making two crops a year from the same land. (c) Cotton, first year; corn and cowpeas, second year; winter oats or wheat followed by cowpeas as a catch crop, third year; and then cotton again.
The most valuable varieties are the Whippoorwill, the Unknown or Wonderful, the New Era and the Iron for field purposes; and the Blackeye, for table use.
The Iron cowpea is practically immune to the two serious diseases, wilt and root-knot, which attack the other varieties more or less. It alone should therefore be grown wherever these diseases are prevalent.
-------------------------
The following, by E. A. Grantham, is from Bulletin No. 73 of the Missouri Experiment Station, and is valuable because of its dealing with its subject from the viewpoint of territory near to Kansas:
COWPEAS FOR HAY.
When properly cured cowpeas make an excellent hay. Few farmers realize that cowpea hay has a feeding value nearly equal to alfalfa and fully equal to the best of red clover hay. It is equally as profitable a feed as alfalfa, and when fed to dairy cows or growing animals will produce as good results. Work animals can be maintained on cowpea hay with the addition of but very little grain. The chief value of cowpea hay lies in its large per cent of digestible protein, as is shown by analysis and which has been verified by numerous feeding tests. It will be noted from the table that cowpea hay contains practically the same amount of digestible protein as alfalfa, but considerably more than red clover.
The following data, taken from Henry's "Feeds and Feeding," show the comparative feeding value of the more common grain and hay products:
Digestible Nutrients from
Different Crops.
|
|
Digestible nutrients per 100 lbs. |
||
|
Material. |
Protein |
Carbohydrates |
Fat. |
|
Cowpea hay |
10.8% |
38.6% |
1.1% |
|
Clover |
6.8 |
35.8 |
1.7 |
|
Alfalfa |
11.0 |
39.6 |
1.2 |
|
Timothy |
2.8 |
43.4 |
1.4 |
|
Wheat bran |
12.2 |
39.2 |
2.7 |
|
Corn |
7.9 |
67.7 |
4.3 |
|
Oats |
9.2 |
47.3 |
4.2 |
|
Cowpeas (grain) |
18.3 |
54.2 |
1.1 |
As compared with timothy hay, cowpea hay contains about four times as much protein. The average farm does not produce enough protein to balance properly the more carbonaceous feeds, as corn, stover and timothy. Such a combination of food compounds is necessary if the best results are to be secured from feeding.
Comparison Of Cowpea Hay With Timothy Hay For Wintering
Yearling Steers.
First
trial (1899-1900), 104 days, 4 steers
in each lot; 4 pounds of corn per day per head.
|
Kind of Feed |
Corn eaten |
Hay eaten |
Total gain |
Av. daily gain |
Grain per lb of gain |
|
Corn and timothy hay (lbs.) |
1,568 |
6,536 |
260 |
0.64 |
6.00 |
|
Corn and cowpea hay |
1,568 |
7,757 |
624 |
1.54 |
2.51 |
Experiments in feeding carried out by this station show conclusively the necessity for balancing the rations of livestock. The accompanying tables show the superiority of cowpea hay over timothy hay, when fed with corn, for wintering yearling steers.
In this trial the substitution of cowpea hay for the timothy more than doubled the gain.
Further tests were made which show the relative efficiency of timothy, red clover and cowpea hay for balancing the rations of fattening animals. The following tables present a summary of results:
Comparison Of Cowpea Hay With Clover And Timothy Hay For Fattening Steers.
First
trial (1899-1900) 119 days, 4 two-year-old steers in each lot; full-fed on
shelled corn.
|
Kind of Feed |
Corn eaten (bu.) |
Roughness eaten (lbs.) |
Total gain (lbs.) |
Average daily gain per steer |
Grain per pound of gain |
Gain per bushel of corn |
|
Corn and timothy hay |
166 |
3813 |
802 |
1.69 |
11.51 |
4.87 |
|
Corn and cowpea hay |
188 |
3662 |
1257 |
2.64 |
8.31 |
6.74 |
Second
trial (1900-01) 105 days, 4 two-year-old steers in each lot; full-fed on
shelled corn.
|
Kind of Feed |
Corn eaten (bu.) |
Roughness eaten (lbs.) |
Total gain (lbs.) |
Average daily gain per steer |
Grain per pound of gain |
Gain per bushel of corn |
|
Corn and timothy hay |
157.5 |
2540 |
789 |
1.97 |
11.19 |
5.00 |
|
Corn and clover hay |
176.2 |
4768 |
1135 |
2.84 |
8.69 |
6.44 |
|
Corn and cowpea hay |
175.3 |
4783 |
1134 |
2.84 |
8.65 |
6.47 |
As the table indicates, there was a much more rapid gain where the animals received a ration with considerable protein, as is found in red clover and cowpea hay. The steers made nearly 50 per cent better gains where fed cowpea hay than where timothy was used. The experiment also shows, that cowpea hay and red clover hay have nearly the same feeding value.
On the other hand, if those feeds carrying large amounts of digestible protein be fed alone the most profitable returns will not be made. To supply the lack of protein food on the farm commercial feed stuffs, such as bran, are often bought, and sometimes alfalfa. Bran has but little greater feeding value than cowpea hay and costs about twenty dollars per ton, while the best grade of the latter can be had for ten dollars per ton. An equal quantity of the two feeds will produce nearly the same amount of milk, energy or growth. For dairymen and stock feeders who are obliged to buy bran considerable expense may be saved by using cowpea hay as a part of the ration. Much land is not adapted to the growing of alfalfa, and that valuable feed in this neighborhood is an expensive item that can be readily eliminated by substituting cowpea hay for the alfalfa. Large tracts in Missouri do not grow clover well, and still more extensive areas are not adapted to alfalfa, but the entire state will grow cowpeas. The average yield of cowpea hay for the past five years, as reported by the State Board of Agriculture and by practical farmers, is 1.6 tons per acre as compared with an average of 1.2 tons for all hay.
Cowpeas yield well for hay and are a sure crop. The average farmer should not be obliged to purchase hay of any kind. The so-called prairie hay so commonly used in parts of Missouri is a very inferior feed. In some sections of the state it is not uncommon to find farmers purchasing hay for their work animals during the spring and early summer. While clover and timothy may not be adapted to these soils, yet there is little question but that cowpeas could be made to produce sufficient hay for the demands of the farmer for the entire year.
As yet, cowpea hay is little known on the general hay markets of the country. This is due largely to the fact that peas are grown to such a limited extent that there is never a surplus, and for the reason that the true merits of the feed are not widely recognized, The fact that pea hay is not in the market is no objection; the best systems of farm management raise and feed all their own hay.
From reports of many farmers who have been growing cowpeas, as to the comparative feeding value of red clover hay and cowpea hay, it was found that 96 reported cowpea hay better than red clover hay; 77 reported cowpea hay as equal to red clover hay; 13 reported cowpea hay inferior to red clover hay; or 93 per cent reported cowpea hay equal to or better than red clover.
COWPEAS FOR PASTURE.
The cowpea, on account of its habit of growth, is not well adapted for a strictly pasture plant. Yet peas do furnish a pasture crop for a brief period at the time of year when such forage can be used to the best advantage. From the latter part of August until frost cowpeas make a pasture that, used to supplement the fattening ration of hogs and sheep, cannot be excelled. All animals relish highly the succulent and nutritious forage. Reports from practical farmers show that good results are obtained by pasturing peas with any kind of livestock. If peas are sufficiently mature frost will not greatly lessen the feeding value of the vines. At that stage of maturity when many of the pods are yellow and before any of the leaves fall is best to begin pasturing. If stock is turned on before the pods have reached full size the plants are much more easily wasted by trampling, and further, the forage has not its full feeding value, because it is too watery. Cowpea vines that have attained their growth are not so likely to cause bloat in sheep or cattle. The most common practice in pasturing peas is to hog them down. This may be done where peas are sown alone or where they have been planted in corn. In the latter case the hogs have a full fattening ration and do exceptionally well. For young hogs the peas are a splendid feed and but little grain is required to bring them to market weight. Hogs will eat off the mature pods first, as they are the richest part of the plant, and leave some of the vines, especially when dry, so that cattle or sheep may be used to pasture off the more bulky vines. Sheep may be pastured on peas in the same way as hogs and will clean up every vestige of the plant. When sown in corn the stover blades and peas make a very fine ration for fattening fall lambs as well as wethers. Dairy animals show the effect of such pasture in a greatly increased flow of milk.
A Dunklin county farmer writes: "I have made more clear money pasturing hogs and cattle on peas than on anything on the farm. I also pasture my horses and mules and they do well."
A Monroe county farmer says: "I believe cowpeas will put more fat on a sheep than any other feed and do it quicker."
A Jackson county farmer states: "Hogs will fatten on cowpeas almost equally with corn."
A farmer of Barton county relates: "A neighbor fattened sixty hogs from twenty acres of peas and they equaled in feeding value 600 bushels of corn, valued at $300 that season, 1902."
A Barry county farmer says: "I think for milk production cowpea hay is bettor than clover or any other kind of hay."
One advantage in using cowpeas for pasture is that a large amount of high-class feed is provided the animals without the expense of handling. Another is, that the soil is not only benefited by the growing of cowpeas but the waste vines and droppings from the animals are also left on the land. The vines that are not eaten are not wasted, as they are valuable for manure. The weather at the time of year when cowpeas are usually pastured is such that the ground is rarely injured by trampling. The soil after peas have been hogged off is in an excellent condition of fertility for the fall sowing of wheat.
If cowpeas are not pastured too closely they will make considerable aftergrowth in a favorable season. Where the primary object in sowing peas is not soil improvement, it will be found more profitable to pasture off the vines or take them off for the hay rather than plow them under.
As a result of inquiry among cowpea growers in various parts of the state regarding their opinion of cowpeas as a pasture for all kinds of stock, it was found that of 130 farmers who had tried the pasture, 127 declared the pasture good to excellent. Only one found cowpea pasture to be unprofitable.
COWPEAS FOR SOIL IMPROVEMENT.
The growing of cowpeas has a marked influence on the productive capacity of the soil. The beneficial effect is due to the increased amount of available plant food in the soil and to its improved physical condition. The cowpea, like red clover and other legumes, has the power of taking nitrogen from the air by means of the bacteria which live on the roots of the plant. This supply of nitrogen serves to increase greatly the growth of the plant and at the same time leaves the soil richer when the crop is removed. The cowpea, alfalfa and the clovers are the only plants grown as farm crops in the state that are able to draw upon the nitrogen in the air, and hence are the plants we must depend upon to maintain and increase the supply of this element in the soil. The roots of the cowpea penetrate rather deeply into the subsoil and enable the plant to feed upon the mineral food that is not readily extracted by other crops. These mineral compounds, phosphoric acid and potash, thus gathered from the depths of the soil are, when the plant decays, left in an available form near the surface, to be utilized by the more shallow rooted crops. Further, the decomposition of organic matter in the soil tends to render soluble the mineral elements and to increase its capacity for holding moisture. The root system of the cowpea has the effect of making more loose and open the soil layers and to promote aeration and drainage. The growing of cowpeas may be said therefore to increase the productive capacity of the soil; first, by increasing the supply of nitrogen; second, by making available the mineral compounds of phosphoric acid and potash; third, by improving the physical condition of the soil.
The cowpea has a large capacity for gathering and storing nitrogen. It is more active in this respect than red clover, as a ton of cowpea hay contains 46.5 pounds of nitrogen while a ton of clover has but 40 pounds. The quality and quantity of green manure that is produced by cowpeas recommends the crop highly for such purposes. Yields of ten to twelve tons of green vines are not uncommon. The cowpea has a distinct advantage over other legumes in making considerable growth on soils that are not adapted to clover, and on soils that will not produce a profitable yield of grain crops. The fact that cowpeas are able to secure plant food from soils too poor to induce a growth of red clover renders the plant invaluable as a soil improver. It is possible by growing a few crops of peas and plowing them under to increase the available plant food in, and to improve the physical condition of, a very poor soil, so that it will produce fair yields of other crops. Soils that have been in cowpeas will be found to work more easily, have a greater moisture content during the growing season and to dry earlier in the spring. The improved condition of such soil is favorable to a stand of clover or grass. Much land that refuses to grow clover may be put in such condition by cowpeas that a perfect stand can be secured. Particularly is this true of land that once grew clover and has been badly run down.
COWPEAS AS A CATCH CROP.
Cowpeas have much to recommend them as a soil improver. Their quick-maturing habit makes it possible to grow as large a crop of cowpeas in eighty days as can be grown in fifteen months by red clover. For this reason cowpeas are admirably adapted for a catch crop between the main crops of a rotation. In the latitude of Missouri cowpeas may follow wheat or oats and secure a crop before time for fall seeding. In the northern part of the state, owing to the shorter season this practice will not generally be successful after oats are removed, unless the season is very favorable and a quick-maturing variety is used. A crop of cowpeas is worth as much as a crop of red clover, and a gain is not only secured from the hay or forage, but also from the increased fertility of the soil. Then, the rotation of the regular crops is not disturbed. A portion of the growing season not ordinarily utilized may thus be turned to a profit. Cowpeas should not be expected to take the place of clover on soils that grow clover well, but too much cannot be said of growing cowpeas in addition to clover in the rotation. Where clover will not catch cowpeas must be used. If it is found that a stand of clover has not been secured by spring seeding on wheat or with oats, the land should be sown to cowpeas as soon as the grain crop is removed. By such practice a crop of hay can be secured in time for fall seeding, but if not desirable to sow to grain the land may be again planted to cowpeas the following spring. Two crops of peas may thus be secured in place of the clover. Cowpeas may be rotated with wheat and clover to good advantage. For example, land on which clover is sown in wheat in the spring of 1907 may be plowed early after the clover crop is removed in 1908, seeded to cowpeas and harvested, and sown to wheat again in the fall. By this method two crops of leguminous hay may be secured from the same land in one year. Another method by which cowpeas may be used to improve the soil is to sow them in corn at the last cultivation. They will make considerable growth before frost and do not interfere with the following crop. Even where clover is a reliable crop it is advisable to keep plowed or fallow land covered with a growing crop during the summer months. It is during the heated portion of the year that nitrification goes on most rapidly under the proper conditions of temperature and moisture. Land after wheat or oats is often left almost bare, and, instead of promoting nitrification there may be an actual loss of nitrogen caused by the burning out of the organic matter in dry, hot weather. A cover crop of peas will shade the ground, prevent evaporation, and utilize and store nitrogen for succeeding crops.
COWPEAS FOR GREEN MANURE.
Cowpeas are of marked benefit to open, sandy soils where clover will not grow. These soils have little water-holding capacity, are deficient in organic matter, and the nitrogen is easily lost by burning out or by leaching. A very considerable increase in yield may be expected from this class of soils when sown to cowpeas. The thinness of the soil will determine whether or not a green crop should be plowed under. After the first crop the vines may be taken from the land and the stubble followed by grain.
There are many stiff, clay soils that may be greatly improved by the proper use of cowpeas. The first year the crop of peas may be light but the second year it will be heavier. On such soils it is desirable to plow under the first crop of peas early in September, sow to rye, which should be turned under the next spring, and the land sown to peas again. This crop may be harvested for hay and the land disked and sown to grain in the fall. Where the entire crop is turned under care should be taken to have the ground well settled before sowing to wheat. In this way it is possible to place two crops of green manure in the soil and to secure a crop of pea hay in one year. Each grain crop should be followed by a catch crop of peas, which should be turned under for a few years, or until the soil becomes open and loose. By this method some of the thinnest soils can be made to produce fair crops. If the land is not too rolling fall plowing is best, letting the plow cut a little deeper each time so that the upturned soil will be subjected to the freezing weather.
On land producing good crops the object should be to keep the soil in such condition that the yield may not only be maintained but even increased from year to year. With the proper management this is within the limits of possibility on every farm. The constant growing of grain crops without clover or cowpeas soon depletes the soil of its available nitrogen and the amount of organic matter is greatly lessened. It is the organic matter that promotes nitrification and also gives the soil an enlarged capacity for retaining moisture. Cowpeas, if grown whenever possible as a catch crop in addition to clover in the rotation, will serve very considerably to increase the stock of nitrogen and humus.
INCREASE IN YIELD OF CROPS AFTER COWPEAS.
The increase in the yield of crops after cowpeas will depend largely on the character of the soil. A rich soil in good tilth cannot be expected to show so much gain, but a fertile soil in a poor physical condition or a poor soil even in a good physical condition will always be materially benefited. Where a soil is both thin and in bad tilth two or more crops of peas will have to be grown in order to correct these conditions and to get a marked increase in the yield of grain. On soils of average fertility the plowing under of the entire crop is not attended with so marked an increase over the yield from land from which the peas have been harvested as to justify this expense. Under such circumstances the vines are worth more as a feed than they are as a manure, the roots and stubble being sufficient for the present requirements of this class of soils. Peas should be plowed under, therefore, only when the soil is decidedly lacking in nitrogen or organic matter. Whenever possible the peas should be utilized as hay or pastured off. In the latter case a large per cent of the fertilizing value of the peas is returned to the soil in the animal manure.
Experiments at this station on our upland soil show some very favorable returns from cowpeas as a fertilizer. During the season of 1906 corn on land that had been in cowpeas as a main crop in 1904 and 1905 yielded 63 bushels per acre; while exactly similar land that had had no peas, but had been otherwise similarly treated, produced at the rate of 34 bushels per acre. Oats sown on land that grew oats in 1905, followed by cowpeas as a catch crop, produced 43.2 bushels per acre in 1906. On land that had no catch crop of peas, oats made 25.8 bushels per acre. Wheat on land that had been in rotation with wheat and peas as a catch crop yielded 21 bushels per acre. The same soil without the peas gave a yield of 14.1 bushels. In other words, corn after two crops of cowpeas made an increase in yield of 79 per cent; oats following a catch crop of peas made an increase of 63 per cent; while the yield of wheat was increased 49 per cent.
Reports have been received from farmers in many sections of the state regarding their opinion of cowpeas as a soil improver.
A Greene county farmer says: "In May, 1904, we sowed fifteen acres to cowpeas at the rate of one-third of a bushel per acre. In September we turned the crop under and the next spring the land was planted to corn. The crop was double what it had been for years before."
A Howard county farmer writes: "Wheat following cowpeas made twice the yield of that on similar land that had had no peas and the wheat was of a superior quality, so that I got an advanced price for it for seed."
A Perry county farmer reports: "When cowpeas are pastured down with hogs and the vines left on the ground over winter I can raise as good corn as on clover sod."
A Mississippi county farmer states: "I think that cowpeas add one fourth to the yield of corn following peas."
A Clay county farmer reports: "In 1904 1 sowed five acres in cowpeas for hay, which made eight tons. I plowed the field that fall and planted to corn in 1905. Gathered 250 bushels from the field. The yield per acre before was 35 bushels."
A Monroe county farmer says: "Except stable manure I think cowpeas the best fertilizer I ever used."
A Montgomery county farmer relates: "I sowed forty acres to cowpeas in 1904 and plowed them under in the fall on thin land and planted to corn in 1905. Gathered fifty bushels of corn per acre that fall while my neighbors did not average over twenty-five bushels."
A Bates county farmer declares: "Cowpeas will make a ton of excellent hay to the acre and put the soil in fine condition for the next corn crop, and the yield will be five to ten bushels more."
A Bollinger county farmer says: "The yield of wheat and corn will be almost doubled when grown after the pea crop is taken off."
A Mississippi county farmer writes: "I let a piece of land that had been in corn for years lie out one year and put it in peas in spring of 1905, then into wheat in the fall, and this year, 1906, 1 threshed twenty eight bushels per acre on 100 acres."
As a result of a number of questions sent out to farmers in various sections of the state it was found that in answer to the query as to whether cowpeas had increased the productiveness of the soil, that out of 230 replies received 227 were in the affirmative; or 99.9 per cent had found that cowpeas improved their soil.
VARIETIES OF COWPEAS.
There are more than fifty varieties of cowpeas. These differ widely in their habits of growth, development of vine, yield of seed and length of time required for maturity. From their habit of growth two general classes are recognized; those varieties of upright form known as bunch varieties, and those with low, widely spreading vines known as running varieties or trailers. The cowpea is readily influenced by environment; some varieties which grow upright on a thin soil will, when placed on rich land, have a strong tendency to become a rank-growing trailer. Also, the amount of moisture and earliness of planting will often cause variation in the form of the plant. Yet these varietal differences are such as to have an important bearing upon the selection of varieties to be grown for various purposes. The failure to select the proper variety or to understand the conditions under which the plant may vary is often the cause of unsatisfactory results to the grower. The best variety to sow depends upon the purpose for which the crop is to be grown and upon the soil. If hay is sought, it is desirable to select a variety of upright growth, uniform maturing habit, that will hold its leaves well and bear a good proportion of seed. The fineness or coarseness of stems and number of leaves should also be given consideration. A variety that has a tendency to blossom until late in the season after some of the pods are fully matured, or a variety that is subject to excessive aftergrowth following a period of wet weather, should not be selected for hay. Much of the difficulty in curing hay arises from the fact that the vines are not well matured or have put out an aftergrowth.
The variety selected for pasture should vine moderately, grow late into the fall, and produce pods in abundance. Where the crop is to be hogged down less attention need be paid to the foliage, but a prolific seedbearer should be chosen as the peas are the richest part of the plant. For grazing purposes the variety selected should hold its leaves well into season. When the prime object is green manuring for soil improvement, the variety that will produce the largest amount of vines is desirable.
Variety Tests of the Station
For nearly twenty years the experiment station has been growing cowpeas and the crop has produced the most satisfactory results when varieties have been selected for the purpose in view. During the past three years the station has tested fifteen varieties of cowpeas to determine the yields of hay and seed and to study the characteristics of the plant for general adaptability. The following table gives yield of seed for the season of 1906 and yields of hay for 1905 and 1906. The hay plots were sown with a wheat drill at the rate of five pecks per acre. The seed gathered was taken from rows cultivated at the side of each of the plots of the respective varieties. These rows were planted forty-four inches apart and the plants thinned to ten inches apart in the row. Had the rows been closer together it is probable that more seed would have been produced. The varieties were planted June 12 and had equal conditions of soil, moisture and cultivation, so that the differences shown are due to the variety planted. It will be seen from the table that several varieties produced more hay than the Whippoorwill or New Era, which are most generally grown in this state. The two standard varieties were also excelled by the Black, Early Black and Iron in yield of seed. However, they were surpassed by but one variety in yield of both hay and seed, the Black. The table also shows that some of the heaviest-yielding varieties of hay produced the smallest amount of seed; for example, the Red, Early Boolock and the California Blackeye. Other varieties gave a fairly low yield of hay and a considerable yield of seed, as the Blackeye, Iron and Groit. It will be found generally that there is more or less of a constant relation between yield of hay and the production of seed. The heaviest vining varieties, as the Red, grow late into the fall a light crop of seed, while the more medium vining varieties mature earlier and produce the maximum amount of both hay and seed. Very early maturing varieties, as the Warren's New Hybrid, do not in all cases produce seed heavily, but it will be noted from the table that those varieties which mature in from sixty-five to eighty days produce the greatest yield of seed.
YIELDS OF HAY AND SEED VARIETY TEST.
|
Variety |
Hay yield per acre, 1906. |
Seed bushels per acre, 1906. |
Hay yield per acre, 1905. |
Character of vine. |
|
Whippoorwill |
3,720 |
14.0 |
3,550 |
Upright. |
|
California Blackeye |
4,880 |
12.5 |
3,900 |