Wilmington journal., 1876-09-01
For the journal.

g JoHN ASHFORD, oecro'srieS'
For the journal.
i Cow Peas as n Money Crop.
MIR EDITOR :-You are not so deer
~ absorbed in politics as to refuse a
occasional article on agriculture? Th
l depressing poverty and extraordinar
: hard times now before the farmers
and aggrava'ed by the tariff laws an
+, ruinous financial enactments an
!; usages of the times-more than eve
81 impose upon them the necessity @
thorough investigation of the differen
methods and plans of farming. and @
: strict enquiry as to the best none
crops. With our defective labor sys
tenn and disconraging prices of cottol
for the past few years, it is a demon
strated fact in the Judgment of on
best farmers that there is no money il
raising cotton, except upon land tina
yields one bale to the acre. Nor doe
the history of the cultivation a {
price of pea nuts, gardening for prof
and other crops, tell tale much more
favorable. The sad experience stare
us In the face, that farming in eastern
North Carolina, as now conducted, i.
Improbable. 1t is time then to Cas-
about for improved methods aud fol-
other crops that promise greater pro
hts. L am satisfied that the raising oil
COW peas, especially upon suitable and
exhausted lands is one of the most at
tractlve and best money crops that
can be raised in the Eastern counties
of the State. THIS crop is easily and
cheaply rained, can be gathered with
but little expense, and always COM
mands a good pr. ce, rarely less than
ono dollar per bushel, and oftentimes
more. than that. Besides, it is one of
the best means of rrnovating worn
out of fields. The cow pea is capi-
tai fertilizer In the experience of sci
entific agriculture. The fact, so much
neglected, that it derives it's nutrition
while growing, in very great degree,
from that rich and .inexhaustible fer>
| tillzer atmospheric air, demands the
farmer who, in this day of rctrench-
ment and reform, would call in that
| wise teacher ana powerful adjunct
nature, as well as industry, skill and
economy, in the management of his
agricultural affairs. But all this is
theory. Facts are what the farmer
demands when he is talked to about
new crops, and new meJhods of farm
ing. Well, the records of experience
in the culture of the COW pea with
farmers familiar with the facts, bear
conclusive evidence, that one of
our very best money crops is that of
the COW pea. / will only refer
now to the experience this season of
one farmer in verifcation of these
statements, assured beyond doubt that
the statement am about to render,
will find it's counterpart in hundreds
upon hundreds of similar cases in the
experience of our best farmers and in
the reliable records of agricultural
journals and books. Mr.. Fletcher 81.
Bell of Pender county, one of our best
farmers, and whose rare judgment sell
dom errs 1 or fall. h ip whet he 1ndsrgtsakes,
reno vating one of his exhausted old
fields IN the general system of agri-
cultural improvement and reform
which he has adopted. He plowed
in the grass and weeds of this twenty
acre field the second week in June last
and planted it in COW peas. At this
writing and for several weeks past this
field, covered with a fine and luxuri-
ant growth of COW peas, is beautiful
testifies. Farmers all around are at
tracted to this field and admire the
view presented. But beauty unac-
companied with utility is not of much
value in these hard times and hence
the enquiry as to the expense of
cultivation and the prospective
yield and profits. The following
summary ia strictly reliable:
Fhio fold Of onyU raaa nlantaH with
eight (8) bushels of seed. was plowed
twice, in addition to the breaking up,
and hoed once. A detailed account,
item by item, has been kept of all the
expenses of the seed, planting, plowing
and hoeing, from the beginning to the
completion or laying by of the crop.
The whole expense aggregates about
fifty dollars, including repair of fence
in the spring around the field. Good
judges, experienced farmers, who have
seen this luxuriant crop of COW peas
now growing upon an old worn out
field. high and somewhat sandy above,
with a sub soil of clay and sand, pro-
nounce that it will yield three hundred
bushels ,of sokd marketable peas, or
fifteen bushels to the acre, and fatten |
hogs besides that will weigh one thou
sand pounds of pork. The writer be~
lieves that the yield will not be less
but rather more if no disaster occurs
before the crop is housed. Put the
price of these COW peas at one dollar
per bushel the coming winter. To the
expense in full Of cultivation, fifty
dollars; as aforesaid, add the expense
of gathering and of preparation for
the market, which cannot exceed $50
more, and we have the whole amount
of one hundred dollars ($1OO to be
deducted from the value of the peas,
viz: three hundred dollars. This
leaves clear gain of two hundred
dollars, or the net profits that will
follow the cultivation this season IN
COW peas of an exhausted field that
will be improved by that crop and be
made more fertile for next year 8 culti-
vation. What Mr.. Bell il doing can
be done by, others, if our farmers
will apply themselves to the best
methods and the best crops, the COM
ing change of administration In our
State affairs and those of the general
government, Will do much and power
fully revive the spirits and prospects
of our people but to all this let us
add better agriculture, more and
harder work, and a higher courage to
brave the ills we have and surmount
the difficulties before us.
SPRING GARDEN.
August %, 1876.
SNATcHErT, Dnplin CO.. n. @.
August 23d, 1876.