The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-06-22
Merits of the Cow Pea.

FROM all the DulletlnS we nave FeNu OH
COW peas, besides the mass Of matter on
the subject published in agricultural pub
lications, we summarize as follows, Civ
ing the merits Of this restorative crop:
1. The pea will thrive upon every va
riety of soil and will grow upon land too
poor to grow clover.
2. 1t will grow heavy and rich crop
to be returned to the soil in shorter
crop.
3. On the same land in one year two
crops can be grown, but it requires two
years for clover to produce hay crop,
so it. will be seen that four crops Of peas
may be grown i'll the same time as one
crop CT clover.
I. The pea crop feeds lightly upon the
soil, but largely upon the atmosphere ap-
prCpriating nitrogen through the agency
of the bacteria that infest it's roots.
8. 1t is one of the beet preparatory
crops for wheat, as it leaves the soil i'll
excellent condition, which is an essential
clement in the growing Of wheat
&. The rapidity of it's growth makes it
the only crop in the South that may be
used as manurial crop between the har-
vesting of grain and the sowing of it on
the same land.
I. 1t grows as vigorously as clover and
in connection with that plant makes the
ldlI PAL tNuldIlt ilCu Ill tuOSe NcSeCHDle
agents that improve the soil.
:. 1t may be grown i'll connection with
the corn crop, furnishing almost as much
nutrlment as the corn crop itself, with
positive benefit to the land.
8. 1t is substantial factor in the pro-
duction Of cheap beef, pork, milk and but
ter.
10. 1t doubles the capacity Of the land
for wintering stock and gives double the
material for making manure heapS.
IL. BY adding humus it preserves the
humidity IF the soil. and so enables the
crops to resist drouths.
II. The vines Of COW peas furnish the
very best material for ensiage.
13. The composition of COW peas and
pcavine hay shows that they have a very
high feeding value for all domestic ami
malS.-F'armer Voice.
Watering Trees.
In transplanting trees success depends
largely upon the water supply. Most
trees do the major part of their growing
in the springtime. After the middle Of
summer practically all wood growth ceas-
es, and the balance of the year is devoted
to hardening up the wood to withstand
the cold of winter, so that the wood
growth Of trees depends largely upon the
kind of spring and June weather enco,ln-
tered. If the spring is backward one,
and a May or June drouth ensues, even
though slight, no matter how splendid the
growing weather of the latter part of a
summer and fall may be, the wood
growth of trees will be light. Therefore
it is we'll to irrigate transp!anted trees
In watering plants of any kind large
proportion Of the moisture applied is lost
by evaporation. a very simple method
for subirrigation of trees is as follows:
Take four pieces of 8 or 1O-inch board,
feet long, and nail them together into
simple, four-sided box without ends.
Set this in the ground at the base of the
tree and let the top project above ground
3 or + inches. Throw some coarse grass
or trash into the bottom of the box, and
a pailful of water can occasionally be
poured into the box and allowed to soak
into the earth gradually. In this way no
water will be wasted and the surface
soil can be kept finely pulverized and con-
serve the moisture down at the roots.
This method of watering is especially
practicable for transplanted trees, be-
| cause their roots are all in a small COM
pass and have not yet spread out the
height of the tree, as will be the case Ia
ter. \ large tile forms an ideal box of
this kind. Soapsuds or waste water of
any kind can be used to good advantage
in this manner.-Guy D. Mitchell III
Epitomist.