The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-12-13
FARM AND GARDEN.
MATTERS OF INTEREST TO
AGRICULTuRISTS
some Up-to-Date Hints About Cultiva-
ton OF the Soil and Yields Thereof
horticulture. vitinulture and Floricul-
tura.
Cow Pea. in Kau.a..

Cow Peas In Kansas.
ASIDE from small plats, purely ex-
perlmental, COW peas do not seem to
nave been grown to any considerable
extent In Kansas, except by Hon. Ed
win Taylor of Wyandotte county,
whose experience has been published
oy Secretary Coburn of the State Board
4 OF Agriculture. A portion Of Mr.. Tay-
lor's observations is given herewith:
Several of my neighbors are natives
OF the mountain portion of Tennessee.
For years l have listened to their
stories of the value Of COW peas and,
at last, some five years ago, / was
aggravated" by their iteration into try
Ing the COW pea myself. planted five
acres Of upland with them. l had the
peas all right. estimated at from IF
teen to twenty bushels per acre, and
how CINE the question of gathering
them. / couldn't get it done at all. for
the reason that all the available pick
ers in the neighborhood were picking
| potatoes.
All the agricultural writer's were
singing the praises of the COW pea, and
last summer Q899) surrendered
again and gave the peas a second
trial.
planted the first section. about ten
acres, the 9Th of July. The peas came
up quickly, were we'll narrowed when
about four inches high, had no ether
cultivation, grew rapidly, but kept
company with good many weeds.
We pushed the potato digging and neg
lected the pea planting, so that when
we were done digging two-thirds OF
the field was yet to SOW. the ground
hard and dry. About half was broad
casted; the other half planted with the
corn planter. 1t was Aug. 10 before
we finished. On the broadcast sowing
fully one and one-half bushels of seed
TO the acre was used: on the portion
put IN with the planter, about half a
bushel per acre, and on that portion
also was the best yield. The seed in
the first instance cost ($1.5o per
bushe) 1928 per acre: In the second
70 cents. About five acres of the por-
ton put in with the planter did not
have the rows doubled, thus giving an
opportunity for cultivation. 1t was
gone over twice with wheel culti-
vator, and the resulting crop, SO much
stronger and ranker than any Of the
rest, convinced me that. on rich
ground, the peas should be sown in
rows wide enough apart to admit OF
thorough cultivation. The saving in
seed over broadcast sowing will much
more than pay for the cultivation
while the yield, Judging from one
years operations, will be considerably
increased. The first week in September
cut few loads of peas and ran then
through the cutter to seal" the en-,
Stage which we had just finished put
ting UP. 1t served the purpose the bes
OF anything l ever used. We fed the
peas green, dried. and half-dried. TIL,
cows seemed Indifferent to the prep
aration. SO long as the supply was am
pie. Not only was there the increase
OF milk noticed, but the access of thrift
in the animals themselves was mos
apparent.
had two varieties. the Whippoor.
will and the Clay. The first named Is
the earlier variety: 1t makes less
vines and more peas than the latter
There were more or less peas on mos
OF the vines We fed. Nothing was
weighed, but guess the yield to have
4 been around three tons Of dry vines
and peas Der acre few stalks nj
the Whippoorwill, planted July 5, moi
cut. had matured their pods the latter
part OF September. My conclusions
are: First, the Whippoorwill pea
planted in rows thirty inches apart ant
well cultivated. will make fine feed IL
sixty days and ripen a full crop O.
seed In eighty days, and the Clay will
follow on some fifteen days later. Sec.
ond, that so long as they can be hauled
from the field they are about the fin.
est COW feed known, and l see nc
reason why, when dried thoroughly
they might not be treated as other hay
and retain their value. Third, If. when
have farmed that field another year
find that my Tennessee friends are
vindicated as to the increased friability
and productivity of the soil from the
cultivation of this legume as fully as
they have respecting it's value for feed
ing cows, then shall want te add my
mite to subscription for a monu-
ment to the man who invented COW
peas.