The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1901-01-17
Cow Peas In Kansas.

pe~rIueuLdl, COW peas 90 not seem 10
have been grown to any considerable
extent in Kansas, except by Hon. Ed
win Taylor of Wyandotte county,
whose experience has been published
by Secretary Coburn of the State Board
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 / have listened to their
stories of the value Of 10Y peas and,
at last, some five years ago, I was
Aggravated by their iteration into try
ing the cow pea myself. / planted five
acres of upland with them. | had the
peas all right, estimated at from fif-
teen to twenty bushels per acre, and
now came 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 (1S99) / 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 well narrowed when
about four inches high, had no other
cultivation, grew rapidly, but kept
company with a good many weeds.
We pushed the potato digging and neg
lected the pea planting, so that when
we were done digging t%wo-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 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 ($1.50 per
bushel) $2.25 per acre; in the second
Is 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 a 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 a few loads of peas and ran them
through the cutter to seal" the en-
silage which we had just finished put
ting up. 1t served the purpose the best
OF anything I aver used. We fed the
peas green, dried and half-dried. The
lows seemed Indifferent to the prep
a%ration, 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 most
apparent.
l 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 most
Of the vines we fed. Nothing was
weighed, but / guess the yield to have
been around three tons of dry vines
and peas per acre. A few stalks o.
the Whippoerwill, 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 viii
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 1 see N
reason why, when dried thoroughly
they might not be treated as other ha.
and retain their value. Third, if, whel
/ have farmed that field another year
/ find that my Tennessee friends ar,
indicated as to the increased ~friabilit,
and productivity of the soil from tn,
) cultivation of this legume as fully a
they have respecting it's value for feed
ing COWS, then I shall want to add m.
+ mite to a subscription for a monu
ment to the nan who invented Gov
: peas.