The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1905-12-15
Cow Peas Enrich soil.

Cow Peas Enrich Soil
There is no surer way of enriching,
mellOwing and nitrifying a soil for any
crop than by the use of field peas,
sowed broadcast or planted in drills.
with a peanut or cotton planter. And
one Of the great excellencies Of it is,
it is a crop that will thrive and pro-
duce well on poor soil, where clover
will not grow.
No farmer can afford to neglect the
invaluable resources presented by this
crop, its use as forage for bees, for a
supply of peas for the table, for fat
tening the hogs in autumn, for hay for
the cattle in winter, and for the reno
walton and amelioration of rough fields
and exhausted farms. There is abso-
lutely no other crop that the Southern
farmer can employ so cheaply, nothing
that fills its course so we'll in so short
a time.
1t is a noticeable and gratifying fact
that the cultivation of the cowpea is
largely on the increase The demand
for seed field peas is greater every
spring than can be filled. Those who
are fortunate enough to have a supply
want them for their own use. In our
section the area devoted to- the crop
has increased 800 per cent. the last five
years, and is still expanding. Peanut
growers have discovered that few
crops and few methods Of manuring
fit land so well for the peanut as
planting or sowing field peas in the
corn at the last blowing. They may be
planted either broadcast or in drills in
the middle of the balks. In the first
case they are scattered by hand just
before the plow. In the last they are
planted from the peanut planter by
running it once along the middle Of the
corn balks. Either way gives satisfac-
tory results.
Not only do the peas enrich, open and
vitalize the soil by the decay of the
haulm and roots, but the soil becomes
inoculated with the peanut bacteria
so essential to a large and profitable
yield Of nuts. The field pea is a le-
gume and a nitrogen collector as well
as a peanut. 1t has the bacteria no
dulles just like the other plant. In this
respect alone field peas are par excel
lence, and above any fertilizer ever
yet cOncoted, the best Of all manures
for the pindar plant.
The farmer, therefore, who is also
peanut grower, and who would at
the same time put his farm upon a
course Of annual recuperation, can, we
believe, do nothing better than to en-
ploy the cow pea as largely as he can.
Let him plant all the corn land Of one
year with COW peas in order to fit it
properly for peanuts the next year
Nothing more will be needed-except
little time, perhaps-tO insure large
and profitable crops of nuts. BY this
simple rotation the soil will improve
under both crops, both the corn and
pindars.
AS we know, the cow pea is deep
rooted plant. Like the passifora, it
sends one main root down deep into the
subsoil, from whenceit gathers the mois-
ture and mineral food buried there
while the leaves are collecting nitrogen
from the atmosphere BY this, and
by the subsequent decay Of the haulm
and roots, the crop adds a good deal
more of fertility and vitality to the
farm than it takes away. 1t gives
the humus, the nitrogen, the bacteria
and all, and perhaps all Of the mineral
elements also, that the peanut plant
ever requires. 1t renders other fertll-
izing for peanuts unnecessary.
And not only for peanuts, but for any
and all Southern crops, does the cow
pea prepare and fit the way as no other
crop can do so we'll, so cheaply, and in
so short a time. It is barely possible
to exaggerate in this matter In fact,
we begin to doubt if all its virtues are,
even vet, known to even its strongest
admirers.