Marble Hill press. (Marbel [sic] Hill, Mo.) 1881-1923, 1906-04-19
Cowpeas As SOIL Renoysfors'

,as done.
AS Soil Renovat0rs.
weekly Agricultural letter.
\ tThe COW pea il not half appreciated BY |
he average Missouri farmer As 4 soil
'enovator it is as eihcient As clover. and |
ioes its work much more quickly.
There are few crops that leave the |
ground more loose and friable. It has
he advantage of clover in being sure Of
i stand. ~ M q
The chief difficulty in the way Of .
general use Of COW peas lies In the ex-
pense OF seed, but improved means Of
handling the crop for grain will undoubt-
adly cause this to disappear In time.
An instance Of the value Of the cow
pea in increasing the productiveness Of
land for other crops may be cited from
one Of tho experiments at the agricultu-
raj experiment station. A plot Of land
Of ordinary iertility,-a piece Of rolling
upland prairie loan, producing orayer-a
age seasons q yield Of between 70 and %
bushels Of wheat was sown to whippoor-
will peas soon after the wheat was re-
moved in July. BY the second week IN
September these peas we're coming into
pod and we're cut for hay. The land Twas
disked, narrowed and again sown 70
wheat, This practice has been contin-
ued for six years, securing q crop ot
wheat and q crop Of cowpea hay each
year. In this time, there has not been
d failure in cowpeas, altho on moist
summer the yield has been much greater
than In drier years, ranging from hall 2
ton to two tons of cured hay per acre.
As to the yield Of wheatit has gradually
increased, averaging about 30 bushels
the last two years with the quality much
better than that from land not go treated,
Under this system the cowpeas are put
III with d grain drill at the rate OF 9
bushel per acre every hoe running, or q
the rate Of three pecks with every othel
hoe working. Its better for the land e
leave 1t completely covered, and the has
| is finer where the stand IL thick altht
tho quality Of pods produced u less
Under this system, however, u rarel!
happens that the pods can be allowed Y
ripen in any amount, SO that seed pro
duction Is not 30 important as gettinl
the ground well covered. Care must p
taken not 70 get the peas IN too deeply
especially ifa beating rain should fol
| low, al they are sure to come UP slowl
| and feebly under such conditions. II "a
| ground Is reasonably moist, shallo'
sowing 10 much better and drilling WI
| be found much more economical tha
broadcasting.
II 1t ID of conrse not expected that til
system Ii capable o. very wide extensic
lin farm practice, nor Ii II exactly 70 !
recommended for many soils, since y
u readily seen that the cowpeaa supp
only hurnus, and the element nitrcge
N and The time will come sooner or lat
when the yield will decrease because
the exhaustion Of the available suppl
Of PHOSPHORUS and potassium. The 4
, ability to handle a large acreage of fco'
b pea hay quickly enough 70 get y oh
the wheat, unless much additional he
be employed, also prohibits this practi
on 81 very extensive scale, yetthe SYST
2 Ii being practiced to some extent 10 :
wheat counties Of the state, and forps
3 ticular cases may be quite widely us'
!. The use Of cowpeas as crop thro
Id after oats and plowed under, Of ey
made into hay will Be profitable, Cpl
. cially ID those southern and cent
8 counties Of the state where oats
d grown. On soilslacking hunus, and Il
= needing nitrogen this practice Of plo
ing under would be especially desira
and would usually much more than !
2 for the seed and labor. They may
fl Be Gown broadcast in corn just before
last cultivation and ploWed II with 8
n results. In this case the amount
growth will depend upon the moist
IN the ground IN late summer and PEI
the rankness of the corn, but exp
m ments at the station have demonstfs
that the practice is worthy Of trial
.aa thin soil. They may BE- pastured
with sheep in this case, or simply allo
70 fall down and add humus and u
aw gen. They're most readily soWn brt
nut cast in the corn as mentioned, D.
Il; more eren stand will be secured BY
ting them in with 3 one-horse drill.
Ths variety most commonly used
eff the purpose Of soil reacsstion is
IN whippoorwiII. aItho the New Er
the its equal cses csEsral Missesfi. and
l. aaTaier il is bstter In the mort
eountses. TIE Clay Is also very
! ne for lands that are rather thin. We
80 fortanass N this state in having 80
ed. handy plant as the eowpea p vhiel
In | msv turn for help as our lands set
Ter. and agriculture becomes more u
sive. TIE next letter win tFes
- eowpsaz fuf hsz, posture enc sssa.
Ion- Aer. Experiment ststi
Southeast News.