The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-16
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

is also good and should be followe
by Il purgatlve dose to expel the worms
Scalicide Is very good spray for San
jose scale.
Cowpeas.
II am n newcomer IN Virginia. and
| 1 have heard them call you the apps
tie of the cowpca.' have never grown
cowpeas, and hear so much about them
that / have concluded to write TO you
asking you to give. In The Times Dis
patch, full Information In regard to
the value of the cowpea for soil i'm
provoment and for forage; and ] am
sure that there are many others like
me who would like to have this crop
fully discussed, though Virginians In
general may know all about them"
have written much about COW
peas In the past twenty five years that
IL fear many OF our readers may get
tired OF the repetition. But. rs you
say. there are many coming South who
would like to be fully Informed In re-
gard to this very important crop. i
VIII ask our readers OF the home
stock to bear with me in endeavoring
to fully explain the ueea of the COW
pea.
Tho so-called cowpca is more reiat-
cd to beans than peas proper. They
arc tender plants. and must not he
sown till the soil is warm. They can
he sown In most parts OF Virginia from
make an important crop for following
small grains or early truck crops for
the improvement of the soil. They be-
long to the great botanical order legu-
minosae and share with all the other
members OF this order of plants in
having on their roots parasitic micro
scopic plants. known us bacteria, which
live In certain knots or nodulcs on the
roots. These are not purely parasitic,
but rather symbolic organisms since
they furnish the plant far more than
they take from II. They seem TO be
nitric fermcnts. o1idizing the free nj :
trogen gas in tho air which penetrates
which at once combines with some base
in the soil and becomes n nitrate and
tho peas take II up, and whatever plant
is associated with the peas will share
in this, for IL has been found that
where peas are sown among corn at
last working, there will be an increase
in the corn over the land where no
peas are sown. This shows why /
think nitrate IS formed in the soil
This, however. IS Il theory, but as good
as any other, since no one is certain
just how the bacteria do furnish the
nitrogen. But II has been abundant
" proven that thcy do get and fix the
nitrogen IN some way.
Az Soil Inprovcrs.
one or the greatest values OF the
cowpea Ia in its capacity to fouri sh
on our poorest soils, even when not
fortified. IL VIII thrive on Il soil that
is too acid for almost any other le-
gume. and IN fact IL seems sometimes
that Hweetening the soil by IN appli
cation OF limo just before sowing peas
has an Injurious effect on the crop
The great value Of the cowpea IS n
soil iinprover is its ability TO get nitro
gen from the air, and II will do more
or this on poor soil than on n rich
one. for II there lis plenty OF available
nitrogen ia the soil, the peas Will get
less from the air. but viii take Hdvan-
tage or that readily available In tile
soil. The mere growing of pcas, and
not using them 10 improve the soil,
will not avail for soil rnprovcm ent,
for there is no crop grown that VIII
more rapidly use up the phosphate and
potash in the soil II no return is made
10 the soil. The peas must be used
either AZ manure direct or by feeding
them to stock and returning the ma
nurc TO the soil. In the first start in
the Improvement OF very poor piece
OF land II may pay for n time TO plow
down the whole matured growth III
order more rapidly TO store the soil
with humus. But with land In a fairly
productive condition, where one can
make two tons or more of hay
an acre, I am sure that IT is the best
farm economy to save the crop rs hay.
ana letu IL 10 STOCK anu return the ma
nure TO tho land that grow them. a
crop OF pea hay has a feeding value
little lees than alfalfa, ton for ton, and
when we reflect that by saving the ma
nure carefully and applying IT 10 the
land as fast az made we can recover
the greater part OF its manurial value
We can certainly make profit enough
from the feeding to make this the most
economical method for using the pea
crop. But as n manure crop direct, the
peas Will have "a mechanical effect on
the land, making n heavy soil more
mellow and sandy soil more rotentive
OF moisture,
Ejaculation.
Where peas have never been grown
IL will be wise 10 inoculato them either
With an artificial culture or with soil
from where they have been grown sue
cessfully. There are varieties that
mature III sixty days. and others that
need over 100 days. When sown very
late, the early ones should be used
But | have taken TOO much space al
ready. and VIII talk of varieties later