Show v f HIGH PRICED COWPEA 8 it will pay the farmer to give tham a fair chance are scarce and high again this year and it will pay every farm er to see that he gives all he bows sows a fair chance it Is sheer folly to pay two to tour dollars a bushel for peas and then sow them on land that has been only halt prepared or that is too poor to grow a crop cowpeas are commonly regarded as a poor land crop thai Is they will grow on land too poor to make a paying crop of anything else and will improve the land by their growth it must be re however that their great function Is to gather nitrogen from the atmosphere and that they cannot successfully do this without a full supply of potash and phosphoric add nowhere do these elements pay bet ter than when applied to leguminous crops since by their use in this way the nitrogen of the air Is more freely appropriated by the legumes and nitrogen Is as Is well known our most expensive element of fertility prepare the land well fertilize liberally with the mineral elements and cowpeas will pay even when they cost three dollars or more per bushel A bushel to the acre Is the usual amount sown tor hay three pecks may do just as well where the land Is in good shape the peas sown evenly and one of the ranker growing varieties used when the peas are sown for seed they may be drilled in rows 18 inches apart this way says farmers voice a peck will plant an acre if they are cultivated until they begin to cover the ground too much they will make more seed this way than when sown broad cast or with a grain drill some even recommend sowing rows and cultivating for hay in either case there Is of course less benefit to the soil than where more seed Is used but a peck sown on well prepared and well fertilized land will not only produce more seed or hay than a bushel put in in a slovenly slipshod manner but will also add more nitrogen and more humus to the soil |