Characteristics
Categories:
THE COWPEA
The cowpea is closely related to the bean, and is
very unlike the Canada pea, which is a true pea, thriving only in a
cool climate. The cowpea has been grown in the southern states over one
hundred years, and the acreage is large, but it never has come into the
full use it deserves. Being a legume, it stores up nitrogen taken from
the air, and unlike red clover it makes its full growth within a short
period of time. It can grow on land too infertile for most kinds of
valuable plants, and on better land. The vines can crowd out nearly all
varieties of weeds. The roots go to a good depth and are thickly
covered with the nodules of nitrogen-gathering bacteria.