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5 28 A Bulletin 232  I
i As a. catch crop for planting in corn or late in the season  
  after any other crop, cowpeas are decidedly more valuable than Y, 
soybeans. The energy of the latter is expended in producing  
q seed and the growth is likely to be small. This is not true of  
l cowpeas to an equal extent.  "
i For sowing broadcast on weedy land eowpeas are pre-  _s_
l ferable to soybeans because they smother weeds much better.  
On fairly clean land, however, soybeans will give as good re- Q 
sults sown broadcast or drilled solid as cowpeas. Since cow-  
peas are generally sown broadcast or drilled solid, somewhat  
less care in the preparation ot the seed bed is necessary than  ;
for soybeans. The latter as a rule are cultivated and a smooth i 
seed bed is required so that close cultivation may be given ·, 
without covering or injuring the young plants. The young ‘‘» 
I cowpea plants have greater ability to push thru a crusted  i
i surface than soybean plants and where a hard rain occurs after l
  planting, cowpeas are likely to give the better stand. Soybean  
seed does not rot in cold weather nearly as readily as cowpea  
· seed, however, and where the weather is cold and wet at plant-  _
ing time, soybeans will give a better stand. The seed of some  
varieties of soybean will, in fact, lie in the ground altwinter  T
and germinate in the spring. (`owpea seed exposed in this {_
. way quickly rots. ‘ -  
Z The cost of seeding is usually about the same for both crops.  .
a ln recent years soybean seed has cost more per bushel but
g much less seed is required per acre as a rule because of the i.
  praetis of planting in rows. VVhere both are planted broad-  .
T cast about the same amount ot seed is required, unless sonic  
1 of the small—seeded sorts of beans are used, such as Peking or  
. Lexington. .
VARIETIES.  
Several hundred varieties of soybeans have been introduced i
’ into the llnited States by the U. S. Department of' Agriculture. {
Most of them have come from China and Japan, where the i
soybean has been grown for centuries. and where it is one of  q
the most important crops. ln addition, seedsmen and experi- =