Jet Black : Black, Constitution, Congo, Forage or Shinny.
(6) Size of pods.
(a) Very large : Calico, Gourd, Mathews.
(b) Large : Black Eye, Clay, Coffee, Conch, Congo, Forage or Shinny, Granite, Quad roon, Red, Smith No. 15, Unknown, Vacuum, Whippoorwill, White Giant, Wonderful.
(c) Medium : Black, Blue Hull, Chocolate, Ever lasting, Lilac Red Pod, New Era, Red Eye, Red Ripper, Saddleback, Smith No. 9, Speckled Crowder, Taylor Prolific, White, White Brown Hull, White Crowder, Wil liams Hybrid.
(d) Small : Constitution, Large Lady, Mush, Pony, Purple Hull Crowder, Red Yellow Hull, Rice, Shrimp, Smith No. 7, Smith No. 14, Sugar Crowder.
(e) Very Small : Red Crowder, Redding, Small Lady.
(7) Size of pea.
(a) Very Large : Calico, Congo, Granite, White Giant.
(b) Large : Blue Hull, Coffee, Gourd, Lilac Red Pod, Mathews, Red Ripper, Red Yellow Hull, Smith No. 9, Speckled Crowder, Vacuum, White Crowder.
(c) Medium : Black, Black Eye, Chocolate, Clay, Conch, Forage or Shinny, Mush, New Era, Pony, Purple Hull Crowder, Quadroon, Red, Red Crowder, Red Eye, Smith No. 7, Smith No. 15, Taylor Prolific, Unknown, White Brown Hull, Whippoorwill, Williams Hybrid, Wonderful.
(d) Small : Everlasting, Large Lady, Redding, Rice, Saddleback, Shrimp, Smith No. 14, Sugar Crowder.
(e) Very Small : Constitution, Small Lady, White.
"There are other minor characteristics, as that of smooth and wrinkled surface, serving to distinguish varieties otherwise apparently identical. Blue Hull, Chocolate, Pony, Saddleback, Vacuum and White Giant, are wrinkled. All of the others are smooth." Detailed descriptions of a number of varieties may be found in bulletins of the various agricul tural experiment stations, especially in Georgia Bulletin No. 26, Texas Bulletin No. 34, and Louis iana Bulletins Nos. 19 and 29.
In the Gulf states, the two varieties most extensively grown are Whippoorwill or Speckled, and Unknown or Wonderful. In yield of forage the Unknown is at or near the head of the list in the southern part of the cotton-belt. Its large yield and relatively upright growth make it a favorite for forage, while its heavy yield and large stems and roots make it one of the best for the improvement of the soil. It is not suitable for
growing for seed much beyond the limit of the Gulf and South Atlantic states, nor for any pur pose in the far North, being a very late variety. Whippoorwill, a bushy or erect,rather early variety, is a general favorite for seed production, and is suitable for cultivation for forage or soil-improve ment as far north as New York. The very early varieties, for example New Era, Warren Hybrid, Warren Extra-Early, and Extra-Early Black Eye, mature seed considerably north of the line where the Whippoorwill completely matures. But both in the North and South, earliness is at the sacrifice of yield of forage. On the other hand, the New Era and some other early varieties are prolific bearers of seed, and on rich land make very satisfactory hay.
The Iron cowpea is unique in being practically exempt from cowpea wilt, and from attacks of nematode worms, which commends it for use on the sandy soils of the southern parts of the Gulf and South Atlantic states. The seed resembles that of the Clay pea, and the plant in habit may be classed as a moderate runner. The yield of hay is good and of seed medium. The leaves are retained well, even after the plant has matured a fair crop of seed, so that hay may be made from this variety, while blooms, ripe pods and leaves are all abundant on the same plant. In mild winters in the Gulf states, the seeds lie in the ground uninjured, germinating late in the following spring.
For forage or soil-improvement in southern Ohio, Alva Agee recommends the Black, a variety somewhat later than the Whippoorwill, and dis tinguished both North and South for its large yield of forage. At the Georgia Experiment Sta tion, the varieties leading in yield of forage were Black, Mathews, Gourd, White, Taylor Prolific, Blue Hull, Speckled Crowder, White Crowder, Mush and Williams Hybrid. At the Alabama Sta tion, among the most prolific producers of forage are Unknown or Wonderful, Clay and Iron. Among the varieties yielding most seed at the southern experiment stations are Black, Clay, Unknown, Taylor, New Era and Whippoorwill.