The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-10-27
TIMELY TALK FoS FARMERS.
Green FeSa4r III sprins-Eiow 10 Conntcrnct
L.acilin%.
(Fro1 the At:an>a Constitution.

t Green Ec5agr i'll $prinS-Eiow 20 C"nntcrac
+ L=acns.
(Frona the At:2n@a corsti:r:icn.)
The harder small grains, such rs rye
; and barley, may be sown during tbs and
the next month. They are valuable a:
soiling crops in early spring; barley
richer and more rehshed by stock, rye
harder and better adapted to poor land
Where there is more rye than can be fed
in its green state, it is cut and cured as
hay, provided it is cut before the heads
are out. It becomes woody ard hard
soon after the heads form, and is then OF
little value. Barley may be allowed tc
ripen, and be harvested and fed Like
oats. There is a general impression that
the beard is in the way of doing this,
but a gentleman recently informed Us
that be has fed barley in the sneaf to his
horses for twenty years without injury
that sometimes the boards collect be-
tween the lips and jaws, but are easily
removed by the finger, and the animal
suffers no special Inconvenience. We
are also reliably informed that unthresI--
ed barley is quite commonly fed to
horses in California. Where one has
pretty good land, therefore, barley might
be sown as substitute for fall oats, in
/ localities where the latter is very liable
to be winter killed.
But our special object in calling atten-
ton to these crops is to present their
claims as means for preserving the fer
tility of soils. In the first place, very
large portion of our lands are LETT bare
through the winter, with nothing to pro-
tect them from being washed away by
the heavy rains of that season. \ grow
ing crop, especially one with numerous
roots. tends to hold the sol! firmly. For
this reason alone, were there no other, it
would pay a farmer to SOW FROM half
bushel to three pecks of rye per acre in
his cotton fields at the last ploug Ching of
the crop. The rye, after having done
its work of holding the soil, might be
grazed, or cut in the spring for sollng
purposes, or might be plowed under to
enrich the soil.
But there is another very important
work which a green, growing crop has to
perform, which is not generally or fully
appreciated. It is a great anti-leacher;
it prevents the washing out Of the avail
able nitrogen in the soil by riain water.
The ultimate form which nitrogen as
sumes in the soil is nitric acid aqua
! fortis) and is found in combination with
potash, soda, lime, ETC., forming salts
known as nitrates Now all ni!trates are
soluble in water, and besides are not held
by rocks as phosphoric acid and potash
are. The nitrates are very easily washed
or leached out. This is not only capable
of demonstration in laboratory, but
has been abundantly shown by collecting
! the water from underdrains (tiles) and
analyzing them. II has been found that
where the water came from tiles under a
! bare, naked piece of land, the nitrates IN
! it exceeded by considerable quantity
! that from tiles overlaid by a green, grow
ing crop. Tie growing crop appropri-
ated and held the nitrates-the bare soil
let it go.
But this is not all. The frequent
plowing and stirring of the soil encour-
ages the formation of nitrates-the IN
soluble, inert forms of nitrogen IN the
soil, are thereby changed into soluble
nitrates. Hence in autumn the soils Of
our cotton fields are comparatively rich
in nitrates, and continue SO until the
winter rain teaches them cut. = cotton
field is not only, therefore, most liable
to washing, but most exposed also to
greatest teaching. Above other fields
it needs the protection of growing crop
through the winter and early spring. It
is not too late yet to give it this protec-
ton. Sow rye now, and continue to
SOW, if needs be, till the first of Decem-
Der. Sow southern raised or home
seed-that from the northwest will not
give satisfactory results. Even if field
is intended for corn the next year, SOW
it in rye now and turn it under next
! spring. Farmers think it right to SOW
and plow in peas for enriching land IN
summer; let them try the SAME thing
with rye in winter. 1t will cost no more,
and probably do more good. Peas in
crease the supply OF available nitrogen
in the soil; rye will hold that already
present and prevent its loss. Fields COW
cred with winter grasses are neither
washed nor leached-they increase in
fertility. Let us bring our summer crli-
tivated lands as nearly as possible into
the same condition by clothing them IN
winter with carpet Of green. W. L. J.