The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1898-01-25
GREEN MANURING.
An Interesting Question


doubtedly by the use of green nmanures
The process is slow but effective, and il
the farmer is not in hurry for returns
he can undoubtedly largely restore the
fertility of exhausted land by the judi
cious use Of restorative crops. It has
been claimed that even an increased
productiveness may be impaired to
many kinds Of soil by the careful use
Of green manures.
By green manures is generally meant
green crops, such as cow peas, clover,
rye, lupines, etc., which are grown to
be ploWed under and allowed to rot;
or they may be allowed to rot upon the
surface of the land and then plowed
under. The general effect is the same
but of varying intensity. II it is not
proposed to ploW the crop under when
in it's richest condition as fertilizer
producer it is certainly more economic
to pasture the land and allow the live
stock to get the benefit of the feed stuff
produced. In this way pasture lands
are rapidly improved, and of all ami
mails adapted for the improvement of
the land the sheep is the best. Cattle
and horses do not bite the crop so
closely or distribute the manure go uni
formly, and in wet weather so frequent
ly damage land by tramping it. When
practiced in this way, theEgrass crops
become one of the most restorative
crops in existence. The green manures
act slowly and time must be allowed
for them to store the plant food in the
soil. The only ingredient of plant food
that they actually add to the soil is
nitrogen; but they do more than that
They digest the unavailable plant food
in the soil and preserve it in en- avail
able condition for the use OF future
crops. They improve the tilth of the
soil and by the humus produced from
their decay they restore to it physica
conditions that are quite as essential to
the successful development of crops as
is the presence Of an adequate supply
of plant food. They promote the de-
velopment of micro organisms in the
soil which largely assist in the procur
ing and preparation of plant food for
the crop. The plant lives largely upon
the waste products of microscopic life
just as the animal lives upon the plant.
The animal cannot utilize the fertility
of the land until it has been appropri
ated and digested by the plant. and the
plant cannot fully utilize the plant
food in the soil until it has been digested
by lower forms of life or by powerful
chemical changes largely brought
about by the activity of the micro
scopic life in the soil. The green ma
nures provide favorable conditions for
the development of these forms of life
and their value to the land as q re
storative therefore cannot be measured
by the actual amount of plant food
found in them by chemical analysis.
The chemical analysis of green ma
nure or of stable manure tells only part
of its actual value to the farmers. At
present we are acquainted with no
method that will enable us to determine
the actul value of either green manure
or stable manure; in fact, this will vary
with the character Of the land to which
they are applied. Their action as a
mulch, the shading Of the land, the in
creased absorption of nitrogen and the
decomposition of mineral products in
the soil by the increased microscopic
life are forces that have not yet been
measured.
In sections of the country where a
more intensive system of agriculture is
pursued, or where the farmer looks
almost entirely to one crop, such as
wheat, corn, tobacco or cotton, it is not
generally feasible to keep large quan
tity of live stock to eat off the green
crop of manure In this case the land
ia broken up and sowed with the recu-
perative crop which is turned under at
the proper time and allowed to decom-
pose under the soil-or, as in the case
Of the cow pea, it is frequently allowed
simply to rot upon the surface, prac
tice not to be commended. Where the
farmer uses commercial fertilizers we
recommend that they be applied to the
green manure crop, such as clover, COW
peas, rye, etc., the season before it is
expected that they should be appro-
priated by the crop grown as a money
crop. In this way the farmer may save
the purchase of the most expensive in
gredient- -nitrogen-Of commercial fer
tilizers. The green manure crop will
provide the necessary nitrogen and the
phosphoric acid and potash applied to