The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1898-06-10
FIELD PEAS.

Lime upon line, precept upon pre-,
ccpt, here little and there u little. -
We trust our readers will pardon our
persistence in urging upon their attcn-
ton the Importance of this crop. The
Southern farmer, and especially he who
cultivates impoverished soil, has no
better friend than the cow pea. Whether
used as soil improver or forage
plant, it should find place upon every
farm. 1t may, however, be used for
hay and still improve the soil upon
which it is grown.
ROW IT IMPROVES THE soil.
The field pea belongs to the class of
plants known as lcgumnous, and later
as nitrogen collectors. 1t has tho power
Of appropriating nitrogen from the at
mospherc through the agency of mi
crobes, the presence of which is ind-
Gated by little tubcrcles or wart-likc cx-
cressences upon the roots. According
to the reports Of the Alabama and South
Carolina experiment stations, good
crop of pea vines will contribute as
much nitrogen to the acre Of land upon
which it is grown us twenty tons of Or
dinary stable manure.
A horse, if fed in his stall snd kept
there at night, will produce, with a
moderate supply Of litter, about 1900
pounds Of stable manure in twelve
months, or II ton. y good crop Of
peas will therefore supply to an acre as
much nitrogen as the manure saved from
thirteen head Of horses or mules, with
the difference i'll favor Of the peas, that
they shade the land during the summer
and are already evenly distributed,
while the stable manure must be forkcd
and hauled to the field. Stating it n
little differently, it will require all of
the stable manure made upon n thirteen
mule farm, to supply as much nitrogen
as orc acre of peas will furnish.
Growing nitrogen collectors upon the
land is the only practicable and cconom-
ical way of improving it upon large
scale.
Peas and other leguminous plants not
only accumulate nitrogen in the soil and
subsoil, but by their deeply penetrating
tap roots organize mineral plant food
from the subsoil, store it up in their
roots, stems and leaves, and thus supply
1t to the soil i'll available forms. There
arc vast stores Of phosphoric acid, pot
ash and other mineral elements of plant
1ood in tho snbsoil, in insolublc condi-
,t'on and out Of t1c reach of iibrous.
rooted plants, which gc, their support
entirely from the soil. The tup-rootcd
plants perform two important offices for
the crops which follow them. They
collect and store nitrogen (thc most
costly element of plant food) from the
air and organize other substances into
their structure and thus render them
available to plants which have no such
collecting, storing and organizing pow
er. In all departments Of life, animal
as we'll as vegetable, we find that ono
species organizes and stores food for the
other. The lion has no power of ap-
propriating to its nourishmcnt, directly,
the vegetable products Of the earth, but
takes its grass second hand, after the
lamb, pig or calf has organized them in
to flesh. So the grain and grass subsist
upon the carcasscs Of lcgumnous plants,
appropriating from them the nitrogen
which they organized from the air and
the potash and phosphoric acid, which
they have rendered assimilable, from the
subsoil.
The impoverishmcnt of soil by con.
tinued exposure in summer and its i'm
provement by shade, are we'll established
facts. Peas improve the land in this
way in no small degree.
II we were asked, "What is the great
est need of Southern soils?" we would
unhes'tat'ngly answer, "Humus." Sev-
eral causes have conspired to dcnudc
our soiis Of this important substance.
Among these are:
(a). Continued clean culture without
rotation in humus-supplying crops, such
as grain, clover and grass.
{b). Exposure of the uncovered sur
face during the winter, and consequent
eurfacc washing and waste Of plant
TODD, there being no growing crop to
conserve it.