The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-04-24
Cover Crops In the soutb.

"A large proportion of the fertilizer nit
rogen supplied to crops must come from
vegetable matter in the soil. Nitrogen fer
''ilzer costs more than twice as much as
potasl' or phosphoric acid, vet il is the
only form Of fertilizer the farmer can
produce as a product of his farming oner-
atoms. very considerable part of all
crops remains in the soil in the shane Of
stupDle and roots, or is returned to the
sou Ill the form of farm-yard manures
1hese vegetable products slowly break ND
under the forces of nature and the ferti
lizer contained in them is converted into
forms suitable to serve as food for plants.
IL would be very fortunate thing if
these products were liberated in available
form only as new crops wanted them but
unfortunately the decomposition of vese-
table matter in the soil is going on con
stantly unless the ground is practically
frozen. Unless growing plants are ready
10 utilize the available fertilizer as If is
produced, 1t more or less goes 10 waste
from this the great usefulness OF cover
crops is readily recognized.
In the South this loss Is greater than
IN the North, where the period of cold
weather is much longer. Northern farm
ers nave found cover crops so profitable
ter managed farms. Southern planters
should draw hint from this Cover crops
are far more effective in the South than
IN the North, both for holding soil against
washing, and from checking the loss of
fertility.
1t is needless to describe the various
cover crops here; they have been written
about so frequently that planters are IA
nnlliar with them. There is one point,
however, which has been neglected-the
manuring of the cover CROP Because the
crop is partly grown to supply fertility.
1t does not follow that the crop itself can
grow without food.
Unless cover crop belongs to the le
gume family, it simply makes use of such
fertilizer as 1t finds available in the soil
the 'leavings" of previous CROPS Such
cover crops gather up so far as possIble
the general sweepings of the soil. and If
the sweepings happen to be light the cover
crop is very light also. The cover cron
may, III naturally poor soil, fail to make
sufficient growth to serve the purpose for
which it was planted.
Legumes are now universally used as
cover crops, largely because they accu-
mulate nitrogen from the air, later to he
returned as fertilizer; they make the soil
more fertile than it was before the cron
was planted. The more luxuriant the cron
the greater the store of fertility. For this
reason legume cover crops are, or should
be, always manured on their own account
In fact, for whatever purpose required il
never pays to grow poor crop.
The manuring of legumes Is very sim
pie. Nitrogen fertilizer is unnecessary. as
the crop itself gathers nitrogen if lberalIv
supplied with potash and Dhospbates
Some time before seeding the cover cron
apply IN much the same manner as the
seed is to be applied later, about 400 nounds
of kainit per acre, and 200 pounds of acid
phosphate. Practically, by far the
greater part of this mineral
fertilizer will be returned by the cover
crop, with large amount of nitrogen in
addition. The nitrogen thus accumulated
from the air would cost, if purchased
as fertilizer, possibly twice the total cost
OF the mineral fertilizer applied. S. Cox.