The Atlanta constitution. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1885-19??, 1900-06-04
THE SOUTHERN cow PEA.

w. r. Massey. in Farm anu i'e'o'''
Texas. .,...,.,,r,I
,,roeress cannot have failed to note inc
,1. Not has been made In recent
- IN the cultivation of leguminouS
nlar+s for the feeding of cattle ana tho
ir,nrovement of the soil The determine
tion of the agency which these piii'9
havo in the nxation of NITROGEN IN IN
form OF organic matter IN 'le 80
- 90 tho greatest accomplishments o.
,oodern biological study. inc I@.' nc.
clover and some other plants OAu -,
,.,.oot influence I'm improving the ferul-
Itv of the soil was long khoWH' III,
tbo, ala II was a matter about VIM"
.i,;.,r. ,,,oe known until recent years
"a tbera Is still much TO be learheu ~
,agard Ia the exact process by WhiS'4
Iogu,nes do acquire the nitrogen u ~
,fr throuri, the agency or nlcrupS' -
inc ON their roots. But lot the pr
ra,r,er a. is enough to know that thes
do n knowing the great soou " ~
soil which has been done III inc ~.
through the use or cover ni'.N' D,,-;,,r-
ern farmers have tried clover CROWNS
,,.itb 100 or loss success. More failures
,o,,orau- than success have been mauS
with clover In the south. particularly III
Tho cotton lands of the coast region prop
or And right there was where the W,
Gifts of such n plant was most heSuei'
for the long, constant and clean cuitui
Of cotton had so reduced the huihus II.
tbo sou that commercial fertilizers failed
20 have the effect desired In their use
and the soil suffered more seriously from
,ho orects of drought than when fresh
and fertile. -
For generations the southern Held or
cowpeas have grown in desultory man
nor I'm the south. usually among corn
merely for the purpose OF getting the peas
or for feeding hogs on the land atter the
corn was off. Only in recent years nave
tho southern farmers begun TO wake up
10 the knowledge of the Wonderlul value
of tho pea both as forage plant ana as
n soil improver Farmers who formerly
thought they were doing a good thIhe
for their land by letting 1t lie year be
tween crops of cotton, growing up IN All
manner of weeds and grass, nave 1ouhd
ont that the most profitable way 10 rest
their land Is to cover IL with peas hsteau
30 weeds. and thus get n valuable feed
crop when cured as hay. while the lahu
IS improved In productive capacity Tor the
following crop. We are beginning TO learn
that there is no reason to regret the lact
that clover is not n success in the south,
for we have at hand plan; fully adapted
70 orr climate, which will do all that cio-
,er ran do for us, and do In sixty to ninety
DAVIS what clover takes two years TO &C
complish. II has fallen 10 my lot to take
an active part In the battle for the pea
and I'm urging on the southern farmer the
practicability. with its aid, of increasing
The fertility of his soil 10 the highest point
of productiveness without the purchase
of an ounce of heterogeneous fertilizers. The
cotton lands of the south, in the sandy
sections at least, need good supplies of
nitrogen, and this Is the most costly thing
TO buy when bought in commercial fer
tilizer But the pea gives them this in
abundance at the same time it Is giving
them the most valuable of stock foods.
The agitation that has been going on In
regard to the southern pea has attracted
as much attention among the wide-awake
farmers in the northern states as in
the south The introduction of early ma
turing varieties has enabled the northern
farmer to experiment with the southern
pea, and he, too, has found it is of ines