The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-04-29

81 .. -a build up land to a high state
81 ...t,. and keep it so, is to utilize
@ ..rr8I resources within our reach
81 . -ttire intended, to be so utilized.
Il - .-..+ and growing desire for ar
II .... Civilization through the eXpen-
81 .... af chemical manureS is not only
# --.5rt drain upon the farmers
fuIt it is likewise a drain upon
/. r.,auftv Of the soil. The man who
" .... entirely upon commercial fer |
ii .,...,- f., supply the plant food needed /
/. a.- .roviug crops each year, if he |
ID .r die poor he will leave TO mis- |
81 -.f-.. an exhausted and impoverished /
% .Hf.h must have its annual dose I
81 .ft.icals to produce a crop, there |
81 liner tst little or nothing left in the
81 .t.,... af natural plant food upon which
q o.n could subsit
. 1..fne.n farmers are simply going to
81 ,.-..u.- on the question of buying
81 rr.y buy more than they sell, hence
81 a f...tlue. OF trade each Year is against
III Far4 ard they are forced to start the
81 .,+ wear i'm debt. The men who utilize
ID l..fr.r sources and succeed in the bust
81 moss .-a in the minority when they
u .ra,M bc largely in the majority, be
81 ...s.. of our magnificent opportunities
% r.rg the lines OF agricultural oeVelop-
rr.rr But for the extensive cultivation
e of cotton, each farHN,r could within a
ii -.e I.As- build MS lands up to a high
81 ,.t.. of cultivation and keep it so, with
Nd n,t th. use of d single pound of high
Is n~e.l complete commercial fertilizers.
E nf secret lies in the introduction of
81 more general system of diversified
N f~nfug rotation OF crops, utilizing our
81 mrryard manures and ptaEtin eXten-
III sgev each year that greatest Of all re-
S. n5Ea..n4 soil crops, the cow pea.
III II +. more particularly Of the cow pea
81 that propose to write at this time, be-
II Hegua that it is the best friend the
Ii farmer has and that through it's constant
u.s. rt- lands can be permaDetly en-
rched and made highly productive.
The lasy pea is valuable for many pur-
ii bosses. more Sc than the use to which
y ug crler plant grown on the farm can
III la ula.ea. Aside from its high value as
"a a-.-a Tor feeding stock of all kinds,
II it. superior value as soil renovator
q places it at the head of leguninous
d raa1s and thereby gives the southern
s. .uael the opportunity which ne should
IA h quick to take Advantage OF that of
N ruing the worn lands Of the South
4 ana r,uIe1ing them as productive as in
4 Ii. days Of their virgin fertility.
GATHERING; FREE NITROGEN.
1l. value Of me COW pea as a soil
..1arator is due to its power of taking
t-- nitrogen from the air during its
Ii @.r.ut stages of growth, and so &c
POSTING it in the soil a TO render it
Ill #a.alIe 10 subsequently crops of other
81 a..H- Mich require that element to be
Already in the soil to support their
g..#fl and fruiting. Nitrogen IS the
mgst expensive element of plant food
FL with which the farmer has 10 contend.
ID value in dollars ana cents is about
four times that of either phosnhcric acid
or potash, pound for pound. Four -fifths
a. the air We breathe is pure nitrogen
and any plant which draws upon the
great blanket of air oVerhanging an acre
OF la1 and so utiliZes it as 70 leave
III considerable portion of it in the soil
II A tn available condition for other crops
III j. d1iu- a big amount of missionary
work for the owner of that land, Wbicl
should not be lightly appreciated.
Nearly every farmer knows that COW
peas tend to improve land upon whicf
81 l1sE are growing, but many OF them dt
Aa5 understand the exact scientific prip
o.t0 upon which it IS done. The inetho6
'atAot be better explained here thar
"s "taring the language employed in I
recon. bulletin on the subject ISSUED
-f94 the North Carolina Experimen
i station. as follows:
III "Eamnation Of the roots Of
Fl '".'.} cow pea, or other lcgume, dis
n many little punches. enlarge
"A's 'u9dulcs' or 'tubercles,' varyin:
q" SUE lloa that OF a small Dinhead t
Il - These have about the consis
IA 's end much the appearance of yer.
"a potatoes, but examinatio
II "'"- I'D" microscope shows that the
"a ota .ast numbers of living things
~ ai.E myriads of minute living or
'I5. scientifically named bactcris
~ '5" bacteria draw the small mineIs
'hoir nourishment from tn
4H which they grow, but the great
"'5'&'h supply essential to their lif
FL, her from the air which circu
'Arouzh the soil. Each individua
'7a' low forms of animal ,ife exist
.+' few hours, and at eac
Win the soil and goes throug
OF decomposition similar
-' takes place in other organi
he only difference is tha
'4el l2hIe matter decays it leave
'a only what it mas taken frol
.h"5e bacteria add the nitroge
a awe absorbed from the air al
r.- INTO form available Cor su