The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1902-07-05
THE KING OF THE LEGUMEs.

THE KING OF THE LEGUMES.
Those shortsighted mortals who have
assumed that because the editor of the
Practical Farmer has for the past thirty
or more years been fighting the battle
for the cow pea, he advocates it to the
exclusion of the clover crop in all sec
tions of the country are certainly very
much in error. The farmer in the Mid
die States, and in the North generally,
who abandons clover entirely, is doing
as badly as the Southern farmer who
tries to make clover take the place of
the COW pea in his climate. There are,
however. large sections North, where
clover once fourished, in which there is
now a general complaint that it is more
and more difficult to get a stand of
clover through the first summer and win
ter This state of affairs may be tho
result of very different causes. In many
cases it is the result of a using up of the
humus in the soil. rendering the land
! more compact and drying out more read
lily Or it may be from a deficiency OF
some element of plant food, generally
phosphoric acid and potash Or it may,
in some cases. be the result of too fire.
growths and thus making the soil acid.
1t has been found that the life of the
microscopic forms which live on the
roots of the clover depends on the soil
being feebly alkaline in it's character. In
such cases. and we have had such under
our own observation a dressing of lime
will cure the trouble. While clover is,
as we suggest the king of the legumes,
,HNr
has been failing from lack of the mois-
ture-retaining humus the COW pea will
come in as an auxiliary to help the land
get ready for clover. Thus, instead of
the popular three year rotation lengthen
1t by blowing the corn stubble in the
spring and sowing cow peas the first of
June. Now these for hay, and prepare
the stubble for wheat giving the wheat
good dressing of. acid phosphate and
potash and seeding to clover. Or where
the season is long enough, put the corn
land in oats and follow the oats with
peas and these with wheat and clover.
Now as to the time for sowing clover
seed Mr.. Terry is all right in his ad-
vocacy of sowing on the honey comb
ground in February or March in his CHI
mate But from Virginia and Kentucky
plete failure we ever made in getting a
stand of clover was from sowing in this
way A warm spell came at once and the
clover terminated only to be destroyed
by a freeze as it came through the
ground. In that case we used the COW
pea to great advantage after the wheat
was cut, and in any locality it will stand
ready to cure the loss of the clover. Many
Co t1,nt fo;I
good a stand of clover sown with oats
/ in spring as they do on wheat In our
experience there is no better place to sow
clover seed than with spring oats. We
never failed to get a stand sown with
sprin goats. From Virginia south we
would always, as rule, SOW clover in
the fall with the crop of winter oats in
September If, through dry weather, it
fails you still have the spring chance as
good as ever But it will seldom fail
if we'll narrowed in. In all the mountain
country of the South red clover is as
valuable a crop as anywhere, but we can
not agree with Mr.. Bryan that it sue
ceeds all over Georgia. The cow pea is
not at it's best in the mountains where
Mr. Bryan lives. and the clover is not
at homo in the lower cotton country of
all legumes, and it is waste of time
and money to try to get clover to sue
ceed Glover is needed in the North and
to some extent in the elevated clay soils
of the Southern mountains, but from
the Blue Ridge to the sea in the South
Atlantic States clover can never dispute
the reign of the cow pea By clover we,
of course, mean medium red clover.
NJ fpto dc. fnnn tn1 nf
other clovcrs, and we have no objection
to this, but the crop especially meant
by this special is red clover. If the fail
ure of clover has been caused by a de-
/ ficiency of plant food in the soil this can
| best be remedied as we have suggested
| by fertilizing the wheat crop literally.
This will pay in the increased wheat
crop and will render the clover more Ger
tain. The best stand we ever had was
| from sowing seed among rye in May
when the rye was joining to head. We
would not advise this, as rule, but the
season was favorable and the result was
fine. We have had fine crops of clover
sown among corn in July, and we have
failed to get stand in the same method.
! Note what Mr. Crews says about the
amount of water pumped from the soil
ny d pIS Clop Vi rag Wceu0' OAiPPiiio
( the weeds is all right, but we cannot
agree with the friend who advises fall
pasturing On very rich land, which is
inclined to heave in winter, it may be
of advantage to tramp it in dry weather
| in the fall But the adoption of this
practice on lands in general would, we
believe, result in harm rather than
benefit
There is no point in which there is
more general disagreement than in the
amount Of seed to be sown per acre. We
have always used from II to IS pounds.
Our neighbors laughed at use for wasting
seed but whe nthe crop was mown we
always had haye nough to pay ten tines
OF, more the difference in the seed sown