Rocky Ford enterprise., 1902-01-24

speak OF fertilizers for the small
farm In particular for two reasons:
The large farmer needs no informa-
tIon ON the matter OF fertilization for he
has sufficient land with which 10 rotate
with alfalfa. and most always has n
considerable amount OF good manure at
hand from feeding stock.
The small farmer Is In different po.
sItion. Because OF his fewer acres he
must get large returns To make the
business profitable.
AS general thing he has not enough
yard manure and must look to some
green fertilizer To supplement Il.
The importance OF this subject VIII
br emphasize, In the near future when
the most OF our farms nrc small
farms.
II Is already apparent that we must
rotate and fcrtilIzc.
Alfalfa. beans, peas. ciovcrs and
vetch belong TO class Of plants called
i.sumcs. and get large par, "f the
fertility needed for their growth direct
from the atmosphere. Climate lnnu.
.nccs their growth more or less. nv IL
does ali plants. certain ones being
adapted 10 certain localities. Alfalfa
cannot we'll bc employed In n rotation
ON small farms. II takes too long To
get II established aud It Is hard TO Grad.
icnic once II is In full growth.
For three seasons the station has
been testing icguminous crops to asccr-
tain Just what may BE- expected Of
then, here. The main object has Accn
fertility. but incidentally their value for
forage. for bees aud as u soil mulch
was noted. The plants tested have
been the red clover. scrndclln. cow-pcsi.
Held pea. soy bean and hairy vcich.
I,cd clover cannot be employed to
any great cSicn, rs the true ciovcrs do
no, thrive under dry conditions. In
older orchards. where there Is partial
shade. and the soil no, too light. !,
may profitabiy b. grown ns fertilizer.
Clover has doubled the yield OF oats
or corn when compared with the re-
turns from bronze grass sod. bu, this
was after dcvoting three years to the
plants in, pasture.
Scrndclla has not been successful and
1 do not believe II adapted to the arid
region.
plant or combination OF plants that
will produce considerable fertility oi
a heterogeneous nature In one season.
The cow-pca is n valuable plant for
us. The seed should be- sown in drills
from twcnty-four TO thirty-two inches
apart. 40 rs to give one or two early
CIVILIZATIONS. The seeding may bc done
from the latter part OF May TO July LIST
the early date II desired for seed. The
vines will soon cover the ground and
will produce from one and n half to
two tons OF hay per acre. besides lcav.
ing considerable amount Of vegetable
matter to incorporate with the soil.
This plant will produce from six to ten
bushels of seed per acre. which makes
splendid poultry or hog food. I pre-
fer the whippoorwill variety. owing TO
Its more upright growth. The New
Era is a late maturing kind, of small
vine. that may be sown very late.
The field pea. preferably the Mum
my or Marrowfat. does fairly well here
II sown early in spring so that it may
ripcn about July LIST. Oats may be
sown with them and the whole cut for
hay about the time the peas form pods.
The vines will grow as high rs the oats
and two tons OF hay per acre may he
cut. If allowed to ripen. from twelve
to eighteen bushels of seed may be pro-
duced. In many places peas are highly
valued for pork production, making n
much better quality than corn.
Soy bean is an upright. lcafy. bushy
plant growing about three feet high.
1t is n native OF Asia. where its seed
is used for food much as beans are used
by us. The Early Yellow and the Me
dium Green do well with u.s. The for
mer will mature in about ninety days.
but the latter requires ten or fifteen
days more. The bean Of this plant is
extremely rich in protein. growth ma.
terinl. having about the same amount
as cotton-sced meal. From twenty-five
to forty pounds of seed should be used
per acre. sown in drills about twenty.
four inches apart. The yield will range
from fifteen to forty bushels per acre
and for feeding to hogs no thrcshing is
required.
Ground that grew SOY leans last
year gave from twenty-five to fifty
per cent. more bcets compared with
land having no fertilizer.
This plant has wondYful drouth.rc.