The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1902-10-23
eEHsEEM FOR FARMERS.
A New Word Here, and the New Thing
il Denotes Comes From Egypt.

a New WORD Here, ana the new ming
it Denotes Comes From Egypt.
Berseem is to be brought to the Uni
ted States to help ont in the National
,rrieation scheme. No doubt not ore
reader in a thousand will know wheth.
er berseem is something from the In
side of a pyramid or an clement OF
beeswax. The United States Govern
ment has just issued booklet ABOUT
it written by David G. Fairchild, who
Is described in the big Blue Book as
Permanent Agricultural Explorer, d.
vision of Seed and Plant Introduction,
Bureau of Plant Industry, Department
Of Agriculture" Surely berseem
must be very important or this dis
tinguished explorer would not nave
taken the time to write book about
It and illustrate it with fine photogra-
vures.
When land has had 70 rain for cen
turies a salty deposit gathers near
the surface. The scientist knows ex-
actly why this is so, but it is hardly
worth while to explain. When these
arid lands arc covered with water the
first result is the formation of salty
crust. This plays havoc with the in
tentions of the a@riculturist. He tries
to get rid Of this salty deposit by deep
tilling, but this will not always work.
When the department determined that
THIS salty crust was one of the I'm
portant haadicaps of the irrigation
schemes, it undertook to find plant
which would neutral:Ze these salty de-
posits. This wss the quest of David
G. Farchils. and he reports that he
found in berseem, the fodder and soil
ing rlant o. Egypt. Trifolium Alexa-
drinum, just tire thing for rotating
crop for irrigated land.
Not only will berseem be useful in
eating the salts which hamper the lr-
rigation agcicu!;urist, but it furnishes
the manure to enrich the soil. Amer
lea here ge%s another important lesson
from the Egyptian. The fellabin
(farm laboJer) have for centuries used
the manure of the stables for fuel.
Girls are employed to mix it with earth
and the dried cakes are burned. In
fact. it is the principal fuel. The soil,
deprived of it's natural enrichment,
would deteriorate were it not for the
wonderful properties Of the fodder
croD. The kecnest modern agricul-
turists of the Nile Valley report that
without this wonderful plant the soil
would soon become so weak, despite
the deposit of silt from the overflow
ing waters, that it would become
worthless. The silt is almost devoid
of the necessary nitrogenous matter.
The berseem also keeps down the
weeds. The report of Mr.. Fairchild
says:
Nothing; among the varied agricul-
tural sights which interest the tourist
in Egypt is so interesting as the cul-
ture, harvest and marketing of this
green fodder crop. Every coachman
has bunch of berseem or bag of it
under his feet, with which he feeds
his horse at the cabstand. Every
drayman las on top of his load bag
of it for his horses or bulloeks, and
the donkey boys carry bag of it for
their muc2-abEsed beasts. In the
early morning the avenues leading to
Cairo are Tired with long files of cam
els and doE.oys bearing the green for
age. About it's culture all other agri-
cultural crops are arranged"
The plant resembles clover and the
stems are very succulent, in every way
more delicate than clover or alfalfa,
and it is eaten not only by domestic
animals, but by the farm laborer.-Cin-
cinnati Commercial Tribune.