The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1902-06-07
FARMER AND PLANTER.
TO AVOID WINTER KILLING.
the Soil by the Planting Of
LeguminOus Crops.

Is LeRum1uOuD CrOpos
All over the upper south comes the
report that the crop of winter oats
has been almost entirely killed. Our
own crop, on a piece of land we are
trying to bring into better condition,
Is not entirely killed, but looks
patchy. The land, heavy red clay,
has not yet gotten into the condition
we want 1t for this crop. The chief
reason for the present state of af-
fairs on most of the land devoted to
the fall grain crops is that the late
fall was extremely dry. The crop, ON
land deficient in humus. grew very
slowly and was in bad condition when
the winter began unusually early.
The extreme cold of December caught
the poorly-grown oats with bare
ground, and they were destroyed.
Ours would also have been entirely
killed but for the fact that we have
had some cow peas and vetch on the
land and it has acquired a little more
humus. This humus preserved the
soil moisture to some extent, and the
crop grew of better than it would
otherwise have done. Still the coil
lacks the humus needed to preserve
good moisture condition during the
fall, aud hence the damage. Where
the land has been well stocked with
humus through the growing of the
leguInes the moisture conditions were
such that the oats got better start
in the fall and titled out so that they
were able to go through the cold
snap in better condition, while on
poor land that dried out completely
In the fall, the crop is an entire fail
ure. Where this is the case the way
Is open now to the farmer to start
about remedying this state of affairs
in the soil through the use of the
most available legume the south pos
sesses, the COW pea. The loss of the
oats crop can through the means of
this valuable plant be to a great ex-
tent redeemed, and forage can be
made while improving the condition
Of the soil. Some have written to me
in regard to the advisability of apply
ing lime to the land before sowing
peas. While with nearly all other
Iegumes lime is a useful application,
the case of the COW pea is different.
The growth of the pea crop seems to
be hindered rather than helped by
the application of lime direct to the
crop. Lime is all right after the peas
have been grown to help the sue
ceeding crop. but do not use lime on
the peas. Probably the best general
application for the promotion of the
growth of the pea will be dressing
Of acid phosphate and muriate of pot
ash in proportion of four to five parts
of the first named to one part of the
second, and using 30 to 400 pounds
per acre. Not only will the growth
of the forage be greatly increased,
but the development of the plant will
be such that il will be enable to draw
far more nitrogen from the air than
1t would otherwise acquire, and the
amount of roots and stubble for the
formation of humus in the soil will
be largely increased. What this
humus means in the usual dry wealth
er of our autumns is as we have said
greater power in the soil to retain
moisture, and hence to make a bet
ter development of the sown grain,
thus making it more able to resist the
attacks of cold. If all the land that
was sown in oats in the south last
fall had had few years of this pre-
paratory storing of organic matter
in the soil, the result in the present
crop of winter oats would have been
far different. Our own crop of oats
will be at once followed by peas treat
ed as we have suggested, and we be-
lieve that by another fall the winter
oats crop can be grown with perfect
success even though the weather may
be as dry as it was last fall. OF late
years drought has been the rule with
US in September and October, and
there is no better way to avoid its
effects and to get the soil into bet
ter moisture retaining condition than
through the legume crop. This is cs-
PCSidity tioC Al ttiC lOfdkC- kTOWu 10
fed and the manure returned to the
land thus adding largely to the HUI
mus content. Thus il viii not only
pay well in the additional forage to
fertilize the peas, but it will pay in
the increased amount of the roots and
stubble left in the land without the
labor and expense of hauling it there.
Feed the crop that feeds the soil and
the animals at the same time. and the
fertilizers you use will then be the
means of permanently improving the
land instead of as is now the case
with many of merely getting a little
more sale crop out of it and leaving
it in worse condition than before.-E.
+. Massey, Editor Practical Farmer.
WHY NOT TRY THE PLAN.