Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1902-03-13


save the hay in his feeding of stock
for having large field of pea.
caught by an early frost, he let then
die ON the land and later he tnrnes
q bunch of cattle on the field and I.
his great surprise they got fat Oh
the dead peas before the snow cover
led them II one is growing the pea.
mainly for the Improvement OF hi:
soil he can make them useful In ;
very economical manner BY turning
hogs on them IS soon as ripe. The
li0gs will fatfen rapidly and vii
need but little corn to finish then
on, while the logg~a dawn peas vii
be equal 10 a heavy coat of manure
on the land. But the great value o
the Cow pea 10 Southern Maryland
will lie in the fact that they can be
used probably to replace the west.
ern hay now so largely imported in.
10 this section. One ton of well
cured COW pea hay is worth more
for feeding than two tons OF the dead
timothy SD largely bought here.
Hence the farmers of Southern Mary
land could profitably enter into the
production Of beef cattle. If labor
is scarce and hay making too costly
then use the pea largely for grazing,
for which purpose there is nothing
better.
When the farmers of Southern
Maryland fully wake up 10 what the
Cow pea will do for them in the feed
ing OF stock, the making of manure
and all the while adding fertility 10
the soil, there will come a change
that will cover the hills with fiocks;
and herds that will bring prosperity
to the farmers.
There has long been a notion
among the growers of tobacco in
many sections that the turning un-
der OF vegetable matter in the soil is
injurious to the tobacco crop, and
hence we see all over the country
tobacco farmers burning off all vege-
tation and still further depicting
their soil OF humus i'm which il is al
ready deficient. This is an error
that is hard to overcome. But in
North Carolina the best growers of
the Gold leaf tobacco for which the
State has become famous, use the
cow pea largely for the production
OF the soil. The soil in any section
will grow the kind of tobacco that is
adapted to it, and If improved in
quality and productiveness will
simply grow u large crop of the
same kind of tobacco.
Right here then comes i'm the great
Importance of the cow pea in the de-
velOpment of improved farming in a
tobacco section. 1t will enable the
farmer to improve his tobacco crop
through the improvement OF the soil,
and will enable him to make this i'm
provement while making a profit out
of live stock through the abundant
forage the pea will furnish him.
With plenty of cow pea hay and corn
stover Southern Maryland could be-
come great stock feeding country,
while at the same time there will be
development in the old money crop
Of tobacco.
The people of Southern Maryland
have too long been tobacco planters.
Ii they are to restore the prosperity
of their section it must be by their
becoming tobacco turner's. The feed
ing of live stock lies at the very
foundation of successful farming,
and the growing of forage for the
feeding of live stock is an essential
element in their production. The
Northern farmer can grow clover,
and should grow it, but the farmer
of the South can do for his land and
stock with the Cow pea in two or
three months all that the Northern
farmer can do with clover i'm two
seasons. Hence it is evident that
| the pea il nf far s:n---,
| than clover, as il will enable us to
shorten the rotation Of crop, and 70
get at once on the poorest land the
forage needed for the cattle. While
the pea will enable US to get the nj
trogen from the air, it is at the same
time a greedy consumer of the min
eral elements OF the soil, and the
place where we can do most for OuI
land with commercial fertilizers is
by using acid phosphate and potash
for the Improvement Of the pea cror
and then leaving the pea 10 do the
rest.
As l have said. we must get u
farming in a systematic manner anC
abandon the old ruts of the planting
days. The cow peas can be planted
among the corn at the last working
and can be hogged down after thu
corn has been cut off as it should be
They can be sown purely for a hos
and cattle pasture, or they can b