The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1904-08-07
Worn Out Missouri Farms Made
New by JudiciOus Use of Nj
trogcnGathering Plants.
EXPERIMENTS BY UNIVERSITY.
Farmers in All p arts of he state
Urged to Adopt Plan, Which,
1t Is Asserted, Beats Com
; mercial Fertilizers.
REPUBLIC SPECIAL.

Republic SPECIAL
Columbia. Mo-. Aug. s.-ThrouGh tho
use OF COW peas and clover on the farms
of Missouri. the officers of the state
Board of Agriculture hope to reclaim
and bring back 10 barren lands its for
mer fertility.
In the older counties many farms.
through carelessness, of owners. have been
worn out and finally abandoned. Many
farmers. in an endeavor 10 reclaim these
farms. resort to the use of commercial
fertilizers. but this method is too cx-
pensive to insure profitable crops.
In the general Introduction of COW
peas and clover, II Is thought that the
problem Of reclaiming this land has beeu
solved series OF experiments carried
on by the University Of Missouri has
parts Of the State are being urged to
take up the plan. Although The area Of
barren land in Missouri is very small -
compared with that Of older States. IT is
rapidly growing larger. and the necessity
Of immediate remedy Us apparent to those
who realize the situation.
GATHER NITROGEN.
The reason for recommending clover
and COW peas Is because they possess a
power. peculiar TO this class of plants, Of
gen Is one Of the important elements Jf
plant feed: In required by all domestic
plants. and is the most expensive part OF
commercial fertilizers. The other staple
farm crops, such as corn. wheat. timothy.
blue grass, rye and milet. hav" not the
power Of gathering nitrogen from the air.
and must depend upon the available sup
ply already in the soil This. in part. ex-
plars why clover and COW peas, although
producing a hay crop rich in the elements
OF plant food, will leave the soil on which
this product Is grown more productive
than before.
On land that is badly worn the careful
saving Of the farm manures and the
proper rotation OF clover and COW peas
with the other farm crops. will keep up
the fertility Of the soil. and will avoid tue
hecessity of the purchase OF any com
mercial fertilizers
Unfvt tunately. there are many failures.
often under the very best management.
connected with the attempt to grow clover.
The Experiment Station al Columbia re-
ceives more Inquiries az TO the best meth
DDS Of seeding and caring for the cover
crop than any other problem I'm agrcu
ture. These inquiries are not confined 10
any particular season. but are received
the whole year around. AS result of
these Inquiries. and considering the i'm
portance OF the subject. the station has
undertaken series OF experiments to de
termine the proper season to sow clover
and the beet methods Of procedure. On
the station grounds for the past two
years. once each week, clover has been
ia'h Of April. The result of thsse- ex-
I..'Dents have demonstrated that the best
time to SOW clover Is about the middle of
March. When sowed earlier than that. an
early warm spell Tiil germinate the seed
too early ard ienye the young plants the
victims OF a late frost.
The cowpea appears 10 have the ability
TO thrive cn land too poor to grow either
red or crimson clover. II Is not effected
so seriously as clover by excessive heat
or drought. and Is not easily smothcred
ou: by weeds.
On most soils In Central and Southern
Missouri It yields a. larger quantity of
vegete tle matter. co.tsinirg a larger total
quantity Of nitrcgeu. than does red clover.
In the sections OF the state where the
climate Il xeli adapted to the growth Of
cowpeas - IL believed that they will prove
more satisfectory as a green manure
crop than ei:her"re or crimson clover
especially on poor soils. irasmuch as there
is less rick in securing stand and, there
Ii no dsrgSr o. 'hc. not weather In the
midsummer killing Sb< young piants.
Compare, with other green manure
croDs. the cowcea seems to grow especial
ly we'll or poor lEnG. On a piece of Eatu-
rally poO- upland clay. which has for the
past flfty years beer gr1yu in corn ard
wheat Witho.. fertilizer rne station be-
gan art sprlag number or experiments
In rctSciS OF restoring tho soil to pro-
ductiye-e3s. On six OF tre.e plots cow
poas were yoTn without manure The av-
ergEe yield of vineS md pods was very
largo ans test OF the ferttlizing proper
tics Of thu crop showed It to have a value
OF G.0 An acre.