Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1904-08-18
CLOVER AND PEAS
RECLAIMING LANDS
worn-out Missouri Farms Made New
by MISUNDERSTANDING Plants.

Columbia, No: Through the use OF
COW peas and clover on the farms of
Missouri, the officers of the State
Board of Agriculture hope to reclaim
many Of the abandoned farms of the
State ami bring back to barren lands
its former fertility.
In the older counties many farms,
through carelessness Of owners, have
been worn out and finally abandoned.
Many farmers, in an endeavoT to re-
claim these farms, resort to the use
of commercial fertilizers, bat this
method is too expensive to insure
profitable crops.
In the general introduction Of COW
peas and clover, it is thought that
the problem of reclalmlng this land
has been solved. A series of expert
ments carried on by the University of
Missouri has demonstrated this, and
farmers In all parts of the State are
being urged to take up the plan Al
though the area OF barren land In
Missouri is very small as compared
with that Of older States, It is rapidly
growing larger, and the necessity Of
immediate remedy is apparent to
those who realize the situation.
The reason for recommending clio
YER and COW peas is because they
possess a power, peculiar to this class
Of plants, of gathering nitrogen from
the air. Nitrogen is one of the i'm
portant elements of plant food; is re-
qulred by all domestic plants, and Is
the most expensive part of CONNER
cial fertilizers. The other staple farm
crops, such as corn, wheat, timothy,
blue grass, rye and millet, have not
the power of gathering nitrogen from
the air, and must depend upon the
available supply already in the soil.
This, in pdrt. explains why clover
and COW peas, although producing q
hay crop rich in the elements of
plant food, will leave the soil on
which this product is grown more pro-
ductive than before.
On land that is badly worn the care
ful 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 the necessity Ut the pur-
chase of any commercial fertilizers.
Unfortunately, there are many fail
ures, often under the very best man
agement, connected with the attempt
to grow clover. The Experiment Sta
tion at Columbia receives more inqul-
ries as to the best methods of seeding
and caring for the clover crop than
any other problem in agriculture.
These inquiries are not confined to any
particular season. but are received the
whole year around. AS a result of
these inquiries, and considering the
Importance Of the subject, the station
has undertaken a series OF experiments
to determine the proper season to SOW
clover and the best methods Of pro-
cedure. On the station grounds for
the past two years, once each week,
clover has been sown, from the 1st of
February to the 10th OF April. The re
suit of these experiments have demon
strated that the best time to SOW clover
is about the middle Of March. When
sowed earlier than that, an early warm
spell will terminate the seed too early
and leave the young plants the victims
Of late frost.
The COW pea appears to have the
ability to thrive on land too poor to
grow either red or crimson clover. 1t
Is not affected so seriously as clover
by excessive heat or drought, and Is
not easily smothered out by weeds.
On most soils in Central and South
ern Missouri 1t yields a larger quanti-
ty OF vegetable matter, containing q
larger total quantity of nitrogen than
does red clover. In the sections of the
State where the climate is we'll adapt.
ed to the growth of COW peas, 1t is he.
lieved that they will prove more salts
factory as green manure crop than
either red or crimson clover, especial,
ly on poor soils, inasmuch as there is
less risk In securing a stand, and there
is no danger Of the hot weather in the
midsummer killing the young plants.
Compared with other green manure
crops, the COW pea seems to grow es-
pecially well on poor land On a piece
Of naturally poor upland clay, which
has for the past fifty years been grown
in corn and wheat without fertilizer,
the station began last spring a number
Of experiments in methods Of restoring
the soil to productiveness. On six Of
these plots COW peas were sown with
out manure. The average yield of
vines and pods was very large, and
test of the fertilizing properties Of the
crop showed 1t to have a value Of S5.9O
an acre.