The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-09-09
SOUTHERN " FAM : NOTES,
DID, DID,
TOPICS INTEREST TO PLANTER Truck GROWER



change peas fer corn in the market, l
will plant oats on prairie land for feed
in place of corn, which will save cult
walton of a corn crop. Please give me
your ideas upon my plan
Your suggestions relative to a rota-
ton for the purpose of improving san
dy land and increasing the yield of cot
ton seem to be all right. There is no
reason why your land possessed as it
seems to be of good subsoil, should
not hold the commercial fertilizers you
propose to use satisfactorily. Phos-
pilates and potash do not readily leach
from the soil, and they are not dissi-
pated by fermentation as is the case
with nitrogen. Acid phosphate and
potash are the two elements in which
sandy soil is most likely to be deficient
and that you would need to supply in a
commercial form. You can obtain all
the nitrogen neededNand whatever veg
etable matter would prove beneficial to
your soil through the cowpea, thus util-
izing the nitrogen in the air at very
small cost to you as compared with the
commercial product Besides that, the
coWpea will improve the mechanical
condition Of your soil.
A short rotation, such as you propose,
should work very satisfactorily for a
number of years. 1t seems to me that
it would be better to bring grass in the
rotation at some period and give the
land test and change. While you
might go ahead and grow cowpeas and
cotton for years to come it is 4 one
sided system Of cropping, and the land
will sooner or later rebel against it. By
using three OF four years rotation and
bringing Bermuda or some other grass
that you could use for hay or pasture
on your land the chances of maintain
ing soil fertility and increasing its crop
producing capacity for an indefinite
period are much better in my judg-
ment. The commercial fertilizers you
propose to use are exactly what we
would recommend, and the system Of
soil improvement which you desire to
follow is one we have advocated for
several years. The cowpea is indeed
the clover of the South, and it is too
bad it is a mistake to utilize the cow
pea alone, as it renders the land light
and friable, and especially in sections
of the country where the soil is inclined
to wash, the damage from leaving the
land uncovered in the winter is very
serious. but when nationally used the
cowpea is one Of the most valuable
crops that can be grown in the South.
With rich prairie soil to grow your corn
and oats on with cowpeas for grain or
made into hay you should be able to
feed all the live stock necessary to
work your land and probably have a
surplus of these crops for sale. There
fore it should prove success, and the
treatment of the land proposed should
certainly result in an increased yield OF
cotton,-Professor A. M. Soule.
c.. r. B., Chattanooga, Tenn, writes:
Please advise me what per cent. of fat
and protein the following mixture
would contain One-fourth cotton seed
meal. one-fourth wheat bran. one
fourth cornmeal and onefOurth dlstil-
ler's dry grain made from brewers
malt.
With regard to your suggested ration
for dairy COW, answers Professor
Soule. L beg to make the following
statement. The following table gives
the amount of digestible protein, car
bohydrates and fat in ton of corn"
meal, wheat, bran, distiller's malt and
cotton seed meal:
Carbo-