The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-07-31

UOTDD DY PRoF. ,. Y. DU0o AR, oI lisers, having recently come to Alaba- ma from higher attitudes, is confused as to whether the figures on guano sacks represent pounds of plant food In the entire contents of the sack or percentages.
 Replying to your recent letter. I would say that the figures on the out side of the suano sack show the mum Der of pounds of valuable plant food per one hundred pounds of fertilizer. Y, To ascertain the amount of plant food In a two hundred pound sack double ages. l. F. D. l Soils for Alfslfs.
 4 Hale County correspondent asks | about soils suitable for alfalfa
 l Your letter of May 18th. inquiring about alfalfa is at hand T send you copy of our bulletin on that subject, which I think answers your Inquiries Az rule alfalfa does not do we'll on very sandy soil deficient in lime. unless such soil is rather rich and very free ! from crab grass and other weeds. AL falfa requires good land containing considerable lime and clay. If well drained. bottoms are preferable to up- lands. On all except prairie soils in ] oculation is necessary, and for this you can use soil from alfalfa, melilotus or burr clover fields. J. F. D. CSwpea Hay Experiments.
 Well-cured cowpea hay Is a most common grass hays in feeding value | and being at least equal in this re- spect to good clover and alfalfa hay With the area of wild grasses decreas- ing from year to year in certain locali- ties. and the tame grasses in many cases failing to produce adequate yields, a heavy yielding crop with Q | short period of growth. like some va- rfeties of cowpeas. becomes an impor- tant source of hay The principal req son why the production of cowpea hay Is not commensurate with its high value is the dificulty in curing the large succulent vines. Experiments in grow ing cowpeas as hay crop. and in hand ling the same economically and success fully during the curing process have been made at the Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi experiment stations, among others, and the results obtained are here briefly restated in the hope that the information may be of assist ance in bringing into practice more ef- fective and less costly methods of cur ing, and consequent increase fin the production of this kind of hay
 The Alabama station sought to facilitate curing and to avoid the loss of the leaflets. a most nutritious DOT ton of the plant. which readily break from the vines in curing and handling. by growing cowpeas in a mixture with some grass crop. The principal dim culty here lies in obtaining varieties which arrive at the proper stage for haymaking at the same time as the Hu grown with the Whip -poor-will cowpea proved useful in facilitating curing. The use of one peck of millet seed and one bushel of cowpeas per acre is recom-, mended. If grown with a late variety, the millet will be ready for cutting while the cowpeas are still too imature to cure well and to make good hay. A test was made of planting Wonderful cowpeas 8 late variety, in the cowpea rows seventeen days later, but still the millet ripened before the cowpeas were ready for having. While the millet did not add to the yield of hay Amber sorghum drilled with Wonderful cow peas on May 14 gave a material in crease in the yield. and was ready for moving at the same time as the cow peas. The hay of the sorghum mkt ure was more moist than that obtained from the miilet mixtures. and therefore. Is likely to present greater difficulties in curing; and this will be especially so in unfavorabIe weather. With these results as a basis, the station recommends growing German millet as an aid in curing early varieties of cowpeas. and Amber sorghum as means of increasing the yield with later varieties.
 As long exposure to sunshine causes the leaflets to drop of. curing should be accomplished with the smallest pro- portion of the mown crop exposed to direct sunshine. Curing is mainly in fiuenced by the weather. and the sue culence of the vines. and hence the time required for the process varies with these factors. Based on the experi- ence of curing cowpea hay for several seasons. the station suggests the fol- lowing general course of procedure: Cutting one day. and twenty-four hours later raking into windrows, where the hay may remain twenty-four hours; then cooking and, if practicable. leaving these cocks in the field for two or three days. at the end of which time they may be opened for a few hours before hauling, or hauled without opening. according to the condition of the hay The use of canvas covers for the haycocks during wet weather was found to be very satisfactory. and is believed to pay for itself in the end.
 
 cowpea hay in tightly packed con- dition proved unsuccessful
 From several hundred plats under field conditions. the Arkansas station obtained. during five years. an average of S.169.4 pounds of hay per acre. hi general, the results did not include the weight of either peas or hulls In one Of the seasons the highest average yield Of hay per acre, 8,750 pounds. was ob- tained from the Clay cowpea. and low est. 750 pounds, from the New Era and Extra Early Blackeye. the yield of shelled peas from the three varieties being 174. 1.3S7.5 and 1.025 pounds per acre. respectively. plat of Wonder full cowpeas yielded s.s50 pounds of hay per acre. and two piats of Clay s.25O and. 7,450 pounds. with practically no Variations in the capacity of producing either hay or peas very forcibly calls attention to the advantage of select ing varieties suitable to the purpose for which the crop Is grown.
 The results in curing the crops on these plats ranged from perfect success to complete failure. Young or vigor- ously growing vines were difficult to cure. even under favorable conditions, while mature vines cured with little difficulty in favorable weather and usually made good hay after an ex- posture of two to four days of rain and cioudliness. The varieties producing few or no peas were most difficult to cure on account of their continued growth and succulent condition until checked by frost Varieties producing SA~ l1IA