The Huttig news., 1907-10-19
FARMER AND
 PLANTER
OATS, CLOVER AND VETCH.
T timely Suggestions Concerning Seed and FertIizng Crops.

The seeding of the oat crop should 3s attended to at once. Unless winter 0ats are put in early enough to make < good growth before the frosts set in they are very apt not to make crop worth growing. They should have time 50 get deep rooted and titled so as to protect the roots and keep tue frost from throwing them out of the 1and In experiments made at the Alabama station, Red Rust Proof oats ssown in the fall made a much heavier yield than Virginia Grey winter sown st the same time, but if Virginia Grey winter oats are sown in September, our experience has been that they out yield any of the other varieties and are less subject to winter killing. The Appier and the Culberson oats have also given good crops when seeded either early in the fall or in the early .spring-say February. In Alabama it ahas been found that sowing in deep drills in October and using the roller after the plants have been thrown up by the frost are the most effective means for preventing winter killing As compared with oats sown broadcast those seeded in deep drills yielded three bushels per acre more where the deep furroWs were only partly filled and two bushels more when the fur rows were almost completely filled. The results of the fertilizer tests st5f1n nit were more profitable than phosphate or potash on the sandy and loamy soils of Alabama, but they also indi- .cated that on such soils the applica Sion of one hundred pounds of acid phosphate per acre at the time of sow zng was advisable In this State we znave abundant evidence that the appli cation of acid phosphate is attended with advantage, especially when fol lowed by a top dressing of nitrate of soda at the rate of from one hundred to two hundred pounds to the acre ap- plied in the spring. Seeding after blowing down cowpeas, soy beans, or other leguminous crops, whether the entire crop was plowed under or only the stubble, gave an increase in the oat crop of from six to thirty-three bushels per acre. Virginia Grey win ter oats seeded in September on land well prepared, and in a good state of fertility and top dressed with farm yard manure during the early winter, we have known to give yield of sev- enty-five bushels to the acre in this
 middle section of Virginia. To pro-
 duee only from fifteen to twenty-five s~-ousi ss=< ssacre,- ttiite-s,s-rage-.yie here, when so much greater yield is possible, ought to be sufficient req son for not sowing oats on poor land badly prepared. Try the better way and see if it is not more satisfactory.
 lKeep on sowing crimson clover, or hairy vetch, or winter vetch, and the wheat, oat and rye mixture on all land from which other crops are harvested, and which is not wanted for oat or wheat crops This will make cover for the land and conserve and add to 1he fertility of the land and make gra- zing or hay or a green fallow to blow down for corn and other crops in the spring All the land in the South needs to have more vegetable matter put into the soil so as to make it rich in humus, which conserves moisture, makes fertilizer available and pre- vents baking of the soil. Thousands of dollars spent in fertilizers can be saved by sowing these crops and much better results be obtained, and the cost is so small that no farmer should hesitate to incur the cost. It is much more certain to result in profit than many times the amount spent in fer tilizing in the spring. Sow twelve pounds of crimson clover and three gpecks of wheat, oats and rye per acre, and one bushel of hairy vetch or win ter vetch with half a bushel of the grain mixture per acre. It is not nee essary to blow land before putting in this crop if the same was well pre- pared for the crop which has been harvested. The land can be prepared with the disc harrow and the seed covered with a spike tooth harrow or a cultivator-Southern Planter