Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1909-04-23
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. FARMER. AND
. PLANTER
COVER CROPS ON COTTON LAND
Winter Legumes, Such as Bur and
Crimson Glover and Hairy Vetch
Are Very Good.

(By A. d. McNair, Office of Farm
Management, Bureau of Plant In
dustry, Washington, d. CD
The need for winter cover crops in
the cotton region is most pressing.
During the long winter months the
soil of the cotton fields, especially in
the hilly regions, is washed into the
streams, leaving the hillsides quilted,
and impoverished From the first of
October until the first of the follow
ing April, a period of six months,
something should be grown between
the cotton rows which would prevent
this washing Another benefit OF
such a cover crop and one not usually
understood, is that the growing plant
will utilize whatever nitrates may be
in the soil. Nitrates are formed in
all soils to a greater or less extent
and when rains come these nltrates,
being very soluble, are washed out
unless some growing crop is present
to utilize them Another advantage
of winter cover crops is that they
furnish pasture for domestic animals.
Still another advantage is that they
furnish vegetable matters to the soil,
thus building up its fertility. This
period of time, from October ! to
April /, constitutes half of the whole
year and should certainly be utilized
in which to grow something OF bene'
fit to the soil and to increase the
farmers income. There are those
who object to pasturing animals in
the cotton fields in the winter, and
Farmers must be their own judges as
to what soils can be pastured and
under what conditions this can be
done. But even if no pasturing is
done, a winter cover crop should be
there just the same, for it is very
advantageous in other ways.
Some experiments have been made
| with certain winter legumes as cover
crops, with a view to increasing the
fertility of the soil At the North
Carolina Experiment Station bur Glow
er was sowed between the rows OF
and was plowed down the following
spring as a fertilizer for the cotton
crop the next year. They report that
the value of the cotton grown where
bur clover was plowed under was SIS
more per acre than where no cover
crop was used. This increase OF
value is so great that it ought to in.
terest every farmer in the idea OF
sowing a cover crop in his cotton
! field Even If the increase had been
only half what it actually was 1t
would have paid a larger per cent on
the investment.
In the fall of 1907 Mr.. L. NJ Cook,
Grand Cane, La, sowed 20 pounds OF
the seed of hairy vetch on one and
one-half acres of his cotton field He
grazed sheep on it during the winter,
but much of it reached a height OF
a foot or more in the early spring
before the land was plowed. Cotton
was planted on the same land in the
spring of 1908, and when the writer
saw 1t on September II it looked as
II the yield would be 20 per cent bet
ter where the vetch was plowed under
than where no cover crop was used.
Best Crop For Winter Cover.
Probably the winter legumes, such
as bur clover, crimson clover and
hairy yetch, are better for use as a
winter cover, especially for the pur.
pose of improving the SOIL than the
winter grains However, the winter
grains, especially oats and barley, are
much surer than the legumes and are
equally good to hold the soil from
washing away and as winter pasture,
but so far as they will grow it is
much better for the farmer to SOW
the winter legumes, for they gather
nitrogen from the air and enrich the
soil. 1t is an open question what win
ter legume is the best. In some sec
tons crimson clover, red clover, and
lie vetches may be used, but one
disadvantage of these is that in so
many instances the soil is not natur-
ally inoculated for them and the first
sowing of these crops is a failure.
The second sowing on the same land
is usually a success, but many farm
ers are discouraged with their first
failure and do not pursue the matter
any further. Bur clover has the ad-
vantage that when sowed in the bur
it carries its own incubation and is
a success from the start. 1t is true
that some times it does not seem to
terminate well, but If the seed is
good and it is sowed early, say when
the cotton crop is laid by, it is rea'
sonably sure to come and is one of
the best plants in the South to enrich
the soil. 1t is believed by those who
have had the most experience with
bur clover and the vetches that eth
er of them is quite as good for en-
riching the soil as cowpeas and these
have the habit of growing in the fall.
winter and spring when the ground
is not occupied with other crops,