The Lee County journal. (Leesburg, Ga.) 1904-19??, 1909-12-24

be grown as an aid to the. improve
ment OF our impoverished soils. They
fit into al rotation admirably and are
adapted for use as cover crops during
the winter season. They thus take
up nearly all of the soIuable nitrogen
in the soil which through lack OF
cover crops ia at present permitted to
wash away, causing an appalling loss
of soil fertility. The Importance Of
preventing soil washing is shown by
the fact that plot Of Blue Ridge
wheat grown on the Tennessee exper-
iment station farm and situated at
the base Of short slope produced
some forty bushels per acre in 1901,
whereas, other plats of the same va
riety when planted on as well pre-
pared land, but only 25.4 bushels in
1900 and 29.8 in 1902. The large
increase could only be attributed to-
the enrichment brought to the soil
through the sediment deposited on it.
AS clean culture is the prevailing
practice in the South, 1t is easy to-
understand why the soil fertility and
nitrogen especially should be rapidly
dissipated. Then, the favorite meth
Cd of preparing soils for winter wheat
and winter cereals Is by means Of the
bare fallow and the hot summer sun
striking down on it for so long a
period causes rapid fermentation and
the loss Of nitrogen. These facts,
coupled with the terrential rainfall
through the winter season, rapidly
erode and destroy theAsurface soil and
SO quickly complete the destruction
of lands which few years before
were comparatively rich in the essen
tial plant food elements. Confront
ed by these conditions and attempting
to grow winter cereals on such soils
without thorough cultivation and
without correct and efficient knowl-
edge Of the crop, 1t is little wonder
that the results have so often proven
unsatisfactory. But in these disas-
tiers is found the reason why more at
tention should be given to these val
liable, crops.
Indifferent culture has played an
important part and is directly re-
sponsible for many of the failures on
record. Then, nearly all the land has
been plowed shallow for years and
years, possibly fur inches deep, while
comparatively little of it has ever
been SUBSIDIZED, though red clays pre-
dominate over the whole region and
are naturally so exceedingly heavy
and compact ais to cause the rainfall
to run off as surface water, thus rem
dering it impossible for the roots Of
plants to penetrate deep enough to
secure a good foothold in the soil
The consequence of having soil we'll
enriched and supplied with plant food
and clearly demonstrated by the va
riety tests of the present year on the
Tennessee station farm where the
yields were as large ais during any Of
the three years in which the expert
ments have been carried on, though
the winter was the most destructive to
wheat OF any in many years and the
land on which the experiments were
conducted was an exceedingly poor
cherry knoll, enriched only by deep
blowing, subsoiling and the turning
under Of crop Of cowpeas. Every
one Of the varieties grown on this
land yielded at~the rate Of over six
teen bushels to the acre and a large
number of them between thirty and
forty, whereas the wheat crop In the
State was practically a failure.
The remedy tor these disasters Is
In the hands Of the farmers. They
must give more careful attention to
the rational cultivation OF the soil.
The present defects cannot be rem
edied by the use Of artificial fertiI-
izers which have been tried and tried
again and have failed all too fire.
Quently on account of their inferior
quality, but because sufficient plant
food was not added to the soil to sup
ply all the requirements OF the crop
and the land was not in position to
supply the balance, and because arti-
fetal fertilizers do not change the
mechanical condition of the soil but
simply stimulate the crop for short
time. Under existing conditions the
soil is practically devoid Of humus.
1t is SO hard and compact that there
is no reservoir for water and hence
no supply Of soil moisture to tide over
periods Of drought, the plant has no
opportunity to develop suitable root
through which to gather food and
Withstand the effects Of the winter
freezes, and in consequence the at
tempts to cultivate the winter grow
ing cereals and legumes on the South
ern plantation have all too frequently
failed. This is most assuredly not SO
much the fault Of the crop as the
method of procedure and the soil con