Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-09-22
A WINTER COVER CROP


 The farmer who does not try to get all he can out of his land annual ly and yet leave it in condition to yield more the following season has mistaken his vocation.
 On way to do this is to plant cow- peas in the corn at the time of tho last cultivation; harvest the corn in September and pasture the cowneas in October. Early in November dean break and plant to rye, using aborr one bushel per acre. Our reasons far preferring rye are the following:
 l. It is hardy. It will germinat,. and make a stand when other grain. fail. Oats and barley will winter kill when rye will remain practicable uninJured by the frost. It stands tramping and grazing better tha, other grains.
 Z. It takes kindly to poor soils which is an important factor o,, most lands.
 Where hairy vetch will succeed the addition of a peck of vetch seed to bushel of rye is an improvement
 Where there is no boil weeyil in- festation, rye or rye and vetch may be planted between the rows of cot. ton in October, and not later than the first of November. It is better to use a narrow drill in planting. but where farmers do not have this the sed Hay be sows by hand and cultivated or narrowed in.
 Crimson Clover-On lands adapted to it, crimson clover sown in the corn at the last working has given excellent results. About 15 pounds to the acre is generally used and tv the first of the following April i. furnishes a cutting of 1 1-2 to 21-2 tons of cured hay or, turned under. adds a great body of manure to the soil. The territory in which the crimson clover thrives best appears to be from the latitude of the north ern portion of the Gulf States to the latitude of the Ohio river.
 Oats or barley do we'll some win ters. When they succeed they flrn- ish large amount of winter grazing and considerable humus for blowing under in the spring.
 Facts About a Winter Cover Crop.
 i. A winter cover crop largely prevents loss of soil fertility by washing (erosition some lands grf- fer greater loss than others by wash. ing, but all lands are more or less injured by it.
 ?. Soils without cover lose con- siderable fertility by evaporating during the fall and winter. A winter cover crop reduces this loss to a ne eligible quantity.
 3. Such crops, to some extent, pre- vent the seeding of the land to foul weeds.
 4. They increase the porosity of the soil, and add the humus so es sential to fertility.
 ,. They make valuable c"oo while the lands would otherwise be idle, which is a net gain to the land. We must increase the vegetable mat ter in the soil to an amount suffi- cient to enable the soil to retain a much larger proportion of the rain- fall than at present and to greatly increase the mechanical conditions of the soil.
 6. A very important consideration in the winter cover crop is the large amount of grazing that can be secur- ed from it at time when it is espe cjally valuable for young stock, and it's value is not limited altogether to the mere supply of food. It adds to the health and vigor of the stock. On an average from to 1-2 months grazing can be secured at a nomi- nal cost of little labor in preparing and seeding the land. $. A. KNAPP,
 Special Agent in Charge of Bureau