The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1910-05-21

little value as a forage plant.
But the legume that has excited
more attention than any other in re-
cent years is alfalfa, or lucerne, as it
was formerly called. In the arid sec
ton of the West alfalfa has become
the greatest Of forage crops, and here
and there in the East, as about SYRIA
cuse in New York and at Hillsboro,
y. c., alfalfa has been grown success
fully for more than a generation. The
alfalfa region of Mississippi and Ala
bama seems destined to be one Of the
richest agricultural sections in
America before many years.
Alfalfa, when we'll established, will
certainly make an immense amount
Of valuable forage. But it is not a
crop TO bring up poor land, as the
cowpea is, for alfalfa demands a
fertile soil, a well-drained soil, and
one in which the subsoil will allow
the roots to penetrate deeply. With
can get the land into high condition
he can do we'll with alfalfa, but for
the rapid Improvement of worn soils
and crops to take into a short ro-
tation the cowpea and crimson clover
have a far higher value In the South
than alfalfa ever will have. The
Western plains can beat us with al
falfa, but we can beat them out Of
sight with cowpeas and crimson clo-
yer. With a rotation of corn, with
peas among it, followed by winter
oats. and these by peas and crimson
clover, and back to corn with all the
farm manure, can produce more for
age and feed more cattle on the aver
age Southern farm than any one can
with alfalfa till the land is in high
condition. OF course, in the Cotton
Belt 1 would lengthen the rotation by
bringing in cotton on the crimson
would get the land in crimson clover
after the cotton, and put all the farm
manure on this for the corn crop.
Grow alfalfa, but put it on a little
piece of your richest land and you
may get good crops. by for building
up the land and feeding stock, put
your main dependence on cowpeas in
summer and crimson clover in win
ter.
/ do not mean to discourage the
growing of alfalfa, but to show that
in order to do we'll with it, the land
must be in hight condition. Then in
the South never SOW alfalfa in the
spring, for the crabgrass will surely
destroy it. Sow in September and
give it a chance to get ahead of the
crabgrass the next summer. If you are
in an alfalfa section, by all means
make the most Of it, but if your SOIL
lacks lime, or is thin and shallow,
begin with peas and clover
There has been a great deal of talk
about various things to mix with cow
peas for hay. Some mix corn in the
pea field, some SOW sorghum and mil
let But none Of these help in the
curing OF the hay; certainly sorghum
does not and millet ripens before the
peas are ready to cut and makes the
hay dangerous for horses. In fact,
in all my experience I have found
that a pure crop of peas is about as
easy hay to cure as anything if you
will simp y let 1t cure and do not
monkey with all sorts Of contrivances
to spoil it, At the proper season |
will have more to say about this. The
best thing to mix with peas is the SOY
bean. This is upright in habit, and
helps to hold up the peas and make
them easier to harvest, and to some
extent, easier, perhaps, to cure.
Among all the forage lcgumcs for
the South | would pin my faith to
coWpeas ana crimson clover as the
best summer and winter team to be
had. y whole ton of 2-S-2 fertiIi-
Zcr has 81 pounds of nitrogen \
fair crop of coWpcas will have over
100 pounds an acre.
Most of the lcgumcs refuse to grow
ON an acid soil, but the coWpca will
grow auyWhcr" when the weather is
hot and favorable, and win leave
more nitrogen in tho soil than we
could get i'm ton of average fcrtili,
Zcr.--P Progressive Farmer.