The Greenville times., 1910-09-23
A WINTER COVER CROP.

The following bulletin is sent out
by DR.. S. A. Knapp of the bureau of
plant industry of the department of
agriculture.
The farmer who does not try to get
all he can out of his land annually, and
yet leave it in condition to yield more
the following year has mistaken his
vocation.
One way to DO this is to plant cow
peas in the corn at the time of the last
cultivation; harvest the corn in Septem
Der and pasture the cowpeas in Octo-
Der. Early in November break deep
and plant to rye, using about one
bushel per acre. Oure reasons for pre-
fering rye are the following:
l. 1t is hardy. It will germinate
and make a stand when other grains
fail. CAST and barley will winter kill,
when rye will remain practically unin-
jured by the frost. 1t stands tramp
ing and grazing better than other
grains.
2. It takes kindly to poor soils,
which is an important factor on most
lands.
Where hairy vetch will succeed, the
addition Of a peck of vetch seed to a
bushel of rye is an Improvement.
Where there is no boil weevil 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 harrow drill in planting, but where
farmers do not have this the seed may
be sown 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 excel
lent results About fifteen pounds to
the acre is generally used, and by the
first of the following April it furnish
es a cutting of 11a to 21a tons of
SNA ~ my VI buA l1Cu uIICIy dOClS d
great body of manure to the soil. The
territory in which the crimson clover
thrives best appears to be from the Lat
itude of the northern portion of the
gulf states to the latitude of the Ohio
river.
Oats or barley will do well some win
ters. When they succeed they furnish
large amount of winter grazing, and
considerable humus for plowing under
in thes pring.
Facts About Winter Cover Crop.
l. A winter cover crop largely pre-
vents loss of soil fertility by washing
(erosion); some lands suffer greater
loss than others by washing, but all
lands are more or less injured by it.
2. Soils without cover lose consider
able fertility by evaporation during
the fall and winter. A winter cover
crop reduces this loss to negligible
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 essential to
fertility
5. They make a valuable crop while
the lands would otherwise be Idle,
which is net gain to the land We
must increase the vegetable matter in
the soil to an amount sufficient to en-
able the soil to retain a much larger
proportion of the rainfall than 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 secured
from it at a time when it Is espec-
tally valuable for young stock, and it's
value is not limited altogether to the
mere supply of food. 1t adds to the
health ana vigor of the stock. On an
average from to 21a months grazing
can be secured at nominal cost of a
little labor in preparing and seeding
the land.