Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1910-06-08
CROPS TO FOLLOW OATS.
Cowpcas, Soy Beans and Peanuts are
Three Best Crops.

considered. First OF all, this second
crop should be one that enriches,
rather than robs the soil. This aim
! would exclude sorghum, though sor-
ghum may we'll follow oats on q
tract of land near the barn where
annual applications Of stable manure
are customary, and where this excel
lent crop for soiling can be grown
near the lots in which it will largely
be fed.
Corn should not, as rule, be
planted on poor Of medium uplands
IN the same season in which this
tract Of land has borne crop of
oats. This exclusion Of our greatest
cereal IS not so much for the benefit
Of the land as for the good of the
corn crop. When corn Is planted af-
ter small grain on poor and medium
upland, the yield as rule, is far
below the average, for one or more
of the following reasons:
1. The soil Is left dry by the large
amount Of moisture utilized by the
fully-grown plants Of the small
grains. which have thrown off into
the air, through the leaves, large
amounts Of moisture derived from
the soil; copious rains just before
OF Immediately after harvest may
remove this unfavorable condition.
2. The usual dryness Of the land
after oat harvest and the necessity
at this season Of utilizing most of
the teams in the cultivation Of other
crops usually prevent as thorough
and deep preparation Of the stubble
land rs IS desirable for corn.
3. Corn planted late is generally
more severely injured by smut and
by "tassel worms" though 1t Is true
that the late corn escapes damage
from the weeviLs and from bed
worms.
Only on rich moist soils is corn,
as rule, the best crop to follow
oats.
Looking to soil improvement, the
e.
one OF the legumes. Here, then, we
must usually make choice be-
tween cowpeas, soy beans, peanuts,
velvet beans, and beggar weed.
Most cotton growers will eliminate
the latter as likely to re-seed and to
be troublesome in cotton picking
when this field is next devoted to the
neccy staple.
Likewise most farmers in the cen
tral and northern parts Of the cotton
belt will discard velvet beans after
oats, because of the long season re-
quircd by this excellent renoyatirg
plant Peanuts or soy beans should
generally be the choice Of those who
want to convert the late crop into
pork. If the fields are fenced for
hogs and If the land can be put into
excellent mechanical condition, so as
to promise prompt and complete ger
OF the seed. and hence n
nearly perfect stand, Spanish peanuts
may be properly given the prefer ;
ence. But If seed peanuts are not at
hand and If labor for sheling, drop /!
ping and hoeing them is scarce and
high, the SOY bean has the ADVANTAGE.
while each Of the above-mention- !
ed legumes has its special conditions !
under which 1t Is the best crop TO |,
follow oats, and while each of these !
Ia,
partially replace the present stand |
ard, the cowpea: yet the latter Is |
still the crop to recommend to be |
planted on the greater part of the |
stnoDlc land OF the South. Unfortu-
nately the supply Of seed this wear
Is entirely inadequate and very ex-
pcnsive. Yet even at nearly three F!
dollars a bushel, cowpea seed NAV
be made profitable investment. It
Is encouraging to note that at the
Arkansas Station fine yields of seed
ana fair yields Of hay were obtained
by the use Of only one or two pecks
OF seed per acre-amOunts consider
ably below what the writer would
recommend, If prices and supply
were normal. OF course, these re-
suits were with cOwpeas drilled in
rows far enough apart to permit of
cultivation, method from which we
may generally expect the maximum
E!e!a or seed and a yield 0f hay much
nearer that from broadcast sowing
than would seem possible to those
VINO nave not tried level cultivation
OF cowpcas.
From fields where cotton wilt or
blackrot occurs, ordinary varieties of