The Mena weekly star., 1910-11-10
BEATS HOG LAW TALK
I. P. Fulton Desires Polk County Farmers to Joiz in Discussion of
 Better Farming Methods.
To the Editor of The Star.

Tour correspondent. MT. Small.
 wood, takes issue with me reeardins
 the cowpea question, and I am elad
 he brought up this point for discussion
 as 1t involves principle that is of the greatest importance to farmers whc are seeking solution of the problem of restoring fertility to the soil. Tn fact It involves scientific proposition that may carry us beyond our depth In discussing, and we may have to call on some of our government ex- perts to help us out of deep water
 Be that as it may, 1 want to try to convince Bro. Smallwood that his theory on turning green peas under is wrong.
 In the first place, the greatest bene- fit the farmer gets out cowpeas or other legumes is the nitrogen that, with the assistance of myriads of lit- tie microbes, is stored in the roots and liberated in the soil. Not only that. but in decaying these long roots perform several other important func- tions for the farmer. They give back to the soil liberal per cent of potash and phosphate. and best of all they let the water that falls in fall and win ter rains right down where it will do the most good next summer.
 To turn under the green leaves and vines that are so busy gathering nitro gen and to turn up to the air and sun the roots with their nodules of nitro gen seems to me to destroy the use fitness of the cowpea as a fertilizer and sub-soiler.
 Again Mir. Smallwood must remem- Der that when he turns his cowpea vines under when they are green he starts fermentation that will not prove beneficial to his soil. Now if the gentleman will lime his land, say about 150 or 200 pounds to the acre before he turns his pea vines under he will greatly obviate detrimental results. The mention of lime calls to mizd the fact that the farms of Polk county and of all Western Arkansas as for that matter, need more lime than they do fertilizers. In fact there is sad lack of lime in the soil of this region, and the sooner the farmers be- gin to use it the sooner they will grow better crops on their land.
 While lime is not fertilizer, it is a liberater of fertilizers and an active agent in sweetenins some land, loos- ening hard land and in fact perform ing many useful functions for the farmers. It is also comparatively cheap and hope to see more of it used during the next few years.
 To return to the cowpea question. I would like to ask some of the readers of The Star if they know when the vines are doing their best work in cap turing nitrogen from the air and stor- ing it away in the earthY have be- fore me the testimony of practical farmer in Virginia who dug up some cowpea roots about the middle of last August and before the vines had be- gun to bloom, and he found from ten to 50 nitrogenous nodules on them. So it seems the busy little microbes begin their useful work soon after the leguminous plants begin to grow. No, cannot agree with MT. Smallwood about turning green pea vines under and trust have convinced him of the error of his way. Now this plan will work very well in localities where limestone rock abounds. Take south ern Ohio for instance where the soil was richly laden with lime, and where the writer learned the rudimentary lessons of farming, the soil was thick ly strewn with limestone rock, and for a good wheat crop we turned under a heavy coat of rag weeds in August or September. When the wheat got ready to grow the next spring it had a