The Mena weekly star., 1911-07-27
HOW ID PRESERVE SOILS FERTILITY
Agricultural Expert Advises Planting of Rye and Vetch at Last Cultivation of
 Cotton Crop.

| CBy W. c. Lassetter, Assistant
 Agronomist, College of Agri-
 culture.)
 That land planted in cotton year after year rapidly declines in pro- ductive power has been known for many years. It was commonly thought that cotton removed large amounts of plant food element from the soil and that this decline in pro- ductiveness was due to the result ing decrease in fertility of the soil. Now, however, it is known that the decline in productiveness is only partly due to the removal of plant food materials from the soil by the cotton, but that it is more largely due to the manner of cultivation. A brief consideration of some of these causes may prove of value in deciding upon a means for over- looming them.
 The exhastion of the soil by cot ton culture is due very largely to the fact that the soil lie3 bare for a large part of the year, rather than to the amount of plant food re- moved by the cotton. It has been shown that even when the seed is taken away along with the lint, cot ton still removes smaller amounts of fertilizing materials from the soil than either oats or corn. It is an important fact that the lint and the oil, whose fertilizing constituents alone are necessary permanently lost to the farm, contain compar- atively insignificant amounts of these constituents. If, therefore, the roots, stems, leaves, etc., are turned under, the hulls and meal used on the farm upon which the cotton was grown, cotton is the least exhaustive of the staple crops to the soil.
 Why Land Deteriorates.
 Why. then. do ,~as deteriorato so rapidly, when planted year after year to cotton? This resolves itself into a question of the effect Of leav- ing land bare during the greater part of the year. Cotton demands clean cultivation. Even during the greater part of the time the crop is growing the soil is practically bare and in the best of condition for Iwashing away in case of heavy rains. It is only from July to Sep tember that the cotton crop offers any protection whatever to the soil. Therefore, for ten months in the year cotton land is practically lbare.
 It has been even pointed out that when land is bare it is subject to lthe action of many deleterious lagencies, such as washing of the soil, teaching of the most expensive of the plant food elements from the soil, and the destruction of good tilth. The soil washes away be- cause there is nothing to hold it. IThe nitrates leach out because there is no crop to take them up when they are formed. Good tilth lis destroyed because the rains bread lup the granular arrangement of the soil particles and allows those par ticles to run together and pack in to a hard mass when they are dry. I Advise Sowing of Rye.
 Tn the sowing of rye at the last cultivation of the cotton the farm CT has a most effective means of preventing these bad results. The roots of rye, very numerous and fine, produce a network throughout the entire surface soil. This net work of rye roots is one of the best of soil binders and is most effect live in preventing washing. As has Ibeen pointed out before, the grow ling crop takes up the nitrates be- fore they can be leached out. And finally, we find that the numerous fine roots leave 1t open and in the finest of working condition.
 Rye sown in August makes a good winter grazing crop and by spring it will be ready to turn under as one of the best green manure crops. Vetch should be sown with rye. While it makes slow growth dur~ 1 ing the fall it begins a rapid growth during the winter and early Ispr;ng months. veleh's greatest lvalue lies in the fact Int its roots l.secure nitrogen from the air and adds it to the snil for tho future use of crops
 | At the last cultivation of the cot Iton, which should be soma time ir August, SOW rye broadcast at tic rate of three pecks per acre. If you wish to make the crop more effect i've by growing nitrogen gatherer during the winter, SOW 25 pounds of vetch with the rye. This can be grazed in the winter if it is de- sired. Tn the spring break down the cotton stalks, disk town the rye and break the land quite deep. being careful to turn all the rye and vetch under. This green cr ,p is worth several loa6s of manure. l Nature has been kind to the Southern farmer in providing easy means for maintaining and even l increasing the fertility and crop producing power of his lands. The I1oIxv th;x,o that roynoiy,c sc for fbo