The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-11-02
Farm Topics
GREEN xaxrRf<c-Ss. ~


N \ aay-makanx as1 sol irnprosssE
plaaf. Ana- wac las sct eeea sss
20 believe that oae-thlrd 81 more o.
the ui,rcwen AID ether pazat food
elenents fcaa1 In tass plant NJ ma
,ursty. are left IN the rooss and stab
hle after TIE. crop 10 harvested and
eurea for hay.-that ia 10 sAy. cut OF
erery Auadred poands cf ntsroEss.
etc, found In the pea crop ~ mstar-
lty. - - pounds are The roots and
stuehie.
Thls wax our best Information ap
10 n short time ago. and esen now
some Of oar best Agricultural advisers
insist on proverhlai laird OF the nitro
gen, etc. being LEFT In the under
ground portion Of the plant Lake
the old idea Of the souring OF the
coil on well drained land, some man
seems 20 have guessed ~ the amount
Of nitrogen. etc. left In the roots and
stubble and FASTENED to rush his In
tention into print
Now a ton of cured eowpeas has.
in the whole plant. about 20 pounds
of nitrogen. IL one-third OF this
amount were In the roots and stub
BILE we would have left on the soil
and I'm the soil about II pounds Of
available nitrogen per acre In case
the acre produced ton OF cowpea
hay. This amount OF nitrogen Is
equal TO that furnished by 700
pounds of available nitrogen per acre
In case the acre produced q ton or
cowpea hay. This amount OF nitro
gen is equal TO that furnished by zoo
pounds of an $50 FERTILIZER
pretty Hheavy application for most
farm crops. This seemed to be rath-
er weighty argument in favor of cut
ting the vines, feeding them TO live
| stock, and putting the manure back
nthe land regardless OF the fact
| that the manure from a ton OF cow
pea hay fed to cattle will cover
| we'll, what part OF the acre will 1t
| cover?
Our farmers have been acting on
/ this advice for number of years In
the face of the daily decreasing fer
lilly VI LuclI uAuCA lIaS ~
tenn. Mr.. w A. Marsh, of Union
| County, took this advice literally,
sowed oats, cut and removed them.
then sowed cowpeas on the oat stub
BILE and cut these for hay when ma
ture. This practice was continued
even of peas. Examples could be
| multiplied where the pea crop has
| been removed year after year with
| disastrous results. Indeed, 1t now
seems that the surest method OF de-
| pleting the fertility OF the soil is to
remove a crop of cowpea vines from
it every year for few years in sue
cession.
The real explanation of this phe-
nomenon has finally been discovered.
In an exhaustive series Of tests and
experiments conducted by q number
Of our best experiment stations 1t has
been found that the amount OF nitro
gen, etc, left in the roots and stubble
OF the cowpea plant IL not one-third
but about one-tenth OF that found In
the explanation Of the running down
OF average soils by the annual re
moval Of the pea crop. Another. and
perhaps soils by the annual removal
OF the Pea crop. Another, and, per.
haps the leading factor. IL that all
the organic matter IL removed from
the soil for a series OF years by this
method and thus all bacterial life II
driven from the land which Is there.
by rendered dead. These dead soils
are not necessarily robbed Of their
mineral plant foods. however. as will
be demonstrated by blowing dowr
cowpea crop or q good OF rye fol
year or two in succession.
One ton of green cowpea vines
contains about SIS pounds of nitro
gen; pounds Of phosphate; and {
. pounds Of potash. 1t is an easy mat
ter, on average soil, to get growth
of IL tons of some one of the ranl
growing varieties per acre, which viii
cure up into three tons OF hay.
The following composition of greer
eowpea vines compared with compost
> ton of fresh cow and horse manure
' Nitro Phos- Pot
gen. pirate. ash.
; Green cowpea vines. 81 z g.:
: Fresh cow manure. :. 7.6 1.6 T.:
e Fresh horse manure. 81 1.9 T.:
, With this yield per acre Their,
would be produced on a ten-acre fielt
120 tons of green peavines which, i
| cut to pieces with a sharp disk har
row. plowed under. and thorough,
incorporated with the whole soil stra
tum, would add to this field abou
: $50 pounds OF nitrogen and rende
available $40 pounds OF phosphat
and about $50 pounds of potash.
BY thus using the pea crop a