The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1911-09-21
Farm, Topics


tie e1sx care 90 hs& izaa thai BE ec~-
ssaly can: 10 maintain to fertility
and 10 keep It from washIsg Away.
Investigators. whether sessasIsts or
practical farmers. have foaad that
wtnssr cover CROPS OF an kind ps~~
rens land. n q large measure. frosn
washing. and when turned under the
following spring make IL more pro
duesive than IL 20 crop had Erown
OF H.
An experiment covering = number
OF years. In one Of the Northwestern
States. showed that NOR. plant food
was lost from the land during the
months when no crops we're grown on
Ii than Was taken OF IN the regular
summer crops- II this was true in
that State where they have long and
cold winters when Ieaehing Is impos-
sible for weeks =, time. how much
more ~ould 1t be true in North Caro-
lima with her open winters when
plant food can be leached from our
soils almost any week during our win
ter months.
A ton OF green rye contains, accord
ing TO good authorities, about Go
pounds nitrogen. pounds phosphor-
ic acid, and 14.6 pounds potash. A
ton Of green wheat contains los
pounds nitrogen. 3 pounds phosphoric
acid. and Il pounds potash. Green
oats contain just a littlel ess plant
food than does green wheat A ton OF
green crimson clover contains SO
pounds nitrogen, 90 phosphoric acid.
and 9.S pounds potash. Red clover,
bur clover. and the vetches contain
more plant food in their green state
than crimson clover does. The wheat
and rye mentioned above was prob
ably grown on fertile land which ex-
plains their high percentage OF nitro
gen, for il Is an established fact that
crops on rich land contain more nj
trogen than when grown on poor
land. For that reason grain grown
on rich land has a higher feeding
value than that grown on poor land.
1t may be well for us to remember
this when growing grain for our own
feeding purposes.
Rye. wheat and oats take nitrogen
from the soil and store 1t in the plant,
thus saving much of this costly ele-
ment Of plant food that would other
wise be leached from the land by our
winter rains. The stools or punches
and their roots and leaves retard the
flow Of water and act as brakes which
will prevent to a large degree the
washing of our rolling lands. The
clovers save the land from washing
in the same way and in addition to
take nitrogen from the air through
the agency of bacteria which adds to
the fertility of the soil. But to grow
these latter crops successfully the soil
must contain the bacteria peculiar to
the particular crop grown.
1t has been the experience of many
of our farmers that any crop grown
after winter-cover crop, when turn
ed under at the proper time in the
spring, and disked we'll before and af-
ter turning, will produce a great deal
more, often as much as so per cent
or more, than if no winter-cover crop
had been grown. The seed for a
cover crop will cost from one to FIVE
dollars an acre according to kind and
quantity of seed used. This should
save the soil and add to the next
years crop more than twice the cost
of the cover crop.
Sow at the rate of 1 5 to 20 pounds
crimson clover seed per acre and
cover lightly with harrow or cultiva-
tor. These can be sowed in growing
crops, on stubble land, or after peas.
Sow from 20 to 80 pounds of vetch
, per acre if sowed with small grain,
and If sowed alone, put from 40 to so
pounds per acre. Rye should be SOW
ed at the rate of one to one and a
half bushels per acre.
An application of manure. or from
200 to 500 pounds acid phosphate per
acre and % to SO pounds muriate OF
potash on sandy or gray land, will be
helpful to the clovers and vetches.
For rye or other small grain, it may
De better TO add 2 per cent nitrogen
to the above.
1t is now time to commence putting
these crops in. When put in cotton
fields it is better to SOW immediately
after the pickers, as in that way no
, cotton will be knocked out i'm cover.
ing the seed.
Put in the crop that will succeed
best in your locality and experiment
with other crops in as mall way un-
I'll you are assured they will make
satisfactory growth On your land and
| under your conditions.
I. B. PARKER.
Director Cooperative Experiments
N. c.. State Department of Agri-
culture.