The Bourbon news., 1912-05-14
Legume Crops and the Nitrogen
SuDuIy.

There can be no doubt that the great
est deficiency of Kentucky soils is nj
trogen. Says George Roberts. of the
Kentuck Experiment station. A def.
iency Of one element of plant fooc
limits crop production, although al
the other elements may be present in
abundance. Hence the greatest single
! factor in restoring our soils TO fertility
is increasing the nitrogen supply Nc
one, not even the fertilizer maufactu'
proftably bought in commercial fertii-
Zers in quantities required by crops.
There is only one source from which
nitrogen may be economically obtained
in sufficient quantities. and that is
from the air by the growing of the le'
guminous crops (clovers, cow peas,
etc. J. Enough legumes must be grown
In.the rotation to supply nitrogen in
the soil for the crops that cannot OBJ
tain 1t from the air, (such as corn,
wheat, etc., and to replace that
which is being lost in the drainage
waters. The nitrogen supply cannot
be kept by merely growing legumes IN
the rotation and harvesting them and
not returning the manure in good con
dition. Two thirds of the nitrogen of
the manure is excreted in the urine.
This is generally lost. AS manure is
generally handled by throwing it out
in piles. two thirds of the nitrogen OF
the solid manure is easily lost by
heating and teaching it from four t.
six months. Ordinarily net more than
one third to one sixth of the nitrogen
i'm the feed consumed is returned tC
the soil in the manure.
In order to keep up the nitrogen sup
ply there must be an abundance of lie.
gumes in the rotation. and all manure
produced must be carefully saved and
returned to the soil. The most practi-
cal way to handle the manure is to
use sufficient bedding to absorb the
urine. and then spread. the manure as
fast as made. 1t is generally spread
on the sod to be turned for corn, but
it NAV be spread on meadows a year
before breaking for corn. When it is
impossible to remove the manure it is
safe to allow it to accumulate in the
stalls. In case it must be piled out
side the stalls, 1t should be closely
compact to exclude the air, and pro-
tected fromlrains, either by Gaping
with straw or by shelter.
1t may be necessary now and then
to turn under legume crop in order
to keep up the nitrogen supply. The
following rotation is used on the EX-
pertinent Station Farm: First year,
corn,with cowEpeas sown at last Guilt
walton. When the corn is removed
the peas are disked in and the ground
sown to rye for cover crop. Sec
ond year. the cover crop is turned un-
der. followed by COW peas or soy
beans. When these are removed the
ground isis disked and .sown to wheat
for the third year crop. If the clover
fails. as it often does, the ground is
broken as soon as the wheat is remOv-
ed. and thoroughly prepared for
clover, which is seeded about
August Goth, along with little
timothy. 1t gives a good crop of hay
the next year and avoids breaking up
the regular rotation. We believe that
it pays to seed the clover after the
wheat is removed. although it takes a
little extra labor, as the stand is much
surer than when seeding with the
wheat in the spring. The manure pro-
duced is put on the clover sod.
On many soils legumc crops cannot
be successfully grown until lime or
limestone has been supplied to correct
sourness. Also many Kentucky soils
are too deficient ::in phosphoric aid to
produce large crops of legumes. This
statement applies to nearly all our
soils outside the Blue Grass region.