Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-04-06
BY CHARLES A. WHITTLE.
( Editor, Georgia State College of Ag-
ricuitureJ

II 10 sN'hAlltAAl ST. fhltAe htAA
wv red and yellow and never
clear? For the same reason
thai the South does not grow as
large crops as it used to And for
the same reason that the Souths
fertilizer bills have been increasing
II is simply that plant food has been
leaking and washing away, leaving
the land poorer and poorer each
year, waste that can be largely
checked by growing winter cover
crops and by putting more vege-
table matter into the soil
The larger part Of the South's
annual contribution Of plant food
TO the Atlantic Ocean and gulf
trickles from the fields where cotl
ton has been growing year after
year and in which the humus Of the
soil has been reduced. BY humus
is meant vegetable or organic mat
ter in process Of decomposition in
the soil.
Raising cotton on the same land
for years accomplshes nothing so
apAAAbAEANiN rs NlAf hFpAtAtblA VI SUN
fertility. Only by the bounty Of kind
nature, which has been storing the
soil fertility through aeons past has
the cotton industry of the South
been perpetuated. To rob the soil,
pocket the proceeds. each year find
ing less TO rob and less to pocket,
has been the general policy pursued
by the cotton growers.
Millions Of dollars worth OF plant
food run red and yellow from these
bare cotton fields, and on with the
freshets this spring. How foolish
to permit IL, How easy to prevent
Il! What losing game 20 attempt
to buy back the loss from the fer
tilizer dealer
All this loss because the cotton
grower has not followed his crop
with oats or rye. or clover or vetch,
practiced rotation and put more
vegetable matter into this soil.
w HEREvER green field breaks
the prevailing drab and gray
Of the South's winter landscape,
there you have a doxology among
the aspiring forces OF nature No
soil life is ebbing away from those
fields, The rainfall is conserved.
The myriad bacteria Of the soil
thrive and increase. Fertilizers are
held in store All the cooperating
forces OF soil are no longer aenemic
sluggards but fun bloodcd and ener-
getic
And the increasing beauty ~ IL Is,
that each winter the green cases
multiply and enlarge A few more
years and the Green Fields Of
Dixie" will have crowded the gray
and drab on of the landscape
happy day.
IL is going TO he SO because it has
TO. The end has come for the soil
robber A hundred years Of con-
tinuous cotton growing is about all
that nature will stand II cotton
continues TO be a great staple crop
II the South. il will be because il
has shared the land with some OF
the soil building varieties Of crops.
The great and immediate require
ment OF the South is TO replace some
Of the vegetable or organic matter
which continuous cotton growing
las removed That met. the founda-
tion for soil building VIII have been
laid and the South viii no longer
be in the soil robbing business.
The wise ones are going TO gather
from these green felds-the winter
cover crops -haryestS of oats or rye
In May or June. and Immediately
the stubble will be turned under and
COW peas. SOY beans or velvet beans
viii be sown and gathered into the
barns in the fan i'm the form Of the
best kind OF hay. Thus. in one sea
son. two crops viii have been gath
ered-both well paving
Immediately after the hay has
been removed, the soil viii be turn
ed again. Two turnings in one sea-
son. one Incorporating into the soil
the sIubbIe Of oats or straw, the
second Incorporating the stubble and
nitrogen bearing roots OF the leEume.
These are helping 90 restore the lost
humus 20 some extent Feed the
oats and the leEume hay 10 live
stock and spread the manure over
The land and the best humuS con-
tribuIion Of all VIII have been made.
To provide a green cover crop for
the following winter. the wise one
will SOW possibly rye. pasture DO
during the later winter with good
results. both TO the cattle and the
soil. and with early spring turn un-
der the coat Of green. Thus third
turning under Of vegetable matter
Will have taken place within twelve
months Then the cotton grower can
plant his cotton and gather the larE-
est crop Of many years and Grill
Setween the UuEathered cotton IN
.srcoDer or November, II he wishes,
another winter cover crop.
In this small circle Of rotation
three crops have been gathered where
only two Of cotton were gathered.
and more money is forthcomluE from
the sale OF the products but more
important still the soil has been
revived and started in tle process
81 uph4idlnE.
HUNS Humus Hamls s the
cry o. the sston fields N0r