The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-18

10 the latter is or q very lndennlte sort,
consequently the general showing made
makes such crops appear Improbable.
The writer has seen as fine crops of wheat
harvested in Jefferson county as is pos
sible in the most favorable wheat grow
ing sections in the United States. The
farmers growing these crops Of wheat,
showing an average yield of % to So BUSH
els per acre, are invariably procuring such
yields through building up their soils
with COW peas or other fertilizing plants.
The reason the average yield for most
small grains in the south being SO low
may be generally attributed not only to
poor seed, but to planting at the wrong
time of the year.
Proper Time of Sowing
For example, it is almost useless to
plant oats in the spring, although it is a
fact that most Alabama farmers do sow
their oats in the spring. But you will find
those who are making the large yields in
variably planting in the early fall months.
1t must be said, however, to the credit of
Alabama farmers that conditions are
steadily improving with them, which has
been due largely TO educational work
through the medium of not only our ma
tonal agricultural department various
experiment station work. and through the
medium of the press. The writer thinks
1t reasonable to assume that it will not
be long before Alabama will be paying
out less money for small grain and other
feedstuff that it should produce on its
own farms.
Grasses and Forage Plants
But little attention is paid in the greater
part of Alabama to the growing Of the
cultivated grasses, and while it is fact
that the soils of Alabama are not well
adapted to some of the valuable grasses
grown In the north and northwest, there
are still left a sufficient number that may
be profitably grown. OF the cultivated
grasses, red top, or herds grass, meadow
fescue. tall meadow oat grass, Johnson
grass. Bermuda grass and orchard grass
are well adapted to practically all Ala
bama soils and may be grown with great
profit.
The most valuable of the above Is I'M
doubtedly Bermuda grass, and every
farm should not be without its Bermuda
pasture, which is always a large factor
in reducing the necessary feed bill for all
classes of live stock. The reason for most
failures in attempting grasses in the
south is lack of knowledge for the neces-
sol piCPeltdlioiib Widt " pant, NiicH
and how. Such information is Easily OBJ
tained any first-class seed catalog will
give the desired information and besides
there is abundant information available
through bulletins published by our ma
tional agricultural department, various
experiment stations and generally
throughout all the agricultural papers
And right here the writer wishes to say
that no farmer should be without one or
more good agricultural paper, and all
ought to avail themselves OF the enormous
amount Of free bulletins obtainable treat
ing on practically every plant one could
be interested in.
Scorn "BOOk Farming"
But the trouble with most southern
farmers. they scorn what they term,
book farming" Nothing could be a
greater mistake on their part. These bull
letins and information prepared on va
rious subjects are generally summarized
through practical experiments and often
represent the results of experiments COW
ering a period of several years, and it
would seem strange that such valuable in
formation could be treated so lightly by
any one possessing average intelligence.
Why, the writer often spent as much as
half an hour telling q farmer how and
VIXEN to plant a certain crop, going into
minute detail, and then at the expiration
of the conversation he often turns around
to some ignorant farmer listening, and
the,result invariably is that he takes the
other fellows advice.
There is another class of plant, how
ever known as forage plants, other than
grasses, that Is making considerable
headway' in Alabama. The writer refers
especially to such plants as sorghum, the
different millets, dwarf Essex rape, Teo-
sinte, Kaffir corn, Milo maize, etc. These
plants when gotten in at the proper time
and handled properly produce quickly an
enormous amount of what is known as
roughness and when combined with a
moderate grain ration, is fed with great
economy to live stock and greatly reduces
other necessary feed. Now since the
growth OF this class of plants is very
simple and rapid, the economy in their
production is easily appreciated by the
southern farmer.
But there still remains great chances
for Improvement in growing forage crops
i'm the south. However, the universal
success being met with leads one to the
conclusion that suco crops in the near fu-
ture will go a long ways towards solving
the feed problem with Alabama farmers.
Clovers Upbuild Soil
When one speaks of clover 1t Is gener-
ally understood that he means common
north for hay and for upbuilding the soil.
But 1t should be understood that there
are a number Of other clovers which sue
ceed splendidly in the south and whose
growth is materially on the increase.
1t is known that in Alabama, except in
the extreme northern part of the state,
red clover makes rather Indifferent
growth, and it is very questionable
whether its growth should be undertaken
in the central or southern part of the
state. But there are other clovers pc
culiarly adapted, and those who are grow
ing them are now well convinced of their
great Importance In their farm manage
ment The writer has particular refer
ence to what is known as our clover
which Is an annual winter clover of the le-
gume family. Its growth is confined to
the winter and early spring months
hence through it's use it is possible to
have a valuable pasturage for livestock
at time when 1t is badly needed It's
use in connection with Bermuda grass
clearly solves the problem of continuous
green pasture throughout the year, and
another thing. the bacteria common to
its roots Is the same as alfalfa, and since
bur clover will grow naturally and sue
ceed on a wider or different range Of
soilst than alfalfa, therefore through its
use and inoculating properties the natural
area for alfalfa can be largely increased.
Another valuable plant for Alabama be-
longing to the clover family is melilotus,
which appears to be Indigenous to the lime
soils of Alabama and It Is probably re-
claiming more barren soil in Alabama
than any other one plant. Another thing,
melilotus will grow successfully on practi-
cally all classes of soil in Alabama. af-
fortiing an enormous amount Of green or
dry forage and greatly benefits any soil