The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1913-02-21
GREEN MANURE.

A great deal has been said in tn,
past concerning the value of greer
manure crops in the system of crol
rotation. The results that have fol
lowed the use of such crops at thu
Gooding experiment station lead tt
belive that too much cannot be sale
concerning their value. They pla.
an important part in the scheme o
rotation any where but their part i!
far more important in the plan Of
management that is necessary tt
build up and to maintain the fertil
ity of the soils of the new irrigated
regions.
The extra Importance of greer
manure in the new irrigated sec.
tions is due to two reasons. First
because of the condition of the soils
They are not only notably lacking i
humus which is supplied by blowing
under organic material but the in
organic elements of plant food are to
great extent in an unavailable
form. The acids formed by the de-
composition of the green plant matter
attack these mineral costituents of
the soil and help to reduce them to a
soluble condition so that they are
available for plant use. In this way
green manures add more to the sup
ply for available plant food than
what they actually contain.
The second reason lies in the
scarcity of barnyard manure. In the
older irrigated sections of this and
adjoining states great quantities of
barnyard manure are allowed to ac-
cumulate and can be had for the
hauling. In these cases green man
ure crops lose some of their impor-
lance. On the average new irrigated
farm. How ever, barnyard manure is
not produced in sufficient quantity to
over more than a very small per-
centage of the land each year. Under
such conditions the manure problem
must be solved largely by the use of
green manure crops.
In order to furnish reliable and
accurate information regarding the
vo I,,o Of ra5 olnuov n prao,, m nuro
the following experiment was plan
ned and conducted at the Gooding
Experiment Station. In the spring
of 1911 our spring varieties of wheat
oats and barley were seeded in long
narrow strips extending across two
acre plats.
On one of these plats we seeded
common red clover at the rate of
six pounds per acre Immediately
,fter seeding the grains.
A much better stand Of clover was
secured among the barley varieties
than among the wheat and oats. The
oats were plowed in the fall of 1911.
In the spring of 1912 spring grain
varieties we're seeded across these
plats in the same manner as in 1911
During the summer they were irri-
gated the same and every effort was
made to make conditions in both of
them uniform. .. 3 '....:~
The following are the average yields:
Average yield of IL varieties of
barley, without clover 4O.47 bu. OIL
grain 1886 lbs. of straw; with
clover 58.04 bu. of grain 2521.2 lbs.
Of straw. ,
Average yield of Is varieties of
pats without clover 64.55 bu of grain
21S8 lbs. of straw with clover, 1929
blu. of grain 1885 lbs of straw.
Average yield of varieties of
without clover 1880 bu. Of
grain; 2616.S lbs. Of straw; with
clover 1927 bu. Of grain, 3115.7
lbs. of straw.
Average increase due to clover.
bushels grain. lbs. straw !
Barley 1857 231.6
Oats 1914 1881
Wheat DAT 1889
The greatest increase in yield of
grain due to the clover was 400
bushels of barley and 34.9G bushels
Of oats, These both occurred on sub
plats that grew barley in 1911 and
had fair stands of clover.
In addition to the above increase
In yield there is no doubt that the
soil will be benefited for several
years to come.
The red clover represented an in
vestment of about $500 an, acre for