The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-08-20

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restoring soil fertility, and I quite
agree with him as to their value un-
der conditions which suit them. They
do excellently on clay or limestone
soils and have occasionally seen
them growing successfully on rich
lands in eastern Carolina. | must say
however, that most of those who have
tried To grow these crops in our gray
sandy loan cotton fields have failed
i among them. A serious objection
to them is that they do not make a
good cover for the soil In time to
allow of their being plowed down
during the winter.
Realizing the need Of discovering
and inducing the farmers to use
crops which would produce an abund-
ance of grazing and hay and at the
same time restore fertility, be-
gan experimenting a good many years
ago with the clovers, vetches, and va
rious grains, including Chinese sor-
ghum. II was through the courtesy Of
Mr.. w. A. Orton of the department Of
agriculture. however. that l finally
discovered a crop which / think is
ideal for grazing and winter cover.
This Is species of rye introduced by
our government from the province Of
Abruzzi in Italy.
After several years Of testing / find
that this rye makes growth of from
two to four times as much during the
winter months as our native ryes.
Planted in the cotton during Septem-
ber or October at the rate of one
bushel per acre, and covered with cul-
tivator or wide sweep, it makes a
quick and thrifty growth, and we have
already plowed in on our plantations
hundreds Of acres Of this rye, which
had reached a height of IL to IS
inches. The rapid growth OF this rye
Is almost unbelievable and it would
interest you very much to see grow
ing side by side on our experimental
farm test plots of this Abruzzi rye
and several Southern varieties, as the
contrast is most striking.
Early last March We clipped by
hand several short rows Of Abruzzi
rye and rows OF equal length Of Vir-
ginia and home-raised rye, all OF
which were planted late Ina November,
and found by weighing that the Ital-
ian rye had made more than three
and one-half times as much growth
as the other varieties during the win
ter. We are repeating this test again
this year. and at the first cutting
made. about three weeks ago, the Ital-
ian rye produced from two to three
times as much as the other varieties.
Last year We planted AbruZzi rye
upon piece of land on which we had
never raised more than one bale of
cotton per acre. We used no ferti :.
lizer, the seed being sown after a
crop Of peavine hay and then harrow
ed in with double cutaway harrow.
About one-half Of the field was left
to make seed and produced "a l-2
bushels per acre, which is q much
greater yield than l have ever heard
OF ordinary rye making under nor
NAL conditions. The other half of
this field of rye was moved in March
and the stubble turned under. Our
variety test OF cotton was planted
on a part of this land and fertilized
and worked exactly like our main
crop, but produced about 1900 pounds
Of seed cotton per acre as against
much smaller yield in our other
fields.
i am disposed to believe, from the
data have thus far accumulated,
that Abruzzi rye is the most import
ant agricultural plant introduced in
the South in recent years.
One II the strongest indictments
which can be drawn against the ag-
riculture of our State lies in the fact
that We import millions of dollars
worth of Western grain, hay and
meat each year and l do not think
that We can claim a high degree of
efficiency for our farming until these
imports have ceased. On the farms
which L managed | find il pays to
raise surplus Of hay, grains, oats,
rye and hogs. 1t also pays us to feed
cattle and apply the manure to the
Iand. Besides more than paying
their own way, these plants and ami
mai crops exert great collateral in
nuence on the production OF our prin-
cipal money crop-cotton.
| think you will find il an inyari-
able rule throughout the South that
where large numbers OF animals are
'ed on any farm. that farm is rich
ana produces profitable crops of all