Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1914-09-01
PLANT WITCHES.
!. BY JOHN H. PAGE,
:. Commissioner of Agriculture.

The 'ivetches' are important winter
growing leguminous crops that have
not had much attention in Arkansas
and the South. They should be in
cfuded in the list of fall sown crops,
Especially do they make fine combi-
nation with oats or rye. They benefit
the land, afford pasture or hay if
saved, and cut down the feed bill in
either case. In my opinion the great
est value of any of the fall sown
crops is in the permanent improve
ment of the soil. The vetches add
nitrogen to the soiil and furnish a
great amount of humus for the next
staple crop. 1t not only furnishes
something to turn under in the spring
but protects the land during the win
ter and affords an excellent winter
pasture.
The common vetch and hairy vetch
are the most popular of the many
varieties of vetch. Both are weak
stcmmed plants, both improve the
may be sown in the fall both are best
sown with oats or rye, to hold them
! up, both make good pasture, hay or
green manure as desired and both
require incubation for the best sue
cess and in fact either the seed or
the soil should be inoculated on the
first trial of them.
In my Judgment hairy vetch is the
best of the two for Arkansas. 1t
does not require as fertile soil as
~ in For do
on ordinary soil. Where red or GRIM
, son clover have been tried unsuccess-
fully, hairy vetch has been found to
be fine substitute and is an excel
lent soil builder. The seed are high
er than the seed for common vetch
but are preferable. Hairy vetch will
also stand more cold than common
vetch; neither will stand our hot
weather. The best way to inoculate
is to scatter about 400 pounfs of sod
per acre from an old vetch field over
the plot for hairy or common vetch
and harrow it in. The sod should be
handled on some cloudy day. If the
sod is not available it is advisable to
| buy the pure incubation culture with
! which to inoculate the seed before
| planting. The culture may be had
from the United States department OF
agriculture at Washington. D. c. We
have numerous failures with vetch
alfalfa, COW peas, clovers and like
crops because we fail to inoculate
1t is necessary and we should not
neglect a necessary step when we be-
gin the culture of new crop. We
| get reports almost daily OF success
with these crops in all parts of the
state and some from men who havS
failed In the same localities. Mos
all the failures are due to indifferent
preparation, failure to inoculate or tt
the lack of doing some other import
ant thing for the particular crop. In
oculation is necessary where the sect
are sown on piece of land new tt
the crop. Write for a bulletin OF
vetches.
l have been urging winter crops
for some time and l am getting some
most encouraging reports. There viii
be more fall crops sown in Arkansas
this year than ever before and there
will be less feed to buy regardless o
the short corn crop. There are man!
dement's to be gotten from fall worl
and we will profit much by it. W.
can plough deeper in the fall thar
we can. afford to pillow in the spring
we can be at work when otherwise
, ther would not be SO much to do
the land is protected from wintel
washing with some growing crop OF
n it; and we have a fine pasture AM
then something to turn under in thu
spring; aside fro mthat fall plowint
s. is one of our best methods for com
Il batting the cotton worm and thu
corn worm and even the boil weevil
1t will be a new day in Arkansas ag
! riculture when every farmer prac
, tices fall blowing and fall planting.
l