St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1915-04-17
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Southwestern Reflections
Sess.-eee..ese."ees..ess..0ess.

. Saess..eee...0ese..o
During the first week in A~"il a
gentleman brought to the o"'"n of
the Southwest Louisiana De,t -
ment Bureau, plant which y
avered and requested It's ciasslfl-
cation. The Bureau not being ex-
pert in such matters the. plant, was
forwarded to Prof. T. G. Lee, OF the
S. w. Louisiana Industrial lnst-
tute with the request for 'nforma-
Iation regarding its identity.
The plant had. this early IN the
season ind without any cultlvat'on
at all, attained a height of about
one foot and was in bloom. the
gentleman who brought it in OBJ
serving that the plant was growing
wild in several places in Southwest
Louisiana and that live stock went
crazy about it. DR.. Thomas Stark
of Thibodeaux corroborated the
statement about the fondness OF live
stock for the plant and said that It
thrives in wild state IN many por-
tions of Lafourcne parish.
Prof. Lee pronounced it to be
hairy vetch. which he said mav be
found growing along the tracks OF
almost every railroad in Louisiana" "
According to this authority and
the fact was borne out by the sam
pie under observation "vetches
winter plants, and reach their max
imum development in March and
April" It belongs to the leguminous
family and is. therefore. a nitrogen
gatherer and soil builder. which de-
serves to be grown more generally
in Southwest Louisiana.
Accordig to Prof. Lee they do not
o as well as clovers in this soei;on
and they need well drained and
fairly strong land in order to thrive
He believes the plant should pc
tried out by our people.
While it is too late to do this now
the Southwest Louisiana farmer
should bear the fact in mind and
next Autumn carry out Prof. Lees
suggestion by a good acreage in
vetches and the clovers.
It is quite apparent that for
age crop that natures in Mn""t :
of which cattle and horses are so
fond must be valuable for winter
pasture, while the fact that it be-
Elongs to the soil-renovating family
of legumes. makes it most valuable
as a winter cover crop and a re-
storer of soil fertility. Let US add
this valuable legume to the many
varieties of forage crops which al
ready make Southwest Louisiana
the ideal section of the United
States for the profitable production
of live stock. Please remember this.
Lest we forget > let us repeat the
entreaty. don't let late season or
anything else induce you to plant
your seed this Spring On badly pre-
pared land. Better plant fewer
acres and put it in the ground In
perfect condition. At any rate. in
tensive farming costs less and it
gives far greater net profit than can
be earned by the extensive sacthod.
Drainage il also vital matter
and it behooves every farmer TO
look carefully after this point un-
It'll the time shall have come when
Southwest Louisiana shall have a
general drainage system which shall
serve every portion of her terri
tory. That's one of the main rea-
sons why this Bureau insists that
every worth while man should take
part in it's Prosperity Campaign
and pull together in building uD our
section.
If we want all these things to-
gether with good roads. good schools
and everything else that goes to
build up country's prosper
this is the way to do it. We must
work together. for we can't accom-
plish the end working single-hand-
ed each for himself.
Have you become a prosperity
Campaignersn If not. why not!