The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-07-25
COVER CROPS, A VALUABLE
SOURCE OF SOIL FERTILITY

With cotton selling at present
prices, the tendency is to plant more
cotton and to attempt to realize as
much money out of this crop as pos
sible while the price is high. We do
not deny that this is a wise plan in
farm management, but we want to
point out the evil of all cotton farm
ing, it robs the land of it's fertility.
We maintain that no system of
farming is economical that does not
conserve the fertility of the soil. The
production of cotton is essential, we
should endeavor to grow as much
cotton as we possibly can after we
have provided for the necessary food
stuffs to run the farm. That cotton
farming or any other one crop sys-
tenn of farming robs the soil, we
have but to stop and think. Com
pared with a short time ago, our
yields per acre r greatly reduced
except when produced under the
stimulus of a heavy application Of
high grade commercial guano. This
is expensive not only in the initial
cost of potential plant food and is
robbing the soil of its humus or or
ganic matter, which is essential to
the economical use of commercial
a One common cause of our
soils "setting up" like cement, as it
were, or baking after heavy rains is
that the land is depleted of its hu-
mus content. The crying need of
the southern soils is humus. We
know that yields can be maintained
and increased by the Isl of COM
mercial fertilizers, if the seasons are
favorable, but the cost is increased
from year to year, because we have
to increase the applications of fertil-
izers yearly and all the while we
tend to further deplete the soil or
run it down while the cost of fertil-
izers go higher.
Land that is rich in organic mat
ter will not set up" or bake after
rains, crops will withstand drought
better, they grow off better in the
spring because the soil retains more
heat energy, commercial fertilizers
give larger and more economical re-
turns when used on lands full of
organic matter, and lands rich in
humus do not lose as much plant
food through leakage OF drainage
because they hold more moisture,
which makes the plant food more
soluable and readily available for
the plant.
We want to see more acres seeded
to winter cover crops. When Dur
lands are left bear during the winter
months much valuable plant food is
lost through drainage and leakage.
A cover crop would take up this loss
and store the plant food for the next
crop, besides the washing and gully
ing of the land would be largely pre-
vented. If leguminous crop be used
as a cover crop, it will absorb nitro
gen from the soil and assimulate a
great deal from the air which will
be of great benefit in reducing the
nitrogen bill of the next crop. If
you do not feel financially able to
see leguminous cover crops, then
seed rye. A coat of rye turned un-
der at the proper time will be worth
$500 in manurial value to the next
crop, while a growth of crimson
clover would equal $50 pound of
cotton seed meal and would be at
the present price of the seed, a much
cheaper fertilizer.
Our land needs humus. The more
trash you put on them to decay and
mix with the soil the richer the land
will become and you will be enabled
to produce cotton next year more
economically. We urge you to give
the matter of seeding v crops
serious consideration.