The western sentinel. [volume] (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 1887-1926, 1919-08-26
AN OPEN LETTER TO
FORSYTH FARMERS

An open letter to the farmers of the
county from Mr.. r. W. Pou, county
demonstration agent, calling the at
tention of the farmers to the impor-
tance of putting in winter cover crops
this fall, has been received by the
sentinel. II have no doubt" writes
MFR. Pou, that all farmers realize
the necessity and benefit Of winter
coverscrops,, but reminder of the
Importance of cover crops and the
time to plant them will, do a great
deal to increase the acpeags. tf
! The letter folitWs:
One Of the greatest needs of For
syth county farmers at present is the
preservation of dur soil and one OF
the best ways to tpreserve our SOIL is
to keep some things growing on the
land most of the time. We are using
the land in the summer months to
produce a money crop. Land on
which we do not grow money crops
is soon covered With plant growth
during the summer, but to have
something growing in the winter
takes some effort and Judgment on
the part of the farmer. The benefits
from the use of cover crops more
than pay for the expense and effort
they cost.
Among our most common winter
cover crops are rye, hairy vetch
brown clover and crimson clover.
Rye, as we all know, is more com
monty grown than any other cover
crop and should always have place
on our farm, for the reason that rye
will grow where otler crops would
fail. But the ease with which we can
get rye to grow should not keep US
from growing the more important
winter crops.
Dairy or winter Vetch, which is one
of the best winter cover crops, is al
most eliminated on account of the
scarcity and high cost of seeds, but
this should not keep every farmer
from putting out small area of this
crop. For the improvement
of our orchard soil, vetch has no
equal.
Brown clover, which is especially
adapted to our sandy soil, can be sue
cessfully grown on most of our SOIL
Get few seed and get acquainted
with the winter cover crop that has
done so much for the other sections
of the country.
Crimson clover is one of the most
valuable winter cover crops. Occupy
ing the land only during the fall, Win
ter and spring, it gives us for the
use of our soil a green crop on our
land all this time and reaches matu-
rity in mid-Spring. If this crop IS
turned into the soil it will lbe equal,
pound for pound, to the best stable
manure. If cut for hay at the prop
er time and properly cured it has a
feed value second to none. Crimson
clover does not differ from all other
plants doing best on a we'll prepared
seed bed. However, most of the
farmers of this county have tobacco
and corn fields that can be prepofed
and planted to crimson clover with
but little time and expense. A good
way to prepare a tobacco or corn
field for crimson clover is to culti-
yate a crop now on land so as to push
soil from plant into middle of row.
This will tend to level up the soil
and give a fair bed and will not
Injure the crop now on the land.
If crimson clover fTas not been
grown on the land the |
seed should be inoculated and sown
at the rate of 10 to 20 pounds an
acre on land that has been especially |
prepared for crimson clover. The
seed can be put in with lime and
acid phosphate and as much lime as
the drill will handle.
Growing of winter crops keeps and
protects our soil from washing and
gives a most valuable crop for hay
or to be plowed into the soil to help |
us make a more profitable or corn
crop. Nitrogen is the most expen-
sive element of plant food that we
have to buy in fertilizer and humus
is the limiting factor in our crop pro-
duction. A crop of vetch or GRIM
son clover turned into the soil will
furnish an abundance Of nitrogen and
will greatly increase the humus in the
soil.
The richer our soil, the bigger our
crop. Let us feed our soil that our
soil may feed us. !