Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-10-30
FARM EDUCATION
Winter and Summer Pastures fol
Middle Georgia
BY DR.. ANDREW M. SOULE

Middle Georgia
A. 8. D., Hawkinsville, Ga,
writes: I am operating a small
dairy and want something for
Winner as wei as summer pas
turage Do yA1 think could
sow sweet clover now and get
good results?
Our attempt to cultivate sweet
clover here in Georgia has not been
as successful as we could wish, and
we can not commend it for general
cultivation on that account. Seed
ing, when undertaken, should, as a
rule, be done early in the spring
as the crop is then more likely to
live through two seasons. Sweet
clover seeded in the fall will usual
~ dies after one seasons growth.
Sweet clover requires a firm seed
bed and incubation as alfalfa. About
% pounds of scarified seed should be
sown per acre. In this section of
the south, sweet clover should be
cut just when it is reaching the
blooming stage for hay. 1t should
be cut eight to ten inches above the
ground, as the shoots that make a
second growth must come froA the
stems. The hay of course is cured
just like we cure alfalfa. Sweet
clover makes less, hay than alfalfa
in Georgia, and the quality is in
ferior also.
This crop promises to be most
valuable in northwest Georgia,
though some good stands have been
obtained near the coast The re-
quirements of sweet clover are lots
81
Common white blooming clover or
melilotus alba is a Vigorous grower
and the best suited for north Geor-
gia. The annual white blooming
clover has shown no special adapta-
bility for Georgia conditions. The
yellow blooming clover is a smaller
hardy variety and has done best
in south Georgia.
Sweet clover will furnish some
considerable grazing early in the
spring, but it does not do we'll with
Bermuda grass We find that it
will grow on CALLED spots to some
advantage when plenty of lime has
been applied. Its chief use appears
to be confined to the Improvement
of poor lands of this type.
Your correspondent will find prof
1t, in our judgment, in successfully
establishing and cultivating an area
of alfalfa on his dairy farm This
crop will do well OH the red lands
In almost any part of Georgia. The
soil should be well prepared, prop
erly enriched with yard manure and
lime. The seeding should be done
not later than October Is or NoVem-
Der L in the vicinity of Hawkins
Vile. The crop should not be too
closely grazed, as this practice will
kill it.
We have an area in alfalfa here
at the Georgia State College of Ag-
riculture which has been cut for
hay for more than twelve years in
succession and is still in good con-
dition. 1t has been cut on an aver
age of from four to six times Der
annum, averaging five tons Of cured
hay per acre. This, we think. con-
stituteS a rather remarkable record
and shows that alfalfa occupies a
very important place on many of
our north Georgia farms in particu-
lar. The dairyman who would feed
MS COWS most cheaply even here
In the south will find alfalfa one
OF his most valuable adjuncts.
Destroying Weed Seeds i'm Notes
G. G.. W., LAGRANGE. Ga,
writes: l wish to know how is
the best way of killing grass and
weed seed in notes, waste prod
uct from the cotton mills.
find that notes make excellent
fertilizer when rotted but the
composing process does not
eradicate all the grass and weed
seeds Will composing with alter
nate layers of notes and acid
phosphate kill the seeds?
The thorough composing of the
material you wish to handle is the
best practical method we can sug-
gest OF destroying a considerable pro
portion of the weed seeds contained
In the notes from your cotton mills.
There is no process OF fumisation
with which we are acquainted which
Will effectively destroy the germs
In weed seeds. Acid phosphate will
not accomplish the purpose YOU have
In mind. This material, of course, is
supposed to contain no free acid if
properly made. 1t would contain
only a very small amount of this
material in any event. Ii it contained
very much it would be injurious to
the ground and possibly to the crops
TO which it was applied. Therefore
normal acid phosphate would exert
no effect calculated to result in the
destruction of the viability of seeds
contained i'll the notes of cotton.
This matter has been presented
TO us from several points of view
on previous occasions. We have in
Vestigated the subject quite carefully
with the aid of our chemical division.
AS yet we have found no practical
method of accomplishing the end
YOU have in view. Yard manures
often heat, as you know, very VIC
lently If not properly handled. We
are inclined to think that the mix
tu"e of the notes with manure would
help to destroy a portion OF the weed
seeds, but we do not believe YOU
can hope to destroy nearly all of
them through the agency of this
practice. The thorough rotting of the
the ground, as in composing, would