The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1950-09-14
Pastures Should
Be Prepared Now
Progressive Formers
Apply Minerals
Plont Grasses
by A. p. Cdrroll
Soil Conservufionisf

Now is the time of year that
land should be prepared, minerals
applied and seeded for winter
grazing and permanent pastures.
Farmers, cooperating with the
Holmes County Soil Conservation
District, have gotten best results
in the hill section from these crops
when they applied 500 to 800
pounds of 20 per cent phosphate,
100 to 200 pounds of so per cent
murate of potash and two tons of
lime per acre and disc in well.
They seeded the pasture plants
best adapted to the particular area
being worked on. Oats were seed
ed at the rate of four bushels per
acre on both hill land and bottom
land. Crimson clover was planted
on the hill land on the oats, and
wild winter peas or white Dutch
clover was seeded with the oats
on the bottom land.
Sam Hall and r. M. Branch, of
Goodman, DR.. c. H. Ingram, of
Pickens, H. P. Watson, the Bar
rett Brothers, w. E. Thurmond,
and L. E. johnson, Lexington,
have cotton good grazing from
fescue grass and ladino clover
planted on bottom land. The ex-
periments have shown that fescue
grass with ladino clover is as good
grazing for cattle as oats with a
clover. It has the advantage of
oats in that it is a perennial and
once planted all you have to do
is apply the necessary fertilizer
each fall. The oats and fescue
grass both need so pounds of nj
trogen applied each year for best
growth. However, the winter le-
gume will soon supply part or all
of the nitrogen needed for fescue.
For those who are unable to disc
the land they want to plant, they
should apply the fertilizer, plant
Is to Is pounds of rye grass and
ten pounds of crimson clover per
acre on the sod. Both of these can
be seeded in the cultivated land
without any breaking. The rye
the bottom land while the GRIM
son clover does best seeded on the
grass will do better if seeded in
well drained hill land. The rye
grass can be seeded any time dur
ing September or October. How
ever, the crimson clover should
not be planted until about the
18th of October after plenty of
moisture is available. If it is
planted too early and it should
turn off hot and dry, much of it
will die. If rye grass is planted
1851, it should be turned under
on land that is to be cultivated in
early before a heavy sod is es-
tablished. After a heavy sod is
formed it is hard to kill and Gre
ates a problem to cultivate crops
to follow.
For the Delta area and in the
bottom laid near the foot hills of
the Delta, red clover will do as
well as ladino clover with fescue
and it grows well in these areas.
Also, it does not bloat cattle like
white Dutch and ladino clover
does.
Everyone who has cattle to
carry through the winter should
plant one to two acres of the above
crops for each cow. The seed will
be scarce and you should contact
your seed dealer and make ar
rangements to get the seed you
plan to plant Immediately.
Check with your PIMA office
and take advantage of the assis-
lance they can offer you.
Keep in mind that for the vari-
able soil types we have in Holmes
county there are grasses and le-
gumes that are best suited for
these various soils. If you are in
doubt as to the plants best adapt
ed to your farm, call on your Soil
Conservation District technician,
the County Agent or the Voca-