The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., May 28, 1910, Page 392, Image 12

About The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette. (Starkville, Miss.) 1910-1920

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PROPER ROTATION MAKES FERTILIZERS PROFITABLE.
Best Results Cannot Be Had Unless Attention is Paid to This
Subject—Try a Three-Year Rotation of (1) Cotton; (2) Corn
and Peas* and (8) Oats Followed by Peas.
I CAN WELL remember the time
when the Long Leaf pine sec
tion of south Mississippi, unaid
ed by manures and fertilizers,
did not make, I believe, over one
eighth of a bale of cotton, or eight
bushels of corn to the acre. I re
member a time, as a boy, when a car
load of bad-smelling material came
into a town on the Mobile & Ohio
Railroad, it was put into a store
building where the people Bald a
man had “busted” the fall before. A
small boy, coming from school, ran
himself out of breath to get home to
much more fertile and profitable farm
to be made. I need only point to the
fact that any one may verify with
a little figuring, that at present
prices, if 15 bushels of corn to the
acre will pay all expense, 40 bushels
to the acre will give almost 25 bush
els clear profit, or say $20 clear pro
fit. This much profit on an acre of
land is enough to justify a land value
of $200 an acre.
I want to emphasize just one other
advantage about this crop rotation.
I always found in Mississippi that
where an oat crop is allowed to ma
erable. In the spring, at exactly the 1
right time for planting cotton, the «
land is listed up, leaving a balk in '
the middles, to mature clover seed
on. A good stand of cotton is ob- :
tained, and it is worked until the
clover seeds and dies, when the mid
dles are broken out. With very little
expense, then, we may have all of
our cultivated lands in a pasture and
cover crop, and in this way entirely
compensate for the great tendency
of Southern lands to lose their hu
mus, and to wash and leach. To show
the great harm that heavy rainfall
and leaching may do lands, I need
only to mention the fact that in Mis
sissippi and the Southeast generally,
sandy lands are most always natural
ly poor. In west Texas, where the
rainfall gets down to 25, 20, and 15
ten ms mama: ' mey say Mr. Tate
busted down yonder on the corner,
and I believe he did, for I smelt the
awfulest racket that you ever heard
of.” Since that time I have seen
the use of commercial fertilizers be
come universal, and I have seen the
Long Leaf pine country become as
productive acre for acre, as the Mis
sissippi Delta.
Now, not only in south Mississippi,
but over much of the Southern States
ar merchant or banker would not
any more advance a man who would
not plant fertilizer than he would
one who would not plant seed. From
a yield of one-eighth of a bale of
cotton, yields went up to one-third,
one-half, three-fourths, and a bale
of cotton to the acre. Two dollars
invested in fertilizers often raised
the yield on an acre of land from
$10 to $20 In value.
It was soon found that using a
moderate quantity or commercial fer
tilizer alone and cropping from year
to year helped the land to wear out
slightly faster than it would have
done if no fertilizer had been used.
It was found that the very best re
sults could be had by composting
commercial materials with barnyard
and stable manure, cottonseed, leaf
mold, and other coarse materials af
fording plenty of humus. Pine woods
farmers frequently raised their yield
by the use of these composts to a
bale and over to the acre. It is
likely, however, that much unneces
sary labor was performed in mixing
these materials and re-handling
them in great compost heaps.
Since Southern farmers produce so
little manure, because their stock
run out in pasture or in the woods
for most of the year, not a great deal
of farming land can receive dress
ings of farm manure. Therefore,
some other scheme for keeping up
the humus supply in the land and of
getting extra nitrogen, must be re
sorted to. The three-year rotation
of crops, practiced to a large extent
by the Georgia and Louisiana Exner
iment Stations, gave magnificent re
sults. This rotation consisted of (1)
cotton, (2) corn and peas, and (3)
oats followed by peas, with the use
of moderate amounts of acid phos
phate and potash salts. In a very
few years, I remember, both of these
Stations raised their cotton yields
to a full bale and over to the acre,
and other crops in proportion.
To practice this rotation on all of
any farm would require dividing the
farm Into three equal parts. Then
cotton would grow on one field, corn
and peas on another, and oats fol
'owed by peas rhe same year on
another. Each piece would be rotat
ed independently This scheme, as
your excellent jouinal has frequent
ly pointed out, will distribute the
labor of men and teams more equal
ly over the year, will enable one
man to utilize much more land; will
enable more live stock to be kept,
more manure to be produced, and a
THE PROGRESSIVE PLOWMAN.
If It be true, as It is, that good fanning is impossible without good plowing, it is equally true
that good plowing is impossible without good motive power. The view given here was taken in the
West, although scattered farmers throughout the South use a traction engine in their plowing oper
atkms. Most of us. however, must continue to use "Tom and Jo" or “Doll and Dapple", and with
them we can do just as good plowing, if not quite so much of it, as can be done with the machine
here shown. Two or three strong mules, or large farm mares to a good steel-beam plow this is the
sort of motive power we need, and the'sort we must have. The one-horse plow must go; good plow
ing with it is simply out of the question.
ture and the grain is harvested and
the land plowed and planted in peas,
without being grazed closely after the
oat harvest, that a crop of volunteer
oats as thick as the hair on a dog’s
back comes up in the field after the
peas are cut for hay in fall. This
crop of oats is very valuable for
pasture and for winter cover crop to
prevent the land from washing and
leaching. The other piece of the
farm that is to be sown in fall oats
will, of course, have a winter cover
and pasture crop on it. Therefore,
two-thirds of the farm, under this
rotation, will be clothed with a green
protecting cover crop each winter.
Could we not afTord to sow the other
third in some crop, say between the
rows of cotton following one of the
pickings? I have here a rotation
of cotton and bur clover, the bur
clover occupying the land in winter
and the cotton in summer. The clo
ver can now be seen two miles away,
if the field can be seen that far. It
is affording excellent grazing, and the
nitrogen it is bringing from the air
will certainly be something consid
15,000 p“5l.-O. K.
sssss-r---—
-—- «— ■» - SS TZL1,
Mali coupon to dap for 1910 Catalop u ®"* Cmt9U*
spring Buying.
Goldan Bagla Buppp Co.. Station 67. 144. 140. Bdgawood Ar*.. Atlanta. Cm.
Gentlemen: Pleue mell me puelimid. your new 6-color 1 On pop* ceUlo.
**M#* . ...-.County.
** ^UfUrn in Big Fret Catalog. Poet office. ,
.R K D No. . _
inches, sandy lands are Immensely
rich and when Irrigation water can
be applied to them are extremely
productive.
W. C. WELBORN.
Texas Agricultural Experiment
Station.
Sow Cowpeas for Seed.
Messrs. Editors: I know ail farm
ers in the South cannot grow clover,
alfalfa and other legume crops, but
all can grow cowpeas. I know seed
are high, and for that reason I wish
to press upon your mind the idea of
raising seed to use on our farms.
Begin now if you have to pay $3 for
a bushel. This will plant 4 acres.
Use acid and potash, 200 pounds per
acre, as peas get lazy if you give
them nitrogen. One bushel treated
this way should yield 20 to 30
bushels.
But pertiaps you will say, "My
land Is all planted to cotton.*' If so.
you had better plow up some of It
rather than to miss a crop of cow
peas.
In June, 1908, I had on hand 1 Vi
rnshels of peas, broke stubble, plant
'd In rows 3 feet apart, used corn
Iropper, with a plate I made to suit
nv notion. Gathered 2 6 bushels of
seed. In 1909 I planted crop for
seed, May 26th. in order to Rather
before cotton opened. Gathered 62
bushels for seed, cut 16 tons of pea
sine hay from stubble sown, and can
sell seed at $2.26 per bushel today.
I consider peas to be the redemp
tion of osir lovely Southland. The
idea of the farmer in the South in
slavery time was to raise more cotton
to buy more negroes. My idea is to
raise more peas, to feed more cows to
raise more peas.
P. P. GOI.D
No fertilizer will give good result*
on water-logged lands.
You Can't Smash a ROSE Bum
It'* tno strongly built. There'* nothin* cheap
about the "ROSE"except the price and that only j
because we sell DIRECT to you. Oura are modem
method* lit* sale*, small profit* and no middle
man. We positively save you from H&toSSS on
each hu**y.
lot Ut Mall You Our HornoM and Sony Catoioc fra*.
Clives price* and tell* almit our many beautiful
Ktylna in Huggie* and itarnee*. Aim explain*
how we make, and why we ran guarantee for 8
year*, any liucgy selling at Mo.00 and upwarda.
We carry no buggies in slock. Every one i* built
specially to order. Rent on 30 day*' free trial,
anywhere In the South. If not plrwsad. return it
at our expense and get Tour money hack.
Ask for Catalog No, § Writ* u*~fod«y.
RANDOLPH ROSE COMPANY
Chattaaoota T eaaaaaaa
__§L-_
LARGEST ORGAN FACTORY IN TM RMU
Homo of tbo Kimboll Orion lo CVcago, Great
est Foctory of Its KiwL
Tbo Unroot far lory tn tho work) devoted exclu
sively to tbo manufacture of organ* U that of tbo
W. W. Kimball Company of Chicago, Tbo state
ment U proved hy tho tromondoui numbor of
Kimboll Organa which are delivered into Amaricaa
Homo* ovary year and tty tho actual floor ipoco
occupied by tho groat factory.
The name "Kimball ' to known tho length aad
breadth rf the country in connection with organ
manufacturing.
the fomo nf the product U ohown by tho fort
that letter* am dally pouring into tho Chicago Of.
flee of the W.W, Kimboll Company. V Kimboll
Hall of tbU city from overy port of ihe United
State* a»klng for the new Kimball Catalog.
C0(| HAY PRESS ,U'*’ fwm br*" mode.
30U tr thousand* In use Over
^ ’ *o1? 3 mon,h*' 10 fear* wo're
mod*- them Shipped on 6 day*' trial direct frrea
foctory. Write for booklet.
WATKINS HAY PRESS CO. :: Atlanta. On.
PIQff Our book tails how to
N* Itlfl catch dead loads of them
where you failed tbs old
!as hioned w ay. Writs for it. We pay the
pontage. Ten thousand satisfied users in
aver thirty State*.
EUREKA FISH NET CO.
TVl* 16 Griffin. Ga. and Dallas. T*e