The progressive farmer and southern farm gazette., August 06, 1910, Page 543, Image 3

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

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
$500 More a rear farming: How to Get it
' ■■■ i ■ . u_
BY GROWING MORE BUR CLOVER.
While a Less Valuable All-Round Legume Than Crimson Clover
the Mur \ nriety Has Some Points of Superiority—With White
Clover and Bermuda It Makes An Almost Ideal Permanent Pas
ture—Hints on Sowing.
By Tait Butler.
BUR CLOVER is a valuable plant
for the South, but we regard It
as less valuable than crimson
clover or vetch. It will furnish more
cover for the land during the winter
than vetch, hut is uot so valuable a
hay plant and is more dilllcult to get
started. Like some of the, other
winter legumes, the seed have been
scarce aud high-priced for years. In
fact, the scarcity of seed and the un
certainty of getting a stand have al
most put bur clover out of consider
ation In many sections during recent
years. In certain sections this may
not be entirely true, but the few 9eed
on the general market have been
mostly recleaned seed from California
or the West, and they have not given
satisfaction as a general rule.
Why Recent Failures.
This California variety (Toothed
Medic) has not the black spot in the
leaf and is a more slender and less
vigorous plant than the one (Spotted
Medic) common in the Gulf and East
ern Southern States, and the seed
being clean, they do not carry the
necessary germs to Inoculate the
soil; so that falluro with these re
cleaned seed has been altogether too
common. When the seed are sowed
in the bur there seems to be sufllcient
material carried with them to Inoc
ulate the soil with the germs needed
to make it -grow successfully; but
seed in the bur have been impossible
to get In recent years in many local
ities.
Bur clover, alfalfa, mclllotus, etc.,
are sulllciently close relatives for one
to Inoculate the soil for the other,
but the germs necessary for the roots
of all these legumes are not generally
in the soil and unless some of them
have been successfully grown on the
land, inoculation is usually neces
sary.
Sowing in the Hur.
When bur clover seed cun bo ob
tained in the burs and are sowed nt
the right time, September and Octo
ber, a stand is reasonably sure; but
the recleaned seed on tho market,
sowed without inoculation with the
soil of a Held where melllotus, alfal
fa or hur clover has grown, is too
generally a failure.
If seed in tho bur aro used, it is
better adapted to sowing at tho last
working of cotton or corn than either
crimson clover, but tills early sow
ing, even in the hur, is not desirable
nud should ouiy ho practiced when
an nbundance of seed is used and
there is plenty of moisture in the
■oil. The seed may require more
time to germinate and probably the
seed surrounded by tho bur also
nmko more vigorous plants. At any
rate seed in tho bur aro more likely
to come up and tho plants withstand
the dry weather of fall and the cold
of early winter. The fact that the
burs are almost certain to carry in
oculating material may also help to
account for the more certainty of a
stand from seed Bowed in the bur.
When recioaned seed are sowed
the plant lug should be done the lat
ter part of September or early in
October, and the soil Inoculated.
This, ns all other legumes, should
ho grown on a small area until suf
ficient inoculated soil is obtained to
inoculate any new area that may be
sowed.
Advantages of Hur Clover.
IJur clover has Beverul strong feat
ures making it a desirable plant to
encourage on any farm. If sowed in
the bur, it can be best put in at the
last working of cotton or corn. It
gives some cover to the land and
furnishes some grazing during the
fall and winter and in the early
spring makes a vigorous growth;
while the habit of the plant to pro
duce 20 to 40 stems gives a heavy
growth of forage. Williams, of the
North Carolina State Department of
Agriculture, reports a yield of 2.91
tons of hay per acre, and 162:1
pounds of nitrogen gathered by the
crop. Live stock do not like the
plant when other pasture plants are
available, but they readily learn* to
eat It at the season of the year when
it makes its chief growth, because
other green stuff is then scarce. It
is a better pasture than hay plant.
Perhaps, its strongest point is its
abundant seeding and tendency to
stay on the land when once estab
lished. For this reason it is one of
the very best plants to put in a
short yearly rotation with corn. Re
seeding can be secured by leaving a
narrow strip, a few inches wide, of
the clover between each eor'n row,
until seed are matured In May, when
this middle may be broken out and
the cultivation of the corn continued.
Or it matures seed in ample time to
permit the corn to be planted after
ward. It has also been used in the
same way in a short rotation with
cotton, but the leaving of the “mid
dle” strip of clover increases the cost
of properly preparing the land and
of the early cultivation of the cotton
and In a wet season may increase the
tendency of the crop to become
grassy.
How to Get An Ideal Pasture.
When once established on a Ber
muda pasture it will reseed Itself and
remain and add greatly to the forage
furnished. It dies down by the time
the Bermuda grass is ready to start,
thus giving early and late pasture.
In fact, bur clover, white clover and
Bermuda make about as near an ideal
permanent pasture as it is possible
to get. When seed are sold in the
bur a great deal of trash is apt to
go with them, and 10 to 14 pounds
are given to the bushel, and as much
as two bushels or more should be
used per acre.
To start bur clover on a Bermuda
pasture the seed should be scattered
broadcast in late September or early
October, when there is moisture in
the soil, and the land thoroughly
disked or scarified. Bur clover seed
scattered over a so-called pasture, on
the hard, bare soil, will not do any
good and is almost certain to result
in the loss of the seed. Of the re
cleaned seed from 8 to 10 pounds per
acre are sow’ed.
We have seen bur clover grow on
sandy lands, clay lands with lime and
clay lands without lime, thus indi
cating a wide range of adaptability,
but this does not mean that it will
grow when the soil is not inoculated.
Pasture.
I have a 3-acre plot of red
clay hill land that I wish to con
vert into a permanent pasture.
Please advise which to sow,
clover or a mixture of clover and
grasses, the kind, time for sow
ing, preparation etc. J. P.
(Answer by Prof. W. F. Massey.)
Probably the best mixture you can
sow for a permanent pasture in your
section will be 10 pounds of orchard
grass, 5 pounds of redtop and 10
pounds of Canada bluegrass. If
horses are to be pastured on it, I
would leave out white clover or alis
ke. Prepare the land well and sow
the seed at any time In the fall
after early September. The above
mixture being for an acre, for liberal
seeding is essential to getting a good
sod. Brush the seed in lightly after
sowing with a slant tooth harrow.
It has given me great pleasure on
many occasions to state, conscien
tiously, that The Progressive Farmer
and Gazette is the best agricultural
paper that I have ever seen. To be
without it would be a calamity to the
Southern farmers.—W. K. Pickens,
Livingston, Ala.
LET GROWER AND RUYER GET
TOGETHER.
Too Much Difference Between Buying
and Selling Prices—One Bushel of
Crimson Clover Seed Worth a Ton
of Guano.
Messrs. Editors: Year before last
I sowed ten acres with two bushels
of crimson clover seed in my cot
ton after the last plowing; never
harrowed or covered the seeds in
any way. I had as good stand as I
ever saw, and the best and prettiest
crop I ever saw.
I turned a part of it under in full
bloom and waited until the other was
nearly all dead before plowing it un
der. I planted both lots in corn a
few days after plowing in the clover.
I liked it better turned under green
because I could plant the corn ten
days sooner and the corn was equally
as good as that planted later.
Last year I sowed two bushels
more on a ten-acre field of cotton and
turned all under in full bloom and
planted corn the first of June. Now
the corn is about four feet high, and
sowed in peas at the last plowing.
The crimson clover seed cost me year
before last, $3.50 per bushel; last
year, $5 per bushel; this year, $9
per bushel; and they will have to go
higher than $9 for me to stop sow
ing.
I think one bushel of crimson clo
ver seed is worth more to me than a
ton of $30 guano.
I wrote to a large seed house in
Baltimore for prices on crimson
clover seed, a few weeks ago, and
they wrote me they would give me
8 cents per pound for good seed.
I wrote them I did not have any for
sale, but wanted to know what they
charged. They wrote me that they
wanted 15 cents f. o. b. Baltimore.
You see they did not want much
profit—just $7 on 100 pounds.
Now, Mr. Farmer, you who grow
seed for sale: I wish there was some
way for us to get together and try to
make a compromise in some way and
divide that $7 on 100 pounds of
seed.
I think it would be a wise plan for
you to give The Progressive Farmer
and Gazette $1 to advertise your
seed, take $3 for yourself and give
the other $3 to the man who wants
to sow them. In that way we will
soon become known to each other,
and thousands of other people be
sides, and you will get more for your
seed, and I, or whoever sows, will
get them cheap and be able to buy
and sow more seed.
St. Brides, Va. W. H. WILSON.
TERRACING FARM. DUBLS ITS VALUE.
S10 WRIGHT FARM LEVEL also best for
Diching, Grading. Irrigating, Bilding.
Muney In running lines for others.
Write now. for special Agency offer.
Frank Wright. Mfg. Cave Springe. Ga.
TEN THINGS TO DO IN AUGUST.
° MATTER If your crops have been “laid by,” don’t fail
to stir lightly the upper crust of earth if it begius getting
hard aud dry.
a. Get ready to save every possible pound of hay. Sharpen
up the mower. Cut peas when first pods begin to turn.
3. Out the corn us it matures and save all the feed. Pulling
fodder is not only expensive and wasteful, but seriously de
creases the yield of ear corn.
4. \\ here crops are taken off the land, begin preparations
for the fall seeding. Do not stir deeply, but thoroughly pul
verize the three inches on top of the soil.
5. Clean up all needs, briers, bushes, etc., from ditch banks,
fence comers, around buildings and between cultivated fields.
August is tlie best month for killing bushes and briers and ar
ranging to merge the piddling patches into broad and generous
fields next yeur.
0. Got the cattle out of the infected pastures and grease them
thoroughly to kill all ticks now on them. Then put them in
new pastures and start out next spring with a tick-free farm and
tick-free cattle.
t. 1 repare to have some winter-growing crop on every acre
of land now in cotton or com. Sow crimson clover or vetch
after the first picking of cotton, rye later.
8. Keep Die hogs that you intend to kill next fall growing with
all their might. They should be in pasture now’ up to their eyes,
but see that they have plenty of pure water and a good shade
to go to. Sow rape and turnips for winter feeding.
». Paint the fami home, [mint or whitewash other buildings,
and make all needed repairs.
10. Go to your Farmers’ Institutes or other farmers’ meet
ings, and arrange to give your wife and children a short vaca
tion.
VALUABLE MACHINERY
1 ?5-H. P. Case Traction Engine.
1 Little Giant Planer. Matcher and Moulder.
Never in use.
1 No 2 American Saw Mill with 2 Circular
Saws.
1 Whitman self-feed, belt power. Hay Presa.
1 Murray System Gin Outfit: 2 70-saw stasda
with hydraulic double box revolving preaa.
In use only 2 seasons. Ail Bargains.
R. K. Boney, Duckport, La.
ENGINES and BOILERS
Traction Engine. 18 horse compound, 1600; 18
horse compound. $500: 16 horse plain traction; 16
horse plain traction; 10 horse traction; 10 and 12
horse portable, on iron trucks; 20 horse portable,
on skids; 20 horse portable, on iron trucks; gaso
line engines, all sizes; new saw mill, $130; boilers,
engine-', pumps, heaters.
Caaey Boiler Works, Springfield, Ohio
Cotton Gins; Engine
Two 60 saw gin stands, condensers and
feeders with press, all for $300.00, also
Engine of 150 horse power, one of the
very best, price $1,000.00. Address
W. Calvin Wells, Jackson, Miss.