CROPPING SYSTEMS FOR THE BLACK LANDS OF TEXAS. 



19 



allowed to mature. In either event the sweet ehiver is expected to 

 grow again and make either a crop of hay or some grazing b(>i"ore fall. 

 After the wheat, such legumes as cowpeas, soy beans, beggarweed, 

 and guar ' will be planted in rows 2 1 to 3 feet apart and so cultivated as 

 to conserve moisture. The rainfall is so limited and uncertain that 

 satisfactory results arc seldom obtained from planting broadcast 

 after grain or between the corn rows at the last cultivation. 



MODIFICATION OF A RO- 

 TATION COMMON IN THE 

 SOUTH. 



A rotation tending to 

 maintain fertility, in use in 

 the more humid sections, 

 is (1) corn with cowpeas 

 planted between the rows 

 at the last cultivation, (2) 

 cotton,- and (3) oats fol- 

 lowed by cowpeas sown 

 broadcast. This rotation, 

 omitting the cowpeas and 

 often with the oats left out, 

 is the one that has prevailed 

 in the black lands from the 

 be";inning and that has 

 brought about the decline 

 in the productiveness of the 

 soils. In fact, those who 

 realized the advisability of 

 including legiunes in the 

 rotation failed in their ef- 

 forts to grow them because 

 of the limited and uncer- 

 tain rainfall more than from any other cause. 



In the last few years, however, many farmers have learned that 

 they can grow cowpeas ((uite successfully by planting them in alter- 

 nate rows with corn, or in rows after oats, and cultivating them as 

 fre(iuently as they would corn. Those who have tried this plan are 

 well pleased with the results. They have not only produced a cro]) of 

 cowpeas, but by planting the corn twice as thick in the row as ordi- 

 narily they have secured as good and in most instances better yields 

 of corn than from similar areas of the same type of soil upon wliich 



' Guar is mentioned on account ot its promise as a soil builder. Its value as a forage crop in this 

 country is doubtful. 

 »In many localities this rotation is modified by transposing the cotton and corn crops. 



[I'ir. 8-J] 



Fig. 13.— Florida beggarweed grown on tlie black land near 



Uutdiins, Tex.,in 1910. The plant shown in this figure 

 was more than 7 foet tall. The beggarweed was planted in 

 rows 3 feet apart and cultivated. The plat could have been 

 cut twice for hay. A good crop of seed was produced. 



