326 ANNUALi REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



or the methods involved. The most important changes relate to the 

 establishment of satisfactory cooperative relations in this new type 

 of work with several of the state experiment stations. During the 

 year there has been a marked increase in the demand for representa- 

 tives of tlie Office of Farm IVIanagement as speakers at farmers' meet- 

 ings. A^liile considerable institute work of this character has been 

 done, it has not been allowed to interfere with tlie regular field work, 

 but, on the other hand, has been helpful in tlie latter work by bring- 

 ing the representatives of the Department into closer contact with 

 farmers in the regions where agricultural problems are being inves- 

 tigated. 



SOUTHERN FARM-MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS. 



The farm-management work in the South was continued during 

 the past year under the direction of Mr. D. A. Brodie, Agriculturist. 

 Several additions to the staff engaged in the work were made. 



Winter legumes for the South. — Special attention has been given 

 during the past year to the establishment of winter legumes through- 

 out the South as a means of putting humus into the soil and of pre- 

 venting leaching and soil wasliing during tlie winter season when the 

 soil is usually bare. These crops also make a beginning toward the 

 production of feed for live stock, and are thus expected to have an 

 important effect upon the types of farming which apparenth^ must 

 prevail in the South when the agriculture of that section is estab- 

 lished on the best possible basis. General interest has been aroused on 

 the part of farmers in these winter legumes, as well as in other winter 

 crops. The demand for seed of bur clover, hairy vetch, and crimson 

 clover for sowing in cotton fields and elsewhere last fall was so great 

 that the total suppl}'^ of these seeds was exhausted early in the fall. 



In the vicinity of Columbia, S. C, hairy vetch has become fully 

 established as a farm crop. A single farmer grew 100 acres of oats 

 and hairy vetch last winter and harvested the crop for hay and silage 

 to be fed to dairy cows. This crop has assumed imj^ortance in other 

 localities. Bur clover has become well established as a farm crop in 

 the vicinity of Talladega, Ala., and large acreages of it were sown 

 there last fall. The common vetch has similarly become a standard 

 farm crop in De Soto Parish, La. All these crops have been sown 

 more or less generally in the South where seed could be obtained. An 

 effort has been made to increase the supply of seed of these crops by 

 teaching farmers how to grow them. Bur clover seed is easilj'^ pro- 

 duced in the South, and at present prices is a very profitable crop. 

 Another section of the Office of Farm Management is encouraging 

 farmers in certain parts of Michigan in the production of hairy- 

 vetch seed, not only as a means of enriching the soil but of acquiring 

 increased income, and the results are very promising as well as highly 

 important to the southern farmer. Seed of the common vetch is 

 grown abundantly in Oregon. Farmers in that section consider 2^ 

 cents a pound a fair price for the seed. As freight on this seed from 

 Oregon to the Southern States in carload lots is not more than three- 

 fourths cent a pound, it is probable that when the supply is sufficient 

 this seed can be laid down in the Southern States at a price not to 

 exceed 3 cents a pound. 



