The Bulletin. 27 



"In Fig. 15 is shown cotton following a crop of volunteer bur clover 

 and fertilized with 28 pounds of phosphoric acid (200 pounds 14 per 

 cent acid phosphate) and 10 pounds of potash (80 pounds kainit) per 

 acre in the form of acid phosphate and kainit, while Fig. 16 shows 

 cotton following cotton and fertilized with 200 pounds of acid phos- 

 phate, 80 pounds of kainit and 120 pounds of cotton-seed meal. In 

 other words, Fig. 15 shows cotton to which the nitrogen was supplied by 

 a previous crop of bur clover, and Fig. 16 cotton to which a complete 

 fertilizer had been added. The plat on which bur clover supplied the 

 nitrogen yielded 1,620 pounds of seed cotton per acre, which was exactly 

 400 pounds in excess of the plat receiving an application of a complete 

 fertilizer. This 400 pounds of seed cotton sold for $18, and deducting 

 from this $2 for picking and excess hauling, we have a gain of $16 per 

 acre in favor of the bur clover plat. It must also be remembered that 

 this gain was made with a commercial fertilizer containing no nitroge- 

 nous material and costing 46 per cent less than that applied to the plat 

 (Fig. 16) receiving a normal application of fertilizer. The more 

 luxurious growth of the cotton following bur clover is readily seen by 

 comparing the growth in Fig 15 with that in Fig. 16. On the bur 

 clover plat the cotton averaged from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 feet high, while in 

 the plat receiving a normal fertilizer application the average height was 

 only from 2 to 3 1/2 feet. 



"Fig. 17 shows a very productive growth of corn after a crop of bur 

 clover in 1903. Almost every stalk bore two or more well developed 

 ears per stalk. The corn was planted after a crop of bur clover seed 

 had been harvested. The seed left on the ground reseeded the land, 

 which produced a good volunteer growth of clover in 1904. 



"We can more fully appreciate the value of this plant as a soil im- 

 prover when we see from Table 1, as an average of two crops on the 

 Edgecombe farm, that the entire plants on one acre contained 162.1 

 pounds of nitrogen. It would require 2,456 pounds of cotton-seed meal, 

 containing 8 per cent ammonia, to furnish this quantity of nitrogen, 

 which was obtained largely from the air by the closer. 



Bur Clover for Pasturage. 



"In addition to its value as a soil improver, bur clover is an excellent 

 grazing crop. When sown in corn or cotton at the last cultivation in 

 July or August, it comes up in time to give some grazing in the fall. 

 As soon as spring opens the clover puts out rapidly, sooner than most 

 other plants, and gives good grazing from the first of March, often in 

 February, and up to the first of April, when it is well to remove stock 

 and give an opportunity to produce seed and tops for soil improvement. 

 Calves, sheep and hogs grazed our crop on the Edgecombe Test Farm 

 until the first of April this year. By the 20th of May it had reached 

 a height of 2 1/2 feet, producing air-dried hay at the rate of over 3 1/2 

 tons per acre. The average yield for two years has been 2.9 tons per 

 acre. This shows how rapidly it makes its growth. Stock do not like 

 it well at first, but as there is but little green material to be had in the 

 winter and spring, they soon become accustomed to it and graze it 

 readily. It is a specially good grazing crop for hogs, sheep and cattle. 



