The Bulletin. 59 



experiment station, and your demonstrators throughout the State, are better 

 acquainted with local conditions than I am. I would suggest that every 

 farmer in this audience who is not growing these crops go direct to these 

 people, get some very careful directions for growing these crops, and grow at 

 least two of them on his farm — a summer legume, as the cowpea or soy bean, 

 and a winter legume, one of the clovers or vetches. 



Remember these pointy : To get the best results from our land we must 

 control all the factors of fertility — moisture, plant food, ventilation, sanita- 

 tion, and germ life. The most powerful agent at our command for controlling 

 these factors of fertility is decaying vegetable matter or humus. The best 

 source of this decaying vegetable matter or humus for the average farmer is 

 some one or more of the leguminous crops, cowpeas, soy beans, clovei-s, and 

 vetches, that take nitrogen out of the air and thus enable us to put new 

 nitrogen-bearing vegetable matter into the soil — our most powerful aid in 

 controlling fertility. 



Q. When do you sow clover in your corn? 



Mb. Goodrich : I sow clover in my corn at the last working, doing 

 it the latter part of July or early in August. This year the first plant- 

 ing was done the last week in July, the last the first week in August. 

 I turn the clover into the soil. I grow the clover not for hay, but 

 to put into the soil. My soil has been in such shape that I thought 

 best to put the whole crop into the land; but each farmer must decide 

 for himself whether to use it for hay. My farm is sand, the kind that 

 is sometimes called Norfolk sandy loam — the same as a great deal of 

 the land all down the coast. I like to let my clover grow just as much 

 as possible before putting under. I begin to plow it under in time to 

 let it lie perhaps ten days to go through the first heating and fermen- 

 tation and let the soil settle again. Sometimes I use a roller to pack 

 the soil. This year we have had a hard time to get the crops in, on 

 account of excessive rain. Some of my best corn is growing where 

 clover was turned down one day and com planted next day. I had to 

 plant the very day after the clover was turned 'in to get the corn in in 

 time. The time to plow the clover under depends largely upon local 

 conditions. 



Now, remember that when we put in any of these crops for soil 

 improvement we do not put them in to grow hay. If we put in small 

 grain for soil improvement, do not think that we must wait until it 

 goes to seed to get a crop. The crop is to go into the soil in time to 

 get ready for the next crop. Don't injure the following crop by wait- 

 ing too long. Turn under the crop just as soon as it is time to get 

 ready for the next crop. I use a ISTo. 40 Oliver plow and plan to get 

 the land plowed 10 inches deep, or 12 if I can. Get you? soil gradu- 

 ally deeper. There is one thing which the growing of these crops brings 

 about. It means that we have to plow deeper to get them into the soil. 



I don't let my land lie bare through the winter. I put in crimson 

 clover or rye or something like that. Keep the soil full of living roots 

 to take up the plant food left by previous crop. If it is a legume, we 

 get more nitrogen out of the air. 



