68 The Bulletin. 



to increase the yield of our cultivated acres. (Two hundred and fifteen pounds 

 of lint cotton per acre, fifteen bushels of corn, six bushels of wheat, and other 

 crops in proportion is the average for our State.) 



To produce larger crops we must increase the fertility of our soils. We 

 cannot depend upon commercial fertilizers. How can we do this in an 

 economical way— one in reach of all classes of our farmers? The answer to 

 this question I will try to give. 



In the first place, diversity of crops is an absolute necessity. The growing 

 of any one crop continuously upon the same land tends only to poverty of said 

 lands, and for convenience and best results a proper rotation of crops suitable 

 to each farm should be established and religiously adhered to. For the ma- 

 jority of the farms of our State a three-year rotation is the most practical 

 and gives the best results. One year in small grain, one in cotton, one in 

 corn. Having established our rotation, the next thing that claims our at- 

 tention is the working out of the details on each section. 



Take section one, that is for grain. Prepare the land well by plowing and 

 harrowing, sowing such grains as can be grown to the best advantage; follow 

 grain with cowpeas or a mixture of cowpeas and soy beans. Fertilize each 

 crop. For peas I prefer ash element; use 400 pounds per acre. Phosphate 

 and potash make a good fertilizer for peas. When the first pods of peas 

 begin to ripen is the proper time to cut peas. 



After the peas are taken from the land begin plowing as soon as possible. 

 Now we come to one of the most important steps in soil improvement. No 

 man can improve his soil by plowing three or four inches deep; he must 

 go deeper or failure will be the result. 



This is the proper time for deep plowing ; the subsoil is now dry and every- 

 thing is favorable. Use such plows as will do the best work. I prefer the 

 Reversible Disc to any plow I ever used. After using them for five years the 

 good results become more and more perceptible. They pulverize the land 

 better, mix the subsoil with the soil and mix the vegetable matter all through 

 the land in a way that no other plow will do. Plow the land at this time 

 at least two inches deeper than it was plowed before. This section will go 

 in cotton next year, so the plowing should be well done. After the land 

 is plowed sow one bushel of rye per acre and put in with harrow. The 

 rye growing during winter will prevent leaching of soluble plant food from 

 the land, besides furnishing a good quantity of vegetable matter that will 

 help the cotton crop next summer. Next fall, daring the month of Septem- 

 ber, sow among the cotton crimson clover, hairy vetch, or a mixture of the 

 two. This can be done behind the cotton pickers by using a small cultivator 

 or harrow without any injury to the cotton. 



The clover and vetch are winter crops and make the best fertilizer for 

 corn that we know of. In our rotation corn will follow the cotton. During 

 last plowing of corn sow peas. This takes us three years, and during this 

 time there has been grown, in addition to the general crops, one crop of rye. 

 two crops of peas and one of clover and vetch — three crops of legumes and 

 one winter cover crop. The reason for using rye is that the deep plowing 

 is finished so late in fall or early winter that clover and vetch cannot be 



used. 



With a rotation like this, cotton is on the land only one year in three: 

 same with corn and grain. These plants feed differently, their root systems 

 are unlike; therefore, giving the best results in crops grown, and also using 

 the land to the best advantage. 



With cowpeas and soy beans for summer, crimson clover and the vetches 

 for winter, there is no longer any excuse for cultivating an impoverished soil. 

 Under existing conditions lands that will not produce three-fourths to one 

 bale of cotton and twenty-five to fifty bushels of corn per acre are not 

 profitable, and should be put in those crops that build them up. 



The legumes require a special bacteria for each variety, to make them 

 grow and enable them to take from the air nitrogen and store on their roots 

 in the form of nodules. These plants will place in the soil about $10 worth 

 of nitrogen per acre, on an average. On lands that have never grown clover 



