FOR BETTER CROPS IN THE SOUTH 15 



(6) plant food. Some negative factors are injury from insects 

 and plant diseases. 



Good seed is exceedingly important, and the quality of the 

 seed selected and planted is largely under the control of the 

 farmer. 



By proper drainage, by the use of organic matter, and by 

 proper tillage, thus maintaining good physical conditions, the 

 farmer may provide a suitable home for the plant, remove sur- 

 plus water, render the soil more capable of absorbing and retain- 

 ing necessary moisture, and control the temperature to some 

 extent by lessening evaporation and by changing the color of 

 the soil, as by the addition of organic matter. 



More than five times as much heat is required to evaporate 

 water from the surface of the soil as would be needed to raise 

 the temperature of the same amount of water from the freezing 

 to the boiling point. It is because of this that wet, poorly 

 drained soils are cold. Dark soils absorb more heat and conse- 

 quently are warmer than light colored soils. 



Light is a factor over which man has no direct or positive 

 control, but he has full control over some negative factors, 

 such as weeds, which if allowed to grow might largely prevent 

 the light from reaching the young plants. Indeed, the first and 

 greatest damage caused by weeds is due to the fact that they 

 shut off the light from the growing plants. If the supply of 

 moisture or of plant food is insufficient for both the crop and 

 the weeds, then the weeds may rob the growing crop of these 

 essentials to some extent. 



So-called nurse crops, such as oats or wheat when growing 

 with clover, may grow so thick and rank as to injure to a marked 

 extent the clover, by shutting out the light, also by robbing the 

 clover plants of moisture and plant food. To avoid these injuries 

 or difficulties, the clover should be started with a light seeding 

 of wheat or oats (about one bushel to the acre) preferably planted 

 in drills running north and south, which will permit the strong 

 midday light to reach the clover plants. 



If oats are seeded as the nurse crop, they should be an early 

 maturing variety, or, they may be pastured off or cut early for 

 oat hay. The surest method of obtaining a good setting of clover 

 is to sow it without a nurse crop and pasture the field or clip 

 the weeds with a mower if necessary. 



The least understood and the most neglected essential factor 

 in crop production is plant food. Food of required kinds and in 

 sufficient quantity is as necessary for plants as for animals; and 

 it is even more important to provide an ample and balanced 

 ration for corn than for cattle, because cattle are usually able to 

 move about and find some food for themselves, while the corn 

 plants are stationary and limited to the food within reach of 

 their roots. 



