114 COTTON 



improvement of the soil and to kill weeds; two 

 grain and fiber crops (oats or wheat and cotton) for 

 money crops; and two stock feeding crops (corn 

 and clover or rye) for pasture, ensilage or stover. 



USE LEGUMES AND COVER CROPS 



Good soil management calls for some legumes 

 to assist in keeping the land fertile and full of 

 humus. The cowpea accomplishes this purpose 

 best of all our legumes in the Cotton Belt, because 

 it grows on every kind of soil, in wet or dry seasons, 

 and in hot or warm temperatures. Rather than 

 allow any land to lie idle as a " rest" year, sow it to 

 cowpeas so as to furnish both hay for the work 

 stock and humus and nitrogen for the soil. 



A cover crop like clover, oats, or wheat is also a 

 great help, since it prevents washing of land during 

 the winter months. We are confident that more 

 soil fertility is lost by the washing and leaching of 

 exposed soils during the winter season than the 

 cotton crop removes from the land during the 

 whole six months of its growth. 



The cotton farmer should include, therefore, 

 cover crops and legumes in his system of crop 

 rotation, that these important agents in soil im- 

 provement, may do the great work they always 

 stand ready to do for him. 



