2O Soiling. 



produce twelve tons of green millet, containing near- 

 ly $60 worth of manure, and that is not at com- 

 mercial fertilizer prices either. 



Cow peas are largely grown in the Southern States 

 to reclaim the worn-out tobacco and cotton soils, and 

 its value for this purpose is incalculable. My per- 

 sonal experience with it has been limited to two or 

 three trials. The following interesting information 

 taken from the United States Bulletin, No. 16, shows 

 us why the cow pea and other leguminous plants like 

 clover, etc., are particularly adapted to plowing un- 

 der for green manure (by E. W. Allen) : 



" Green manuring, or plowing under green crops 

 raised for the purpose, is one of the oldest means for 

 improving the fertility of the soil. It was advo- 

 cated by Roman writers more than two thousand 

 years ago. Its advantages are many. It furnishes 

 the surface soil with -a supply of fertilizing materials, 

 increases the humus and improves the physical quali- 

 ties and tilth of the soil. As a humus former, green 

 manure stands next to barnyard manure. Green 

 manuring may be used to take the place of more ex- 

 pensive fertilizers. It is in this latter use that it 

 finds its widest application." In attempting to ex- 

 plain how the fertility of the soil is maintained by 

 green manuring, when the crops plowed under re- 

 turn to the soil only what they exhausted from the 

 soil to produce their growth, the author of the bul- 

 letin, Mr. E. W. Allen, says: " The question has been 

 solved by one of the most important discoveries yet 

 made in agricultural science. It has been found 



