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. 
