SERICEA AND OTHER PERENNIAL LESPEDEZAS 



37 



Table 8. — Average yields of corn following sericea at the West 

 Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station, 1933-1+3 



Year after 



Years in 



Yield per 



Year after 



Years in 



Yield per 



sericea 



average 



acre 



sericea 



average 



acre 







Bushels 







Bushels 



1st 



11 



70.3 



7th 



5 



36.1 



2nd 



10 



65.6 



8th 



4 



34.7 



3rd 



9 



59.1 



9th ■_ 



3 



28.5 



4th 



8 



52.8 



10th 



2 



28.8 



5th 



7 



46.7 



11th 



1 



21.4 



6th ^ 



6 



41.2 









Yields decline each year of continuous corn. However, there is 

 an evident response from sericea 8 years after the sericea is 

 turned under. Chemical analyses of the mulch material of the 

 15-year old sericea plots and of 1-inch layers of soil under the 

 mulch indicated an increase of 750 pounds of nitrogen per acre 

 attributable to sericea. 



Yields of cotton following sericea, as compared to cotton yields 

 obtained in a 3-year rotation of corn, wheat, cowpeas, and cotton, 

 are reported from the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Station, 

 at Experiment, Ga. (7). Higher seed cotton yields were secured 

 from plots following sericea throughout the 5-year period, 1939- 

 43. In 1943, 5 years after the sericea was turned under, 121 

 pounds, or 23 percent, more seed cotton was produced on the 

 plots following sericea than from those in the general crop 

 rotation. These results are in marked contrast with those 

 secured from annual legumes where little or no response can be 

 detected after the first or second year. A need for phosphate and 

 potash on crops following sericea, particularly when sericea hay 

 crops had been removed, was noted in these investigations. 



Comparative corn yields were secured from 2- and 4-year rota- 

 tions at the Southern Piedmont Conservation Station at Watkins- 

 ville, Ga. The 2-year rotation consisted of cotton, vetch for green 

 manure, and corn. The 4-year rotation consisted of oats for hay- 

 sericea, sericea for hay, sericea for hay and seed, and corn. The 

 average yields of corn from the 2- and 4-year rotations in 1949 

 were 16.2 and 38.2 bushels of corn per acre, respectively. 



It would not be feasible to quote all experimental results con- 

 cerning the soil improving qualities of sericea. It may be stated 

 with confidence that eroded soils will be materially improved in 

 productivity after having been in sericea for a term of years. 



SERICEA FOR EROSION CONTROL 



The vigorous growth and extensive root system of sericea even 

 on eroded and worn land lead to the conclusion that it should be 

 an excellent crop to aid in the control of erosion. This conclusion 

 has been confirmed by experience. In the soil conservation cam- 

 paign no other perennial legume has been found so widely useful 

 for the region to which it is adapted. 



