Scientific Agriculture. 



64 



[[January, 1909. 



Milk Dish, Half 

 Round Holes 

 Punched j" 

 Apart 1" From 

 Outer Edge. 



outer edge before the wheel is screwed 

 on, leaving a lip to open and close to 

 regulate the quantity of seed to be sown. 

 A round hole large enough take a 7 lb. 

 treacle tin should be cut about H inches 

 from the top and tacked in the hole for 

 filling the sower. Two battens abont 5 

 feet long with two cross pieces may be 

 used for handles. The machine is 

 wheeled along the furrow and sows very 

 regularly.— Journal of the Department 

 of Agriculture of Victoria, Vol. VI., Part 

 10, 10th Ocober, 1908. 



W. H. D. 



TremleTin Cut Down 



LEGUMINOUS CROPS FOR 

 COTTON LAND. 



In the West Indies Sea Island cotton 

 is chiefly grown as a subsidiary crop 

 to sugar-cane and not as a main crop. 



In the Sea Islands, however, and in 

 Carolina and Georgia, where Sea Island 

 cotton is grown at all, it usually forms 

 the most important and profitable crop 

 in the rotation. Under these conditions, 

 one of the chief points needing atten- 

 tion by the cotton farmer is the best 

 means of maintaining the fertdity of 

 the land for cotton cultivation. 



Artificial manures are frequently 

 applied, but in Farmers' Bulletin 302 

 of the United States Department of 

 Agriculture— 'Sea Island cotton,' it is 

 stated that one of the chief factors fur 

 keeping the land in good condition is 

 the adoption of a rotation in which 

 leguminous crops are prominent. Cow- 



peas, velvet beans, and peanuts, all of 

 which have been recommended for 

 cultivation in the West Indies, are the 

 chief crops of this kind grown, being 

 found to give excellent results on the 

 light soils most suitable for Sea Island 

 cotton, and the rotation frequently 

 extends over no more than two years, 

 cotton being planted in one season, and 

 a mixture of corn and cowpeas the 

 second year. 



On the whole, it is stated, the cowpea 

 {Vigna catjang) is the most popular 

 and widely-grown leguminous crop for 

 growth on Sea Island cotton land. The 

 peculiar advantages of this crop are 

 that the plant is well adapted to poor 

 land, it is easy to cultivate, and the 

 produce is valuable as food for man 

 and stock. The Iron cowpea is specially 

 recommended for growth in connexion 

 with cotton. 



The velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens, 

 var, utilis) is another crop which con- 

 stitutes a valuable source of humus, and 

 adds a large amount of nitrogen to 

 the soil on which it is grown. This 

 plant grows very vigorously, and its 

 vines afford excellent fodder for stock. 

 The plant, too, is immune to most 

 diseases.— The Agricultural News, Vol 

 VII., No. 165. August, 1908. 



PLANT PHYSIOLOGY. 



What we do not know about plant 

 physiology will require the writing of 

 many books and the realization of 

 much experience before the agricultural 



