Vol. LXII. No. 2802. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 10, 1908. 
$1 PER YEAR. 
CRIMSON CLOVER, COW PEAS, ALFALFA. 
SHOWING AT THE NEW JERSEl' EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Valuable Work for Farmers. 
On September 18 I visited the New Jersey Experi¬ 
ment Station at New Brunswick chiefly to look at the 
test of 13 varieties of cow peas. A few days before 
the wind had done great damage, thrashing down the 
corn and whipping the cow pea vines flat. Just after 
looking at the crops on the station farm the follow¬ 
ing was received from a correspondent in Pennsyl¬ 
vania: 
On page C64 of The R. N.-Y. you state that Crimson 
clover, sown in corn at the last working and tlien plowed 
down for corn again, makes the land richer and the 
clever and corn grows better each succeeding year. How 
would it do to keep the best field for corn and use the 
other three fields, one for wheat, two for grass, sowing 
wheat one year, in grass two years, then back to wheat 
again? One might use a 
part of the old grass field 
in hood crops, such as pota¬ 
toes, tobacco, etc. J. B. h. 
Kinzers, Pa. 
This question is pretty 
well answered on the Sta¬ 
tion farm. The fifth crop 
of corn is now growing in 
one field with Crimson clo¬ 
ver growing among it. 
Only once in five years has 
manure been applied, and 
then only a light dressing. 
The corn is planted at the 
usual time, generally the 
latter part of May. At the 
last cultivation in August, 
Crimson clover seed at the 
rate of about 12 pounds 
per acre is scattered 
through the corn and cov¬ 
ered with the cultivator. 
This clover grows throu.gh 
the Fall and in the follow¬ 
ing Spring. At the Sta¬ 
tion this clover has been 
cut and used to feed the 
cows. Thus only the roots 
and the stubble have been 
plowed under. 
Has any fertilizer been 
used on this field? 
Yes, each year the corn 
receives 150 pounds per 
acre of a mixture of 1,000 
pounds acid phosphate, 
500 pounds ground bone 
and 500 pounds muriate of 
potash. Under this treat¬ 
ment the corn yields 7 to 
12 tons of silage per acre; this year it will give 12 
tons. You w'ill notice that the (dover is cut and car¬ 
ried away from the soil to feed cows, yet the stubble 
and roots, with this small amount of fertilizer, keep 
up the fertility of the soil and maintain the crop. 
How long could this be kept up? 
For years, so far as the feeding of the crop goes. 
After seeing this field it would be folly to say that 
Crimson clover and chemicals will not provide all 
that the corn needs as food. Yet after some years 
the corn crop might fail even when well supplied 
with food. The insects which work upon corn might 
increase, and it is true that all crops are benefited 
i^y a rotation or change of soil. It might not there¬ 
fore be wise to use one field for corn permanently, 
hut so far as providing plant food is concerned it has 
been demonstrated that Crimson clover is able to 
earn enough nitrogen tp support itself and the corn 
crop too. If this clover had all been plowed under 
Instead of cutting it for green fodder or hay the effect 
on the corn would have been greater still, and the 
fertilizer would not have been needed. 
STEALING NITROGEN.—Prof. Voorhees has made 
this very clear in some experiments with cow peas. 
He grew plants in large pots, so that he could tell 
exactly what happened to the soil. Before the cow 
peas were planted the soil was analyzed so that the 
exact amount of nitrogen which it contained was 
known. The cow peas were grown without any fer¬ 
tilizer, and the tops were cut off close to the soil 
about as one would in making hay. After this crop 
was taken off the soil was analyzed again and it con¬ 
tained more nitrouen than it did before the erot> ira.s 
planted. Let us think what that means. Here was 
average soil which produced a fair crop of cow peas, 
and still had more nitrogen left than before! No one 
will believe that the nitrogen climbed into that soil 
and lay down, a willing captive! Nitrogen isn’t built 
that way—it is constantly trying to escape, and such 
experiments prove that the cow pea is one of Nature’s 
policemen and that he knows how to arrest the run¬ 
away. We understand from this what it means to a 
field or farm to have a crop of cow peas growing every 
few years in the poorer soil. Another thing which 
Prof. Voorhees has shown is the fact that the gain of 
nitrogen to the soil is greater when no nitrogen is 
used as manure. It seems to be settled that the cow 
pea is like a majority of humans. It will not hustle 
for its nitrogen unless it has to do so. On a poor 
soil, and well supplied with potash and phosphoric 
acid the cow peas will secure nitrogen from the air. 
In rich soil or where nitrogen is added as fertilizer 
the plant will take that first of all. Therefore the 
way to use cow peas is to plant them on the poorest 
soil and use a fair dressing of potash and acid phos¬ 
phate with them. Of course it must be understood 
that Crimson clover and cow peas h.'ve very different 
habits of growth. The clover grows in cool weather 
and will come in between corn and some Spring crop. 
The cow peas grow best in hot weather, and require 
the whole land for their growth, except when grown 
in drills between rows of fruit. 
COW PEA VARIETIES.—The Experiment Station 
has a fine display of different varieties growing side 
by side. A variety called Gallivant has made a good 
s'howing, and so have Whippoorwill, Wonderful and 
New Era. The latter is considered very valuable at 
the South as a rapid grower. As far north as Dela¬ 
ware the New Era or Mount Olive cow pea can be 
used between two crops of wheat. As soon after har¬ 
vest as possible the soil is disked and the cow jieas 
drilled or broadcast as desired. It is thought best 
to use potash and acid 
phosphate with the peas. 
They make a rapid 
growth, and just before 
wheat seeding are plowed 
or cut under. Then wheat 
is seeded again, and this 
may be done year after 
year without the use of 
manure or of nitrogen in 
the fertilizer. I used to 
suggest Early Black for 
northern planting, as it 
usually makes seed with 
us, but I now think one 
of the larger varieties, like 
Wonderful, Clay or Whip¬ 
poorwill better suited, be¬ 
cause we want vine rather 
than seed. It will not be 
possible to say which of 
the 13 varieties under test 
is best until the yields are 
estimated. Enough has 
been done to show the 
great value of the cow pea 
plant, both for forage and 
for manuring. 
ALFALFA.—Prof. Voor¬ 
hees has done great things 
with Alfalfa, and his ex¬ 
periments with this plant 
alone are worth mere to 
the farmers of New Jersey 
than the entire cost of the 
Experiment Station. There 
are different fields in 
which may be studied dif¬ 
ferent methods of hand¬ 
ling the crop. One field, 
for example, shows the effect of disking the Alfalfa 
after cutting. Another shows how after one crop 
began to run out, the field was plowed and seeded 
to millet, after which Alfalfa was seeded agaiix—now 
giving a fine yield. Having fully shown the value if 
Alfalfa as a foliage crop. Prof. Voorhees is now study¬ 
ing the best methods for starting it in new locations. 
It seems that the greatest cause for failure is sowing 
in ground which does not contain the bacteria which 
are peculiar to it. Unless these tiny forms of life 
are present, failure is sure. Experiments are now 
being made with inoculation—that is. adding these 
bacteria to the field either in soil from another field, 
in chaff from Alfalfa or in the maniu’e from cows 
fed or Alfalfa. These bacteria are found in the man¬ 
ure—in fact it seems to be settled that if W(' put. 
manure from animals fed on clover hay on a field 
intended for clover seeding, we will have a better 
PRIZETAKER ONIONS. GROWN AT HOPE FARM. Fig. 264. 
