Newspapers / The Carolina Union Farmer … / Aug. 31, 1911, edition 1 / Page 5
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i I > .1 Thursday, August 31st, 1911. THE CAROLINA UNION FARMER I I this tobacco. It’s a noble fight that these till ers of the soil are making—it’s a fight for the preservation of their homes and for the edu cation of their children, and they are going to win. It will ^be a long, hard fight, with occa sional reverses, such as always come to a worthy cause, but these men are not going to be permanently defeated. ❖ ❖ ❖ PRICE of crimson clover seed is lower thi?* week than last week. You can get them delivered for less than six dollars a bushel. After-you pull the fodder why not put down fifteen pounds of crimson clover seed per acre and plow in with cultivator, or in your cotton fields, behind the cotton pickers? The seed will cost only $1.50 per acre and if you get a good crop to turn under in the spring, it will be worth more to your land and to your next crop than a ton of commercial guano. There is no chance to lose much, even if you fail to get a stand of clover. But there is not much danger of losing the seed if you’ll cultivate in deep cnougn. Eo soil in North Carolina has ever been improved as quickly as cheaply as that which has beei. obtained by sowing the clovers as soil improving crops. The Winter Cover Crop. The value and importance of a winter cover crop is n'o longer questioned among good farmers. It is now looked on as a part of the system of up-to-date farming. The time for making preparation and plant ing these crops is again rapidly approaching. The questions of how and when to best do Elis is one that should concern every man try ing to get the most from his soil. A few of the most salient points as to why a cover crop should be planted are as follows: (1) A winter cover crop will prevent great loss of .soil fertility by washing, and will also prevent loss by evaporation which is consider- j able where lands are left bare during fall and V winter, in the Southern latitudes especially. (2) It gives valuable grazing to stock at a time when most needed. The food value alone IS not its chief claim, but the health and vigor of the stock is maintained by it at ! a lime when other green food tannbt 'be found. , humus, the great essential, to le life of any soil, improves the mechanical f condition of the soil, by filling it full of vege- able matter which helps to hold moisture in ftime of drouth, and prevents packing in time ot excessive rains. (4) Such crops are a net gain as they feed upon the elements that are available and would be carried from the fields by the heavy washing rams. They frequently prevent the -lands growing up in harmful weeds and grasses. The most suitable crops to plant are rye oats, barley, vetch, crimson and bur clover’ dhe latitude and other local conditions must determine which is best in particular cases. ' Rye has long been used as a winter cover crop. It will grow in almost any climate or -soil. It does not winter kill as oats and barley o en o- It is cheap, easy to germinate and . will stand tramping and grazing well. On j soils adapted to hairy vetch to three-quarters \ of a bushel of rye per acre gives better results. * in non-weevil sections the rye or rye and iT ^ planted in the cotton middles han 1 sown by and and cover with cultivator. In weevil territory the cotton stalks must be destroyed and plowing done before sowing rye. One bushel seed per acre planted alone is sufficient. Oats are frequently preferable to rye for a cover crop, especially in the Gulf States, or sections where there is little danger of winter killing. They make as good growth and are preferred by stock for grazing. The soil needs to be more fertile for oats. Unless it is natur ally good 300 pounds of fertilizer may be used per acre at planting time, or if it can be se cured, stable manure is preferred. Same pre paration and planting date as for rye. One and one-half bushels of seed per acre alone or one bu.shel oats and one-quarter bushel of vetch when mixed- Nothing but red rust proof oat seed should be used in the South ern States. Barley may be used very much in same manner as recommended for oats. Except in the South Atlantic States and isolated sections of the other Southern States the clovers and vetches should be plant ed with caution. Unless the farmer knows they will succeed, it is urged that he try only a few acres at first. If they succeed, increase the acreage. It will not be a safe proposition to plant any of these winter legumes without good preparation on good soils, and in most cases the application of fertilizer will be found necessary. Stable manure applied liberally is the best. A mixture of 300 pounds acid phos phate, 75 pounds of cotton seed meal or dried blood, and 25 or 30 pounds of muriate potash per acre is good in absence of manure. 1000 pounds of air-slaked lime per acre is very beneficial and absolutely necessary if the soil is acid from any cause. The clovers or vetches should be planted just as soon as danger of summer killing is past. Not later than September ist in the Northern tier of Southern States nor later than October ist in the Gulf States. 20 pounds of crimson clover, 30 pounds of bur clover in bur, or 15 pounds clean seed. 30 pounds of vetch seed alone, or 15 pounds with oats or_ rye. Bur clover will grow best from seed unhulled as they seem to be self-inoculat ing- All clover seed should be covered lightly, use roller if soil is dry at planting time. All legumes need inoculation to insure a suc cessful crop the first year on soils where they have never been grown before. The best method for doing this is to spread several bushels per acre of soil from a well inoculated field and harrow it in with seed. The^tlnited States Department of Agriculture will furnish material, with full instructions as to use, for any of the leguminous' crops, free upon ap plication. If this material is to be used, it is recommended that parties send to the De partment for it, rather than pay fancy prices for ^something perhaps not as gpod. Appli cations must be made on regular forms which will be furnished upon request. W. B. MERCIER, Approved ;— Asst, and Agidculturist. BRADFORD KNAPP, Special Agent in Charge. the funeral sei^vices, but we are going to hold our Union burial service later. I think all our locals ought to bury their dead with their fra ternal service as it shows to the world that we have not only an organization to promote farming conditions but for the advancing" of God s Kingdom as well. The chief comer- stone of our order is the Golden Rule and equal justice to all. Our local is in favor of the Farm-Life School in every county in the State and we ought to have these schools to teach our boys and girls to compete with this progressing world-' Our local is working to gether in a co-operative way both as to buying and selling and we are now agitating a picnic to be held soon. WT are gong forward like men and we must stand together to accomplish results. Yours fraternally, JAS. M. PERRY. Perry Local, Bertie County. Dear Editor:—If you will allow me space, I will tell you something of our local. We' started with 7 members in February, we now have 60 on roll, and have lost two by demit and one by death. Death recently robbed us of our beloved secretary-treasurer. He be longed to the I. O. O. F. and they conducted The Price of Cotton. 7o Hon. Charles S. Barrett, President A'a- tional Farmers’ Union, and the State Presi dents of the Farmers’ Union and the Com missioners of Agriculture in iihe Cotton Belt:— ' The Sumter County Union directed us to have a conference with the Sumter Chamber of Commerce on the best~way to secure con cert of action between the farmers and the allied business interests to maintain a fair price for cotton. From information laid before our recent conference by members of the Chamber of Commerce and by members of the Farmers’ Union, covering a wide area in this section, we think that the prospects have been greatly exaggerated, and we sent a joint telegram to Senator E. D. Smith to call on Secretary Wilson for. immediate investigation; and wc are sending similar requests to all the Cham bers of Commerce, Commissioners of Agri culture, and State Presidents of the Farmers’ Union in the cotton belt for thorough investi gation through our own agencies of the con dition of the cotton crop, to be reported to our National President and back to us, that we may have the true condition upon which to base our idea of a fair price. We do not be lieve that there are any good reasons ' for lower prices than the average for the past sea son, if our farmers and business men will market the crop in a conservative way. But if our people become stampeded, a panic will result and there is no telling where the price will go before we can recover from the shock. We have taken this action jointly because we believe the legitimate business interests of the South should be indissolubly allied in main taining a fair and just price for cotton; and we take pleasure in commending to the Cham bers of Commerce and the Farmers’ Unions' throughout the cotton belt the hearty accord that exists between our farmers and bankers and commercial interests generally in Sumter county. Over wide areas in this State the drought IS not yet broken and the cotton is literally burning up. The few farmers that are blessed with good crops are as about one to one hun- dred that are below the average. Asking your immediate and hearty co-' operation, we remain, yours respectfully, p , E. W- DABBS, resi ent Sumter County Union and Presi dent S. C. State Union. J. M. BROGDON, County and State Business Agent. Sunter, S. C.
The Carolina Union Farmer (Charlotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 31, 1911, edition 1
5
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