he pasture. But with legumes no such relations exist, because legumes
are not dependent on the soil for their nitrogen supply.
While we have no satisfactory perennial pasture legume, we have one
summer annual, lespedeza, that helps to some extent in North Florida.
There are also two winter annuals that reproduce themselves in which I
have considerable confidence, namely, burr clover and narrow-leaf vetch.
I believe that on many of the better pasture soils, especially in North
Florida, that these legumes can be established and that they will
re-seed themselves year after year. Of course due care must be taken to
secure inoculation, preferably by the soil method.
The Outlook for New Forages.
What the future may hold in store for us in the way of new forages does
not assist at the present time, but it is worth considering. It is well
to bear in mind that the agriculture of the North, with the single
important exception of corn, is mainly a direct inheritance from
European agriculture. Substitute root crops for corn and you have in
essence the European practice. Southern agriculture, on the contrary, is
almost purely an American development--cotton, corn, tobacco, sweet
potatoes, from the American Indian; cow peas, Rhodes grass, Natal grass
and sorghum from South Africa; soy beans, lespedeza, Japanese cane from
Japan; carpet grass and Para grass from the West Indies; Bermuda from
India; velvet beans from Southern Asia.
Northern forage plants have been pretty thoroughly studied both in
Europe and America, because European conditions are fairly like those of
our Northern States. But there yet remains hosts of grasses and legumes
adapted to sub-tropical climates concerning which we know practically
nothing.
Out of very numerous grasses and legumes at present under test are
several that possess promise, and these I shall discuss briefly.
Kudzu.
Kudzu is not particularly new, but it seems to me destined to a much
greater importance than at present. It is the only perennial forage
legume that has in any sense made good in Florida. It is much better
adapted to clayey soils than to sandy soils, but it also succeeds
remarkably well on the limestone soils about Miami. On the better sandy
soils it would also seem to be valuable, but on the poorer sandy soils
and poorly drained lands it is doubtful if it has a place. On clay soils
at Arlington Farm, Va., we have consistently gotten two cuttings,
totaling five tons of
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