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Partridge Pea in a Stubble‐Mulch System
Author(s) -
Goodding T. H.,
Duley F. L.,
Russel J. C.
Publication year - 1949
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1949.036159950013000c0102x
Subject(s) - mulch , soil conservation , agriculture , citation , tillage , agroforestry , agronomy , agricultural science , mathematics , library science , forestry , geography , environmental science , computer science , biology , archaeology
IN THE Great Plains area there is a distinct need for an annual legume that can be grown with other crops and that does not make extravagant demands on the soil moisture supply at a time when it is needed by those crops. It should furnish cover, add fertility, and produce a good yield of seed that will mature before frost. The seed should have the ability to germinate and come as a volunteer crop the next year. Several legume crops have been grown in the stubble-mulch system. When soil is non-inverted, as in subsurface tillage, the seed is not buried so deeply as when the land is plowed. Hence, these legumes may not need to be reseeded, but possibly can be 'depended on to volunteer regularly. It is the purpose of this paper to give a progress report on the performance of partridge pea, Chamaecrista fasciculata (Michx.), when employed in a stubble-mulch system as a regularly occurring legume. oats, it does not emerge until the grain crop is 4 to 6 inches high. Under adverse conditions plants may continue to come until 'midsummer. There is no germination whatsoever in the fall. It withstands the competition of growing wheat or oats to an unusual degree. That is, it may stay alive, although it may not grow. Under favorable moisture conditions it grows erectly at an even height and spreads its leaves horizontally. Thus it may form a dense ground canopy beneath overtopping grain. Grain can be harvested with a binder without cutting into this canopy, but at the time of combine harvesting there may be some slight clipping. After grain is harvested, if moisture conditions are favorable, the plants make a vigorous growth. As a rule at Lincoln, they will be in full bloom by the middle of August and seed will be ready to harvest about the third week in September.