Caption title.Digitized 2006 AES MoU."December, 1940.""Korean lespedeza gives best results where left on the land year after year. This is true under all soil conditions, and it is especially important on the less productive land. Lower- production costs are reached by taking advantage of the ability of lespedeza to reseed itself heavily under almost any use of the crop. By this annual reseeding habit a renewed stand every spring is practically assured."--Page 1

Helm, C. A. (Charles Alton), 1889-1955

University of Missouri: MOspace

UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION M. F. MILLER, Director CIRCULAR 210 Columbia, Missouri DECEMBER, 1940 Management of Korean Lespedeza C. A. HELM Korean lespedeza gives best results where left on the land yeal after year. This is true under all soil conditions, and it is especially important on the less productive land. Lower production costs are reached by taking advantage of the ability of lespedeza to reseed itself heavily under almost any use of the crop. By this annual reseeding habit a renewed stand every spring is practically assured. Korean lespedeza where grown alone continuously over many years is often reduced in value because it is unable to compete with the increased growth of weeds. On fertile soils rank growing annual weeds develop rapidly in early spring and early summer, before les-pedeza has made enough growth to offer much competition. On less fertile soils, especially if they are flat and poorly drained, lespedeza does not grow well among summer weeds like foxtail, panic grass, Aristida, crabgrass and ragweed. On productive soils bluegrass, red-top and occasionally timothy will develop rapidly among lespedeza, and under some conditions this is desirable. Lespedeza Occupies the Land for a Short Season Lespedeza alone does not make full season use of the land. It does not begin growth until late spring. It grows slowly in the spring and normally does not develop for grazing until the middle of June or near the first of July. Lespedeza develops full growth by late August to early September, remains nearly stationary in size until the first light frost in October, and then grows no more. The crop is thus used for pasture, hay, or seed, or combinations of these during the normal growing season from late spring to early fall. " 2 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION During the remainder of the fall, winter and spring, land producing only lespedeza is idle. In the spring the most inefficient use of such land occurs. From March to June the land is not producing. It is also during this period that weeds establish themselves, to reduce materially the growth and value of lespedeza during the summer months. Grow Small Grains with Continuous Lespedeza Winter wheat or winter rye may be sown in the fall after lespedeza has matured seed. In South Missouri, winter barley may be sown instead of either wheat or rye. In North Missouri winter rye or wheat is considered more practical than barley, since they are more winter hardy and their fall seeding usually comes later than normal seeding of barley. Oats may be used in place of fall grain by preparing the ground and seeding on the lespedeza ground in early spring before the lespedeza has germinated a stand from seed shattered on the land by last year's growth. By combining a small grain crop with continuous lespedeza, full seasonal use of the land is gained. Usually there is but little fall and winter growth from grain fall sown after lespedeza. But in the following spring the fall sown grain or the spring sown grain develops rapidly to control the spring weed growth. The grain crop may be pastured off or be cut for silage or be left to ripen. If it is an o&,ts crop it may, as another alternative, be cut for hay. Where the grain crop containing volunteer lespedeza is pastured off, the lespedeza usually will carry the livestock by the time the small grain pasture has been fully consumed. Regardless of the method of using the small grain crop, its presence in spring and early summer checks excessive weed growth and allows the lespedeza to use the land during the later part of the growing season. The seeding of small grain also makes practical the yearly applications of fertilizer on a relatively cheap and profitable basis. Seedbed Preparation In preparing the seedbed for small grain grown with continuous lespedeza, it is important to so handle the land that the lespedeza can renew its growth and that the best results from the small grain be obtained. Plowing is impractical and costly. It tends to cover the lespedeza seed too deep to insure dense stands the next season. In the fall the plowing would come too late for fall seeding of small grain. Where fall grain follows lespedeza it is necessary to prepare quickly and easily a satisfactory seedbed without plowing. Under the most favorable fall conditions, where the lespedeza has been grazed close, CIRCULAR 210-MANAGElI1ENT OF KOREAN LESPEDEZA 3 and when t he soil is well supplied with surface moisture, there is no difiieulty in doing this with an ordinary disk harrow. In many s('a-sons, however, th e grolllld is so liard. and dry that the use of a disk harrow is difficult and. expensive. In some seasons thc Eeedbed would be so poorly prepared by the disk as to cause pOOl' growth an I yield of the small grain. Fi g. 1.-Field cul ti vators are so ol1strll ctrcl that shovels (left) are interchange:1blc with sweeps (right). Additiona l power is required when Ihe s weeps are used. Wherc lespedeza has not been well grazed or when the season is late and moist, there may be a considerable growth of lespedeza or of lespedeza and weeds by the time the land is to be prepared for seeding fall grain. rroo much growth seriously interferes with the pulverizing and levelin g of the land for seed in g. In some instances this growth is left on the land over the winter until oats are to be sown the following spring. While this assists in controlling erosion, it may interfere with sprin g disking-. Frequently it forms a "carpet" over the surface holding the moisture and delaying the drying of the ground for seeding oats. The use of a field cultivator eliminates most of the difficulti es fre-quently met in using the ordinary disk harrow. On stony land this implement is superior under all conditi011S. Elsewherc it is at least equal to the disk harrow. It can work the ground as shallow or as deep as desired. Th e presence of considerable vegetative growth does not impair its use. 4 MISSOURI AGltTCULTURAL EXPERIMENT STA'l.'ION rig. 2.-The fi eld culti vator equi pped with small sweeps th oroughly breaks and loosens lcs pcdcza snd. At th e lop , sweeps we re used. Ifh e gro1lnd was pllh'c ri zed a nn li ght harrow-ing w ould !cnve it a fini shed seed bed. At th e bolto Tll , shov e ls in Sl f'ad of s w eeps w e re att ached. The g ro und was le ft in small h iJ. rd rid ges , s hown he re hy ptl shin g back th e loose so il. T o brea k and pul veri ze th ese rid ges wou ld req uire a c ross trip with th e fi e ld c ulti vato r o r th e di sk harrow. Under normal conditions of moisture or where the soil is only slight-ly dry, the sweeps on the fi cld cultivator will evenly pulverize the sur-face . Under such conditions the ground would need to be worked twi c if shovels are used. However, where there is a lot of old growth on tlle land, or where the land is stony, or where it is extremely hard and dry, the shovels instead of the sweeps are n ecessary. CIRCULAR 21 0 -MANAGEMENT OF KOREAN L ESPEDEZA 5 Fig. 3.- A rldd of It:sp<:dc7a, g'raZ('d SIHJrl thn1u gh l il t., S1l1l111l!.:r alld (,;l ri y f: t1I . is here hC'i ng pr('parcJ for th e scctiill j£ of fa ll g r;'l in. 1\ fLt.' 1" th e I l' ~ p cd ('za 811(\ is opened wit h t. he lidd cull i· vator, as s how n in the picture , it Ill:l Y be fin ished by di sking or by il;lrrow ing or by cross iJl g wit h the fi eld cultivator itself , dependin g 011 the cDIHJition of th e grouJ1d. T hese operations leave th e ]cs pcdeza seed n C:\ f the s urf:. cc fo r sp rin g ge rrnill ~ t i o ll . T his fi eld has 11 0 l heen ploweci in six ye;I1'8. I' lowing is not needed, since l ight er an d less costly operati oll s are just as effective. Fu rth ermore, p low ing w01ll d bury the 1cs peci ez a seed too deeply. Fig. 4.-The di sk plow is also an effecti ve mea ns of preparing Iespedeza sod for small grain. The ground may be worked shall ow or deep. T here are some objections to it : on loose soil the seed is turn ed under too deep; on ha rd. dry soil the surf ace is left ro ugh and cloddy. 6 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL EXPERrMENT STATION Fig. 5.- These pictures show the effici ency of the fi eld culti va tor in preparing very dry lespedeza sod for fa ll grain. The top field was worked once with sweeps ; the bottom field was worked nnd cross· worked with shovels . I;;it'her fi e ld may now be further worked with a disk or harrow. accord ing to the t ype and condition of th e soi l and th e slope of the ground. Both fie lds have been continuously in lespedeza for ten years and ne ith er fi eld bas been plowed in that time. By adjustment in degree and depth of working the land any desired amount of the lespedeza stubble may be covered or Jeft on the surface. This permits preparing the seedbed somewhat earlier than if the ground were disked. The immature lespedeza seed left on the plants above ground, will mature sufficiently to germinate the following season. CmCULAR 210-MANAOEMEN1' OF KOREAN LESPEDEZA 7 Fig. 6.-These pictures, taken in earl y Jul y, show how annual rotati on with a grain crop will affect th e growth of Iespedeza. In the field shown in the upper photograph. wheat has been 80wn on Iespedeza sad every fall. after Iespedeza bas matured seed. Spring growlh of lbe wheat has controlled weeds. so that lhe volunteer lespedeza s tand is clean. In the fie ld shown in the lower photograph, lespedeza every season has volunteered and grown alone ; consequentl y it has become inf ested with weed • • and fi nally it i . less productive and less usef ul. 8 MISSOURI .L\orn CUL'I'UltAI, EXPERIMEN T S'l'ATION Fig. 7.- After lespcJeza has matured seed in October the g- f o und ma y be wo rk ed with shovels on th e ft eld c ulti vator "!lei left in tbis roug h furrowed condit ion ove r the winter. This in sures ea rli er, easie r, and bettcr preparati on for spring' g-rai n. On rolling land the g round should be wo rked on th e COlltuUr. Very littl e winter erosioT1 wi ll occur. A reasonable amount of lespedeza stubble left on or near the sur-faee wi llli elp to hold snow, will make the soil more r eceptive to rain, 1)11(1 alLog-ether will r ed nee erosion. \ViLh the fi eld cultivator the land can be left with t he surfa ce rough or level as desired. On rolling lnnd or where early drying of the land tJl e following spring is desired, lespedeza stubble may be worked in the fall , preferable on the ontollr, as fall preparation for oats next spring. 

Management of Korean lespedeza

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