Revised edition. This bulletin discusses the cultivation of muscadine grapes in the southern United States. Topics discussed include propagation, pruning and training, soil management, fertilizers, harvesting, common diseases, and varieties.

"Soil blowing is often a serious problem from December to May [in the Southern Great Plains], when the soil is, in many cases, bare and winds are high. This period is often referred to as the 'blow season.' The whole art of preventing and controlling soil blowing consists in keeping nonblowing materials on the surface. These may be crops, crop residues, or clods. When crops are absent, the essential feature in preventing soil blowing is the use of implements that lift clods and other nonblowing materials to the surface rather than implements that pulverize or destroy them.... Since tillage is dependent on implements, it seems of first importance to consider the implements that may be used to discuss their merits and shortcomings in relation to soil blowing.... From the general principles stated and the specific examples of implement use given, most farmers can probably decide on the correct applications for their farms." -- p. 1-3

"Muscadine grapes are indigenous to the southeastern section of the United States, where they grow in greater or less profusion in the wild state. Through careful selection from the wild grapes and scientific breeding there have been developed a considerable number of varieties particularly adapted to the home needs in the Southeast, both as table grapes and as raw material for a variety of food and beverage products. Not being resistant to low winter temperatures they do not thrive in the northern grape districts. Muscadines are relatively resistant to grape diseases and insect pests and do well with a minimum of care, but, like most fruits, respond favorably to good cultural treatment. This bulletin sets forth in nontechnical form the information accumulated by the Department [of Agriculture] over a considerable period of years on muscadine grape varieties, their bleeding, culture, and uses." -- p. ii

Revised edition. "Muscadine grapes, which are native to the southeastern part of the United States, thrive in most soils of that region. They can be grown successfully in the Southeastern States, where American bunch grapes do not thrive. furthermore, they are suitable for home gardens as well as for commercial use. In fact they are perhaps the most satisfactory of all fruits for the home garden in this region. They cannot be grown, hoever, where temperatures as low as 0 °F occur habitually and may be injured at somewhat higher temperatures. Muscadine grapes are relatively uninjured by diseases and insects and produce well with a minimum of care, but they resopnd favorably to the good cultural practices recommended in this bulletin. The varieties described or listed produce fruit suitable for making unfermented juice, wine, jelly, and other culinary products and for eating fresh over a long season." -- p. ii

"This bulletin describes farming practices that conserve soil, and how such practices may be applied to farms in a large part of the South. Its scope is limited to that part of the Cotton Belt extending west from the Georgia-Alabama line to central Texas and southern Oklahoma." -- p. i.

"The information given in this bulletin should enable farmers in the Great Plains and Western States to select from the more common species of grasses some one or more suited to their needs [for soil and water conservation]. Common harvesting equipment and farm machinery can be adapted to the proper handling of native grasses. This brings the cost of such work within the means of most farmers." -- p. i. Among the grasses discussed are wheatgrass, buffalo grass, bluestem, grama, Bermuda grass, wild rye, hilaria, Sudan grass, bluegrass, panic grasses, dropseed, and needlegrass.

"Among the most striking manifestations of the destruction of soils and crops by the windstorms of recent years are the gigantic sand dunes that have formed on some of the lighter soils of the Great Plains. Specialists of the Soil Conservation Service who were assigned to a study of the problem have been successful in devising methods by which these immense piles of sand, which have covered cultivated lands and good native sod, can be leveled and stabilized. Of still greater value to the farmers and ranchers in areas subject to this soil shifting are the methods of cultivation and land use that recent study and experiments have revealed as the best means of protection against the formation of dunes. This bulletin is written for the benefit of those farmers and ranchers who are faced with the problem of protecting their lands against possible damage from dune formation of with the more immediate problem of restoring lands that have been made temporarily useless by the invasion of these monstrous wind-blown piles of sand." -- p. i

"This bulletin briefly traces the circumstances which have created the soil problems in the southern Great Plains and shows how the hand of man has hastened present troubles. But it goes further and deals with the methods now being used to solve the problem on nature's own terms." -- p. 2-3. Some of the solutions discussed include contour farming, terraces, water conservation techniques, crop lines, and revegetation.

"The turnip aphid is one of the most destructive and widely distributed pests of turnip, mustard, radish, and related crops in the United States. It causes heavy losses to growers of these crops every year, especially in the Southern States. Dust mixtures containing derris, cube, or nicotine, and sprays containing derris or cube, will control the turnip aphid when applied properly. The first application of insecticides should be made when the plants are very small, and additional applications should be made at intervals of 7 to 14 days up to the time of harvest. To provide for effective application of insecticides, the seed of susceptible crops should be planted in drills, with the rows spaced uniformly apart. The following cultural practices aid in the successful production of crops exposed to turnip aphid attack: (1) A well-prepared, fertile seedbed to produce thrifty and rapidly growing plants, (2) planting the seed in drills to permit cultivation, (3) harvesting early to shorten the period of exposure to infestation, (4) destroying crop remnants to eliminate a common sources of infestation to succeeding crops, and (5) applying a nitrogenous fertilizer to stimulate plant growth." -- p. ii

This report discusses the uses of sorghum grain for human food and animal feed, including information about nutrition, digestibility, and storage and preparation. Sorghum is grown primarily in the southern Great Plains of the United States.

This report discusses the cultivation of bur clover, which is an annual legume that serves as a winter cover crop and as pasturage. The best practices for and uses of bur clover are discussed in detail.

This bulletin discusses ways that soybeans may be used in systems of farming in the Cotton Belt of the United States. Soybeans are a legume that may be used as a fertilizer, livestock feed, oil, or human food.

Revised edition. "A well-kept vegetable is a source not only of profit to the gardener but of pleasure to the entire family. For many vegetables which deteriorate rapidly in quality after being gathered, the only practicable means of securing the best is to grow them at home. This is especially true of garden peas, sweet corn, string beans, green Lima beans, and asparagus. The land utilized for, the farm garden, if well cared for, yields much larger returns than any area of similar size planted to the usual farm crops. A half-acre garden should produce as much in money value as 2 or 3 acres in general farm crops. In most sections of the South, though vegetables can be grown in nearly every month of the year, the garden is neglected; in fact, no feature of southern agriculture is more neglected than the production of vegetables for home use. In the following pages specific instructions are given for making a garden and caring for it throughout the season." -- p. 2

This bulletin describes Bermuda grass, a plant that is both highly valuable to pastures and also invasive in the southern United States, and gives suggestions for its control. Possible methods for eradication include the strategic use of shade, winterkilling, fallowing, hog grazing, and tilling practices.

"Of all corn pests in the South one of the most serious is the larva, or young, of the 12-spotted cucumber beetle -- the so-called southern corn rootworm. True to its name, it feeds on the roots, but in young corn it also drills a small hole in the stem just above the first circle of roots, boring out the crown and killing the bud.... Progressive farming methods, as described in this bulletin, will reduce the ravages of this insect. Burn over waste places to destroy dead grass, weeds, and rubbish in which the beetles winter. If possible, avoid planting corn in fields which contained corn the year before. Enrich the soil by planting legumes so that the corn will have a better chance of recovering from rootworm injury. Protect the bobwhite. This bird destroys many beetles of the rootworm. By careful observations, extending over a period of years, find out the dates between which the rooworm does the most damage; then time your planting so that it will fall either before or after these dates, taking into consideration, of course, other important factors in crop production." -- p. 2

This bulletin describes how farmers in the southern United States can cultivate pastures for hogs using forage crops. Among the crops recommended are corn, sorghum, winter grains, alfalfa, several varieties of clover and beans, cowpeas, peanuts, chufas, sweet potatoes, mangels, and rape.

This bulletin discusses purple vetch, a plant used for hay, manure, and pasturage that grows readily along the Pacific and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

This bulletin discuss the horse bean (or fava bean), which is a legume cultivated widely in many nations and holds great potential as a crop along the Pacific and Gulf Coasts of the United States.

This bulletin discusses the uses of sorghum grain, including in animal feeds, human food, and alcohol production.

"Crop systems for Arkansas that make for increased food production and increased efficiency in man labor and horse labor are described in the following pages. By the introduction of cowpeas, soybeans, and other legumes, and by second cropping, provision is made for a considerable increase in the number of crop acres that can be farmed by the average family.... In each of the cropping systems suggested the crop acreages are calculated for two men and a team, and for light, medium, and heavy soils. These systems in general apply to all of Arkansas, except the northwestern part, and some of them may be used to advantage in northern Louisiana, northeastern Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, western Tennessee, and the northern half of Mississippi." -- p. 2

"The pecan has a number of important insect enemies of more or less extended distribution. Some of these injure the nuts, others the foliage and shoots, and still others the trunk and branches. Owing to the wide diversity in their methods of attack, no general directions for the control of these pests can be given, and in the adoption of remedial measures the peculiar habits of each species must be considered. This bulletin describes the more important insects that injure pecans and suggests the methods that should be followed to avert damage." -- p. 2

This bulletin discusses the screwworm, which is a maggot that causes losses to livestock, and measures for its control. Other maggots and insects discussed include the sheep-wool maggot, the black blowfly, the green bottle fly, and the gray flesh fly.

"Cotton bollworm, corn earworm, tomato fruitworm, and false budworm of tobacco are common names applied to one and the same insect when it is found attacking these various crops. In fact the insect is a very general feeder, attacking many wild plants as well as garden vegetables, alfalfa, cowpeas, and the crops indicated above. The bollworm, or corn earworm as it is most widely known, occurs as a pest in practically all parts of the United States." -- p. 3. This bulletin discusses the life cycle of the insect, its distribution, and measures for its control.

"Within recent years an increasing number of reports of serious damage to the corn crop by a robust black beetle have been received from most of the Southern States. A noteworthy outbreak occurred during the early summer of 1914 in the tidewater section of Virginia. As very little was known regarding the natural history of this pest, this bulletin has been designed to supply this information. By following the control measures recommended herein it is hoped that the ravages of this pest may be largely overcome in the future." -- p. 3