Newspapers / The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, … / Aug. 6, 1910, edition 1 / Page 2
Part of The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
eii (i) Professor Massey Editorial Page. s Second Application of Fertilizers to Cotton. A DAILY PAPER has an article on cotton In which the statement is made that, "The more up-to-date farmers of the country have learned that it is profitable to make a second ap plication of fertilizer to cotton as soon as it is thinned." If an insufficient amount was used in the first place, perhaps it may pay 10 apply more. But, as a rule, the full amount of phosphoric turnips and the rutabagas may still be sown. The flat strap-leaved and quick-growing sorts may be sown broadcast, but I prefer to sow all in rows, and the late sown ones can then be pro-, tected in winter with a furrow thrown to each side. ' Carrots. The Early Horn carrots sown in this mdnth can be left in the ground in winter and will keep nicely with the soil thrown to the rows and aye very useful in soups in winter. , Parsnips and Salsify. South of North Carolina these can still be sown, and as they will grow better in cool weather, and, in fact, will grow all winter, late sowing makes better quality in the roots. Those that were sown In- July should be thinned to stand three inches apart in the rows. I sow parsnip seed in little pinches three inches, apart, so that the light seed can push through better; Then it is easy to thin the bunches to a; single plant. ;v l ' rr.OGrxsJivi: fai; a:,d gazette. Notes and Comments. Onion Sets.-My onion -sets have just been lift- acid and potash should be ap- ' ed an(j placed in the shade in - an out-house f or tilled at the start. These are - - .':.,V"'. not going to get out of the soil till some plant takes them up. If cotton grows off slowly, it may pay to apply 5 to 100 pounds an acre of nitrate of soda alone the rows, where Pbobssob Massey. the farmer does not farm well and has no clover or peas to furnish him nitro gen. But there is not the slightest advantage in -using too little phosphoric acid and potash at the start and then having the labor of going over again with these and waiting for them to ber come available to the crop as they would be if all was applied at first. Nitrogen will leach from the soil rapidly when in the form of a nitrate, and nitrate of soda should not be used largely at planting, but can be used when the crop is grow ing tor advantager wnere -tn soil is aencient m nitrogen. Farm and Garden in August. O VER MUCH of the South August is one of the most leisure months, as in the Upper South the cotton picking has not begun while the cultivation is completed. In Southern Maryland and Virginia August is the time for so wins crimson clover seed amone the corn. It is best to go through with a small tooth cultivator lightly and then sow the seed on the fresh soil. Sow fifteen pounds per acre. ; Further South September and October " will be better, and the seed can be sown among the cotton about the first picking. Those who have grown their own seed are fortunate, for it is about im possible to get home-grown seed on the market, and what there is, is held at $10 a bushel. The seedsmen are offering imported seed at $ 6 - a bushel. But even at these prices the clover is cheaper as a soil-improver than any fertilizer that can be bought for $20 a ton. MUST MAKE PROFITS TWELVE MONTHS INSTEAD OF SIX. TINDER the present system general farm activities cover a period of aboutsix months -f our months in pre paration and cultivation, and two months in harvesting; the other six months of the year, so far as creating wealth is concerned, business is prac tically suspended and the farmer and his family; become consumers, living y off the profits of the six months' pe riod of .activity. Is it any wonder, ' then, that wel don't go ahead? . Can" any business survive that practically shuts down for six months in the year? That some change is necessary, and what those changes are, one only needs to study the front page of last week's Progressive Farmer and Gazette. The figures and illustrations on that page are a revelation, and prove to us that along with other changes and improve' ments - that are being made'in this country, that we must add live stock; and we will never measure up to our full possibilities ' its an agricultural re gion until we do it T. J. W. Broom, in Monroe Journal. -, . ljate. r otatoes. seea oi me eany crop iaat have been cut and covered for sprouting should be planted as they show signs of sprouting. Plant in very deep furrows and cover lightly till they start, and then work the soil to J;hem as they, grow till level, and cultivate shallow and level to con serve the moisture. Seed that has been kept in cold storage can also be planted, and will make a more certain and better crop for winter use. Sweet Potatoes. We now have wire guards to attach to the cultivator so that we can run through and lift the vines asthe cultivator passes and drop them behind it. With this arrange . mentone can go through the potatoes later than otherwise without throwing the vines over the rows as is common. . Make cuttings now about a yard long and make them into a soil and plant the coil in the hill, leaving only the tip of the shoot out. Then every joint will make a bunch of little potatoes that will be far better for bedding next spring than small cullings from the crop. Curled Scotch Kale.-Now is the time to sow the seed of this for winter use. Last winter this kale sold at retail on' our market at five cents a pound, and has been as high as eight cents. : I am sowing mine. -. ;;v':'. ' : ,'-f . Spinach. The first - sowing of spinach lor fall use and early winter should be made during Au gust. Then later sowings in September and Octo ber will keep up a supply till in the spring. curing. These ' are . the Early Tait's Queen. I will plant them in late September in well fer tilized beds setting the sets deep in the bed so that the soil can-be pulled from them in then spring and the bulbs form on the surface of the soil. These lare for green bunching onions, for we grow . better ripe onions from seed sown in February or March. Garden Corn. Grow your own ' seed of sugar corn and you will find that it can be grown in the. South. The seed from the seedsmen is all grown ' in Nebraska and does not do well in the South." Plant Stowell's Evergreen and the Egyptian sweet corn and save the seed, and you can soon accli mate it. -Keep something growing; in the garden . all the time, and keep the weeds down and you . will have fewer cut-worms, in the spring. If you are bothered with nut-grass, keep at it and do not let it go to seed now, for thousands of plants - come from seed for every one that comes from the roots. I have nearly banished it in . one sea T son from my garden by simply going for it every day. .-v. c ; v;:;v .. Celery. The latter part of the month will be time enough to set celery plants in their, perma nent quarters in North Carolina, and September, further South, while in Florida the'celery grow ers will be just starting for their winter crop. I MAKING A PASTURE of woodland terminates Its value as a renewing forest Down h one of our; coast "counties I was driving N along a road and noted that the woods on both sides had "been burnt- over.; . I- remarked to the driver that they had had a bad forest fire. "That was done purposely," said he; "The idea is to destroy the ticks so that cattle can range in the woods." Cattle ranging the woods will not only keep up the supply of ticks, but the burning and the cattle together will destroy., the valua of the forest for timber production. Hence, Mr. French is right in what he says about woodland pastur ing ---,yy r -y'' --;- .--- . Dr. Butler's advice as to crimson clover is well given, and $ 500 a year will not count the profit this clover will make on any man's farm. Just now we want to advise the "Southern farmers to wait till the imported seed is in in August, for the home-grown seed is now-held at $10 a bushel, and it will be easy, I think, to; get the imported. seed at $6, and. perhaps, at $5 a bushel. But what ever the price, sow it, for it is far cheaper at $10 a bushel than 2 8 2 fertilizer at $20 a ton. Anywhere that any -clover - has been commonly groim it", will succeed .without any ; inoculation. Where there are no clover bacteria in the soil, get some' soil from where it has grown and scatter it over the field; We have too much, or rather use too much, hu man labor in the South. So long as every mule takes a man in the field no farmer should complain of lack of labor. It is rather a lack of machin- - ery and mules, for one man riding on a cultivator will do more and better work than two each with a mule and a single-horse plow or cultivator. The Iowa" farmers have always-had a -lack of -human -labor and have been compelled to" use teams and machinery, and hence' one man's labor there pro duces far more than one man'sx labor does in the South. Four-legged laborers are cheaper than two-legged ones. , - - . Keep your cows dry in the stable and sigh for the good old times when you had a free range nvar thA eonntrv like the man auoted on the first page of the July 25 issue, and some one else may - free the county irom ticks. But let the cows out on the ; range, and you will never ; get rid of the ticks, v Clean your own pastures; and have good pastures, and " read what Dr. Butler says about : the ticks,' and you will not want; to abolish stock . laws. The saving of fencing alone is reason enough for shutting stock oft the range, for under such conditions, every one must fence all the land he cultivates, or have ; his crops pastured on hy other people. Down with the fences and starve the ticks out. If you will use the basic slag or Thomas phos phate you will not need to buy : lime for your peanuts, for you will get in it 40 pounds of lime in every 100 pounds. - Four hundred pounds of this and 50 pounds of muriate of potash will be what the peanuts need, for pops are not caused by lack of lime but by lack' of potash, and the lime is used for releasing potash in the soil. Lime is useful to sweeten and acid soil, but it is not properly a fertilizer. You will get 200 pounds of lime free In the Thomas phosphate. rne nrsi oi mis montn i sowea my ursi Byi" and curled kale and will make two more sowings for winter- and early spring. Then ; the second week in August I will "sow some lettuce seed for the fall crop. I; will set these , plants in the frames so as to have them where ther can be pro tected if necessary, but I hardly expect they win need the sashes. I never monkey with, cloth cov ers on my frames, and am even doing better, for I am now using sashes with two 'layers of SlaS five-eights of an Inch apart; With frames wen banked, these sashes will keep out any frost .we set celery plants in beds six feet wide. Plant in hav t rA Wnnm some flow- will have rows across the bed, sitting the plants six inches apart and the rows a foot apart. Leave plenty of space on the sides for earthing. Begin earth ing when the nights get cool in October. Straight en up each plant and pack earth around it by hand to keep it erect, and then you can fill in between with a shovel and carry the bed up six inches outBlde the ends of the' rows Inst Every garden should have a supply of kale and' growing leaves above the soil at each earthing till spinach for winter use. ; : December, and. then earth the bed all-over and Turnips. Strap-leaved turnips may be sown cover with pine straw to keep out freezing, and for fall use, but it is belter for winter to defer you can dig .the celery all winter. Use the most the sowing till September. The larger growing moist soil you .have and fertilize heavily. era iinrior tliom' nil itifaT fhWMic'h . I oyer thirty sashes 'the . coming winter, and expect to increase the number by . degrees. Even the double-glazed sashes, which' cost nearly twice as much as the old style. are cheaper in the long ru than cloth, and immensely better. . Cloth covers are a very poor; substitute for glass, and in series of years, cost more than the glass. ; Do not fail to reap, the full fruits of your la bors by depending fc upon barn selection of see corn, but rather select your seed in the field tn fall. C. B. Williams. - ; , ' :v . :
The Progressive Farmer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 6, 1910, edition 1
2
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75