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A Farm and Home Weekly for the Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
PROGRESSIVE PARMER VOL. XXI. NO. 36.
THE COTTON PLANT VOL. XXIII. NO. 36.
RALEIGH, N. C, OCTOBER 18, 1906.
Weekly: $1 a Year.
WHeat and Alfalfa Inquiries Answered.
I. FORMALIN TO PREVENT
GRAIN SMUT.
Bluestone Unsafe, Hot Water Treat
ment Expensive, and Formalin or
Formaldehyde is Best.
Messrs. Editors: In reply to the
inquiry of a subscriber, will say that
the method of planting oats has noth
ing to do with the amount of smut
present. The amount of smut de
pends entirely upon the amount of
smut on the seed when the seed are
planted, and that in turn depends up
on the cleanliness of the field from
which the seed oats are taken. Smut
ranges from 5 to 45 or 50 per cent of
the crop. No portion of the State is
free from it, and there is always
present much more than the farmer
thinks there is. -Formalin
has already been recom
mended, the strength of one ounce to
three gallons of water, and this is by
all odds the best remedy. It is unsafe
to use bluestone; the hot water treat
ment is too expensive and laborious;
and the formalin treatment, is abso
lutely perfect in its work, inexpen
sive and easy to apply. .
The druggist mentioned is per
fectly correct in saying that formalin
is exactly the same thing as 40 per
cent formaldehyde. Either name is
correct. It would seem that any drug
gist ought to be willing to sell it in
quantities as small as a pint at least.
It is true that in its undiluted form
it is poisonous and the fumes of it,
if inhaled for any considerable length
of time, would do -harm. There is,
however, no danger that even the
most careless and fool-hardy persons
will inhale it because the first whiff
of it is sufficient to warn you to keep
away. I have handled it for years
and have never in any way been trou
bled. It is is no way a dangerous
substance. You buy it in bottles that
are corked and keep it corked until
you wish to use it. Then pour it out
and dilute it properly. After it is di
luted the fumes are so weak they are
absolutely harmless, and it is so weak
that it is not at all or very slightly ir
ritating to the hands. You need ap
prehend no danger in using it.
Anyone desiring more information
as to the use of formalin will please
apply to the Director ,of the Experi
ment Station for circular on this sub
ject. -
If you are unable to get formalin
from your druggist, the W- H. King
Drug Company, Raleigh, N. C, agrees
to sell it. at the following prices, the
purchaser to pay the cost of mail
transportation: One ounce bottle,
ten cents; two ounce bottle, fifteen
cents; four ounce bottle, twenty
cents; eight ounce bottle, thirty
cents; sixteen ounce bottle, fifty
cents. Doubtless any drug company
in larger cities will give you equally
as favorable rates.
F. L. STEVENS,
West Raleign, N. C.
II. Managing Weed-Infested Alfalfa.
"Messrs. Editors: I sowed alfalfa
last spring,. got a fine stand, but the
continuous rains brought forward
grass and weeds in such ' abundance
that 1 fear it has rooted out my al
falfa except in spots. Mowed three
times. Do you think it would be best
to sow again or leave and risk a
stand? Crag-grass is well rooted on
the greater part of it."
So writes A. G. S. of Guilford
County, N. C.
Without seeing the field of alfalfa,
it is impossible to tell whether it
would be better to plow and reseed
this fall or allow it to stand until the
spring. I have seen, fields of alfalfa
so over-run with crab grass that it
loked like there was no hope for the
alfalfa, and then come put during the
late fall and produce fine crops of al
falfa for the next year. Unless the
alfalfa is dead there is hopes for it.
It might be well for A. G. S. to al
low it to stand through the winter
and by March he can tell whether he
will have alfalfa or not. If -he-finda
he will not have a stand, he can then
plow up and resow the first of April.'
T. B. PARKER.
III. Fertilizing Wheat;
of Alfalfa.
Treatment
"Messrs Editors: I have been read
ing The Progressive Farmer for some
little time and have noticed some
timely suggestions and advice. I have
been 'reading the fertilizer formulas
in several farm papers, but have been
unable to understand exactly how to
apply them; so I come to you for
some advice. - -
"I have a piece of land now in peas
that I want to sow in wheat. I don't
think the land needs any nitrogen. I
can buy nitrate of soda at $7 pe.r 200
J30unds, muriate of potash at $6.50
per 200 pounds, kainit at $1.60 per
200 pounds, and the 8- 2 2 goods
will cost me about $2.10 per "sack.
My land is partly of clay sub-soil, the
rest sandy loam with not much bot
tom to it. Now, which will pay A me
best to use, the 822 goods or buy
the different ingredients that you
may suggest? And if you suggest
the latter, please advise me how much
of the different parts to buy and how
to mix and how to apply. Also tell
me what filler is best to use.
"I also have a piece of land that I
sowed to alfalfa two years ago, got
no stand, sowed again last fall, got
a fine stand, got high enough to clip,
and then the crab-grass "took it. I
then sowed to peas, but failed to put
my land in good condition, and so the
crab-grass took them. I want to sow
to alfalfa again this fall. My land
is a loamy soil, Very rich, as I have
manured it twojyears in succession.
Please advise me the best methods to
pursue, as I am determined to raise
it, if possible."
This inauiry came from Mr. TT H.
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THE HISTORIC SCUPPERNONG VINE ON ROANOKE ISLAND.
. This vine is believed to have been planted by members of Sir Wal
ter Raleigh's famous Roanoke Island colony. about the year 1585. It is
probably " the largest Scuppernong vine in the world, covering more than
an'acrejof, grpund and yielding more than a. ton of grapes each season.
Promising efforts to improving the growing ' habits and shipping
qualities of the Scuppernong grape are now being made by the United
States Department of Agriculture, Chief Pomologist Taylor writing of the
matter especialy for The Progressive Farmer elsewhere in this issue. It
is a matter of no small importance to our Southern farmers. '
Williams, of Chatham County N. C,
and was mislaid, which accounts for
the delay in answering.
For Mr. Williams's wheat, I would
not use a complete fertilizer, but a
mixture of acid phosphate and kainit
or muriate of potash. Or it might be
better for him to get a bone and
potash goods; 10 2, or 104, and
sow 300 pounds per acre at the time
he sows wheat. 5 ;
The proper way to treat the land
now growing peas which he wishes
to sow in alfalfa again, will be to take
the peavines off and cut the land into
a; good seed-bed with a disc or cut
away harrow, then reseed to alfalfa.
It will.be better not to break the land
deep with a plow just before sowing
the alfalfa, as it does better in a firm
soil than in a loose soil.
T. B. PARKER.
accomplish heretofore, although its
record for the two years of its exist
ence, in the betterment of the grow
ers' status, is one to be proud of.
It is reported upon reliable au
thority that F. G. E wing, general
manager of the Planters' Protective
Association, has sold to E. R. Tandy,
representing the Italian Government,
every hogshead of tobacco belonging
to the Association that is suitable to
the Italian trade on the basis . of
$10.85. This is regarded by tobacco
men as a great victory for the plant
ers. It is their price, and all othei'
conditons accord with the require
ments of the Association. -Inland
Farmer. v
What Dark Tobacco Growers Are
Doing. '
The Planters' Protective Associa
tion of Kentucky, Tennessee and Vir
ginia, official organization of the
Dark Tobacco Growers in the three j
States named, held its third annual ;
meeting at Guthrie, JCy September
22nd. About 24,000 tobacco grow
ers, including their families, attend
ed . this meeting. Speeches were
made by several distinguished speak
ers, including Congressmen Gaines,
Stanley, James. and other well-known
friends of the tobacco growers. The
organization is in excellent shape.
and promises to - accomplish much
more for its members during the year
to come than it' has been able to
"Make your home an attractive
place for. your children," said Dr.
McLendon at the Farmers' Institute
Monday. We would : like to sound
these words in every community in
the county. Along with the improve-'
ment of the farm must go that high
er and vastly more important work
of the cultivation of the minds of the
children reared on the farm. At
tractive surroundings in the way of
flower beds and well kept lawns will
aid "wonderfully in this respect. See ,
to it, -also, that your children receive
the best education possible,, even
though it be their purpose to remain
on the farm. The farm needs now ,
more than ever before the trained
mind and the skilled hand, v Finan
cially speaking, education of the '
right kind pays, but ten-fold more
does it pay in the things that make
for the life and joy of the soul. -Stanly
Enterprise.