Thursday, September 10, 1908.
THE PROGRESSIVE , FARMER.
5
j& Plow Handle Talks. &
What I want to
What benefit are the
t it Better to Cut Tobacco Stalks
or Not?
Messrs. Editors: The farmers in
this section strip their tobacco from
the stain, lu. mo 1 uciu uiu iuv
eta lk standing
know is this:
stalks to the land? Some people
say, they would not have them cut
if anybody would cut them for noth
ing. I ask them what profit are they
to'' the land, and I have not found
anybody that could give me a reas
onable answer. I know one thing:
. , ...in ,n1i(io a nuntititv nf rhpIt-
Qgy Will yi uuui'y j
ers to raise a good, supply of worms
for the next crop.
What would you do if you were
farming down here-cut now or let
them. stand? I I know up the coun
try they cut and cure on the stalk.
We cannot do that here as it does
not ripen uniformly. .
LEVI J. H. MEWBORN.
Ditf Pr TM H
J. It O W mr a " w
Messrs. Editors: Will you please
tell me if tobacco stalks ought to be
cut down as soon as -all the tobacco
is all off or ought they to stand till
they die? Some people say that it
will injure land to cut them when
green, that the sap in them should
go back in the land?
Nash Co., N. C.
J. W. COLSTON.
Cotton Planters Should Urge the Use
of Cotton Bagging.
Messrs. Editors: It is evident, the
fight is now on to depress the cot-
on markets on the beginning of the
new crop. The writer is in full
sympathy with the planters and al
ways has been, to get full market
value for their crops. They keep
the Government eoine and should
have equal, if not some slight ad
vantage over some others, to get
business. At present there is some
talk about having the fertilizer man
ufacturers to bag all fertilizer for
next and future crops in cotton bags
This will consume considerable of our
cotton, and thereby cause better
prices to the planter. Will you not
in your next issue call the planters'
attention to this item and urge them
to organize themselves and ask the
merchants to ask this of the manu
facturers that they use cotton
bags? Get this question at once agi
tated throughout the cotton belt, and
you will see prices of cotton advance
d. d. gibson;
Robeson Co., N. C.
i
MR. HOLDEN'S COTTON AGAIN, yield of cotton produced with their
fertilizer. I have forgotten the ex-
An Interesting Letter About a Cot- act weight of the seed cotton and
ton That Was a Prize Winner in of the lint. It yields a large per t
1880 and Attracts Attention Now cent of lint.
by Its Earliness. Mr. Holden is. the son-in-law of
.A - ' Mr. Conyers, and has kept this cot-
Messrs. Editors: On the 4th of tn . thes hp, fnll rnn.
July I wrote concerning the cotton linced f itg alue j hae head
or i. a. Hoiden. I saw it again last nim taik about it many times, but
Saturday, and it was then well filled'
I attached no importance to it. This
(Answer by Prof. W. F. Massev.)
It will do no injury to the soil to
cut the stalks down green, but you
will get more organic matter to turn
under to let the stalks stand till
dead. There is only the drying out
of water, but no return of sap to the
soil. It is thought by some that
much of the potash returns to the
roots as the crop matures, but analy
sis always finds a large amount of
potash in tobacco stems and stalks.
And what returns does not leak out
of the roots, but can only be return
ed to the soil through the decay of
the plant. No sap goes back to the
land in any plant. There evapora
tion of water is through the top and
leaves and not through the roots.
Whatever the plant gets it holds on
to except water, . and that escapes
through the leaves. Only in th
genera, decay is the plant food con
tained in the plant set free in the
soil.
To Gather Chufas.
In answer to a recent inquiry, a
correspondent writes that chufas
may be rapidly separated from the
root-bunches by whipping them
against a bench made of 2x4 scant
ling. By the use of a coarse sieve
the dirt may oe sifted out. This is
a very good way when only a few
bushels are to be sold; but for a
large crop of fifty or a hundred
bushels or more a better plan is
needed. Can some one give it?
When to Cut Alfalfa.
Messrs. Editors: I have been ex
perimenting with a small patch of
alfalfa; and while I have not been
able to keep the crab grass out, I
think there is one point that needs
emphasis. That is the time of cat
ting alfalfa. Mr. Jos. E. Wing is
the only writer on alfalfa who has
put any stress on this point, to the
best of my knowledge. He says the
only proper time to cut alfalfa is
when the buds at the crown of the
plant are about one inch long, and it
should be cut high enough not to in
jure buds. The state of blossoming
should not be used as a guide for the
time of cutting, although, as a rule,
with most varieties of alfalfa the
new buds at the base will be found
T to have started when the alfalfa is
trom one-tenth to one-fourth inch in
blossom.
I have found that the alfalfa cut
at any other time than as above in
Qicatea is slow to put out new
growth, - and the crab grass comes
in more abundantly. I think, how
ever, in our sandy lands that it will
oe necessary to disc the alfalfa in
the fall. and. add more seed.
W. C. V.
rrrl 4-"U "I 11 J J . 4.-
Uu iuw uu.i, ctuu a. uy ui twu season j have passed his place once
oi sunsnine win start ms pickers. a week or 0ftener, and have watched
This is due in large measure to the hig fields carefully and observed how
vaneiy 01 cotton ne plants, i nave it surpassed mine till I .am convinced
known of this cotton for twenty- of the earliness of nis variety. The
five years but have been too busy only consoiation I can give myself is
with other things to do more than that if we do not have frost before
to merely hear of it. . Christmas I may get even with, him,
It is evidently a sport from the When x passed him last Saturday he
old Sugar Loaf, and originated in was lamenting that he had 'misplaced
this way. Thirty years ago or more a letter from some one asking g0me.
the late Capt. J. S. Joyner planted a thing about it and could not reply
field in cotton on the roadside near to it.
the town of Franklinton. Early A 'word about topping cotton. I
in the season, Capt. Craven Williams know a small lot of cotton planted
who now lives in Forestville, N. C, on land that has been in cultivation
was driving by this field and ob- for only two years and the stalks are
serving a fine stalk of cotton all open very unif0rm, about three feet high,
standing conspicuous among its more with not very much breadth, and the
uauKwara iieignDors, ne stoppea ms lhoUs ; are few and far between. On'
horse, handed the reins to his wife the same farm but a few yards away
and over ner protest climbed the the same kind of cotton shows a dif
fence and pulled up the stalk and ferent growth and fruitage. The
carried it home with him. He pick- difference is in the soil. It would
ed out the seed and planted them haye neiped this .fresh land cotton
and carefully saved them again until if it had been topped at about two
he had enough to spare. He gave feet high It payg t0 top that kind
some handfuls of them to the mem- 0f cotton. N. Y. GULLEY.
bers of Perry's Chapel Church in Wake Co N C
ranKiin uounty, to plant cotton to
make money for "Missionary cot
ton. I Too MorlAst.
With this seed, about 1880, the 1S
late T. H. Conyers, of Franklin Messrs Edlr''l notce 3 aim
County, made three bales of cotton at securing 100,000 subscribers to
on one acre, and won a premium of yur Paper. Pardon me, but I think
$100 offered by the manufacturers are far too modest in your aspi-
of Pocomoke Guano for the largest ittLiUua "us,OBW"' AT
par excellence me paper ior tue
Southern farm home; its equal I have
not seen.
JOHN P. BOWIE.
Beaufort Co., N. C.
THE SUCCESSFUL FARMER OF THE FUTURE.
The day is coming when the small farm, the labor-saving ma
chinery, the knowledge of seasons and soils and rotations, and
the careful bat intense cultivation, shall constitute the equipment
which will yield handsome returns. The farmer of the future
who shall win success will be an educated man. He will know
his fields like the potter knows his clay, and his mind will be as
skilled as the hand of the artisan who fashions the vase. He will
be able to plan a campaign upon his plats with the same pre
cision that Lee planned at Cold Harbor, and execute it with the
success of Jackson at Antietam. As the lawyer knows his Code,
he will be acquainted with soils and strata; and as the practi
tioner is drilled in the art of civil procedure, he will know the ro
tations. He must be familiar with precedent, and his evenings
shall be spent by the fireside with text-books and farm journal,
and the experiences of his fellow-soil smen in other countries
shall be in his mind always. He must be a student, but his knowl
edge shall not all come from books. Personal experience, experi
mentation, test plats, visits to other model farms, the constant im
bibition of new ideas these shall make his battery invincible.
Danbury Reporter.
Obliged His Friends and the Paper,
Too. ,
Messrs. Editors: A few days ago
I handed a copy of The Progressive
Farmer to a friend in Farmville and
he handed it. to another friend, and
the result is I have to write this let
ter and enclose their subscriptions.
W. R. HORNE.
Pitt Co., N. C.
TOBACCO FACTORY wants salesmen; good
pay, steady work and promotion: experience
unnecessary. We give full instruction. Dan
ville Tobacco Co.. BoxB 44, Danville, Va.
" J. , -1 -
CLAY-SAND PUBLIC ROAD NEAR COLUMBIA, S. C.
This road has been in use five years without repair and compares favorably with the best
macadam. The county has 4(0 miles of these roads giving perfect satisfaction. Cost of building
depends on amount of grading and the distance the sand and clay must be hauled.
Wood's Seeds
Va. Gray or Turf
Winter Oats
Sown in September or early in Oc
tober, make a much larger yield
ing and more profitable crop than
Wheat. They can also be grazed
during the winter and early spring
and yield just as largely of grain
afterwards.
Wood's Fall Catalogue tells all
about Vegetable and Farm
Seeds for Fall Planting, Seed
Wheat, Oats, Rye, Barley,
Vetches, Grass and
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Write for Catalog Mailed free.
T. U. WOOD 6 sons,
Seedsmen, Richmond, Va.
Wood's Grass and Clover Seeds
Best Qualities Obtainable and
of Tested Germination.