880 (4)
t What Farmers Want to Know
- DyW.F.MASSEY .
It Cannot Be Done
face should be kept-lightly stirred,
and the more harrowine and fining
"T HAVE 50 bushels of Bliss Tri- cf the surface the better the stand
' umph potatoes which I wish to and the crop as a rule; The heaviest
keep for seed next spring. Please wheat crop recorded in the eastern
tell me how to store them?" part of the United States, 64.bush-
; ( Irish potatoes dug at this season els an acre, was made on a clover sod
may possibly kfep till late. fall, if put broken in May and kept harrowed
in a cool ana perfectly dark cellar, all summer to 'destroy a bad weed,
But to keep them till next spring I do and when the wheat was drilled in
THE PROGRESSIVE FARMER
have made more humus material , in There is no money in making ten or
his soil, but the object was a wheat less bushels of wheat or twenty-five
crop, and I suggested the treatment bushels of oats an acre. There is
above mentioned with the addition profit in wheat over, twenty-five
of 400 pounds of acid phosphate, an bushels an acre and in oats overthir-
acre. He wrote me the next summer ty bushels, and by good farming for-
that he followed my advice and made ty bushels of wheat are possible and
thirty bushels of wheat an acre, fifty or more bushels of oats.
HOW TO GET RICH LANDS
. XXXI. Legumes: Their Place in Soil Improvement
. By TAIT BUTLER - .
XHERE are over 7,000 species. of mediately succeeding. But, it is also
hot think can be done. even in cold there was just dust enough to cover I legumes trees, shrubs : and yrue, tnat in otner cases.the increase
storage.- Better spread out on the it. herbs.- There is no more impor- n yieias . nas not Deen as Marge as
ground and cover with pine straw The same is true of oats. Early tant class of plants in agriculture, expected and in some. cases an actual
and plant as they sprout, as I have preparation. and tramping and fining Corn, wheat and cotton are ..much decrease in crop Velds has resulted
told in The Progressive Farmer, the surface will do more to prevent more largely in the public mind, but from the removal of a. succession of
Then you can get a crop that will be winter-killing than anything else, if soil improvement, or the main- legume crops from the-land,
easy to keep for seed. Late, hasty plowing and rough seed- tenance of soil fertility, is important, These varying results are not diffi--
ing are responsible for a great deal then the legumes must take the first cult to understand if we remember
of the winter-killing. place of importance in our farming, two simple facts: 1. That while there
Early sowing is essential to sue- intact leeumes are the onlv plants mav De considerable quantities of
WHEAT AND OATS
Soil That Are Suited to These Crops, cess with oats. This means that in ri.:.i. arf1iniiv nHH nlant foods to the Plant foods.in the soil these mav not
I C C TL.i Will .1- r ,1 .1.. .1 IJ ..v. . ----- - U j:,' . t .
wviuo kfUKgouuui .niai niu me upper aoutn me sowing snouia c:i pi,tl! taVo their nitro- u a condition m wnicn the crons
be done in September, and south-. n 0hosphorus and potassium from can use them, and 2. If-the supplies
Help in Getting Good Yields
WHETHER wheat or oats should be
the main small grain crop with any
farmer will depend to a great extent
on his-situation and the character of
his soil. With good farming, wheat can
ward in October to November.
-Wheat is always safer if not sowed
till after there has been a white
frost. Earlier sowing would give , a
the soil add nothing of these to the or pnosphorus and potassium in the
soil, even when -plowed under. Of SDl1 De already small, the amounts
course, they add humus-forming removed, in the removal of succeed-
material and this contains plant " trops.oi legumes, may so tar re-
better growth, but would be almost f00ds, and when this material decays duce the supplies , of these plant
be made a profitable crop on nearly all nvarlably attacked by the Hessian thege plant f00ds become available foods as to deprive other crops of
the red or black clay uplands of the . for feeding succeeding, crops. And LW needed available supplies.
South. Wheat needs an airy situa-. . As to varieties, I would always sow this decay may also make available If there be an abundance of phos-'
tion, freedom from excessive humid- n the South a bearded variety of plant foods in the soil which would phorus, potassium and lime in the
ity and a strong clay loam soil. wheat, as it is less liable to be dam- not otherwise have been in condition soil, the growing of a crop of le-:
Hence wheat can seldom prove a aged by the summer storms when to feed the crops. But if the requir- gumes, even though the tops be re
moved tor hay, may greatly increase
commercial success in the light soils
and humid climate of the South At
lantic Coast section. Not only is the
general character of the soil too
light for wheat, but the humid cli
mate favors the growth of the rust
fungus, and wheat attacked by rust
will never make the best plump
grain.
; But while wheat is not the best
crop in the coastal region, the win
ter oat crop thrives in the warm soils
there better than in the upper coun
try, and when grown in an improv
ing rotation of crops the oat crop
can be made a very profitable mar
ket crop. Of course some wheat can
be grown in the coast region, but I
am simply discussing its value as a
commercial crop. I have known a
crop of 30' bushels an acre grown in
the upper part of the coast region,
but that was a very exceptional crop,
and was on a clay soil and some
what back from the coast.
THE BUSINESS FARMER'S CALENDAR : FIVE THINGS TO
DO THIS WEEK AND NEXT
BUY a grain drill for the fall seeding. If you haven't sufficient
acreage to purchase a drill for your own use, go in with your
neighbors and get one. Drills are of too great" value in increas
ing yields for us to be without them.
2. If lime is to he used on any of the fall crops or the pasture
now is a good time to order it, thus making sure that it will be on
hand when needed. -
- 3. Will you have a fall garden or a weed p&ch? This question
must he answered right away now.
4. Don't let any weeds go to seed anywhere on the farm. Now
is a good time to cut closely those in the fence corners, on the
ditch banks, around stumps, and in other out-of-the-way places.
5. Plan for a big fall grain acreage, and order seeds and fertil
izers early.
blooming than the bald-headed va- ed plant foods of the soil are nitro
rieties. In the upper South and the gen, phosphorus, potassium and cal-
Piedmont section I believe that the cium and a plant takes all of these
the yields of other crops. This may be
and perhaps generally is due to the
effect produced by the decay of the
roots and stubble of the legumes''
making plant foods available, father
than because of the addition of ni
trogen to the soil: While this is
probably generally true, in certain'
cases and with certain legumes ' the
supply of nitrogen in the soil may be
actually increased, even though parts
of the legume plants are removed,
from the land. In some cases the ni
trogen in the roots and stubble, or
the parts left on the land, which was
taken from the air may. be greater
than the nitrogen, jn the parts re
moved that was taken from the soil
In such a case the nitrogen left in
the soil may be greater than before
the legume crop .was grown. But on:
the other hand, in some cases the
conditions may. be exactly reversed'
and then the supply of nitrogen in
the soil is decreased instead, of in-
But the one drawback to the pro- Virginia Gray turf oats are safer required for its growth from the soil, creased by the growing and
duction ot either wheat or oats in r, ua T?e.f-ror;AtiVc -c Kp. the-.
remov-
. TT'. -! ' j 1
ing hardier than other oats, in tne sucn a piani aaas notning to me But in no ca are the suooi:es of
the South, aside from what lack of
ierniity mere may De in the soil, is omrM,fe n( r-arA ni,f . - v. vy
late and imoerfect nrenaratinn of V vv. .v phosphorus, potassium and lime in-
late and impertect preparation of the Texas Red Rust-proof and its foods in the soil. It also follows rrMQPf1 , 'Frne c .u.
tne son. mowing in loose, halt-pre- r:: w:ii thP hewer cron. that such plants, when removed, re- r.lTrr' : KT V.
Where a small grain crop follows uce the plant foods in the soil just foods left in tiie soil are aiways de.
the corn crop, the farmer will of to the extent to which they use these creased. r .
cotirsft cut and shock the corn in Pian ious n tne growm 01 me
pared soil is one . of the greatest
causes of winter-killing. Both wheat
and fall oats need early preparation
e t. t - .t - . 4 rrw us winp anart as convenient siO
sunace. in snort, tne plowing snouia tm,I The legumes do exactlv as other . " uie agriculture 01 mose
as to Rive iiioic upcu ruum. xncu --. -t- Y T. - narts of the South hiv no- a haw
tock rows .can be. sowed in; prtts, as regards all ot these plant . J . . than . . . coldg;
crops or parts of crops removed.
be done early enough to have it set
tied, and not lumpy below, while the
disk and the spike harrow used re
peatedly make the surface fine.
Wheat can be sowed on a well pre
pared fallow or after a summer hoed
crop like tobacco or corn. In . the
famous farming county of Lancaster,
Pennsylvania, they grow great crops
of cigar leaf tobacco, cutting it at
the ground for curing. Then the to
bacco land is simply harrowed fine
and wheat .drilled in, and they make u .I",?' f " t
,.,i t t:..' .fl. bushels of oats.
ivai vYnsai uups, iuu, i nave oiten
Legumes are of much greater im
portance in the "agriculture of those
the shock
spring oats. But do not sow either
wheat or oats on rough land and de-
foods, with the exception of nitro
gen, except they may require and
---- o - - - - r it, :i 1 4.::. LVJ tllc
pend on the harrow to put them in. ll,c1su"r1 4uu. matter and the Weater : leaching of
nitrogen out of the soil, because, of
lauuait t iici ii in iuc unci duu tuiuci
sections of this country. This is due
to the more rapid! decay of organic
This is not only bad' preparation but in theirgrowth. "When legumes are
a waste of seed, for murh will cref grown and removed from the soil, in
. . j ...... o . . . , r .1 u"i c i m. vnmo iv, aiiu iica v y . l aluiail.
covered too deep and much not cov- part or . in whole, the store of these But nature hag providedVfor . our.
ered at all. Fining the surface and Plant oods, phosphorus, Potassium ter needs, by giving us a larger
the sowing with a grain drill is im- and calcium is reduced and the soil mb q legumes to fill alf these
portant for the best' results; As a made just that much poorer in these . lf -J
General rule I would sow five necks -plant foods, to just the 'extent that eas, ana Dy a climate
general rule 1 would sow five pecks y . . which makes, -it possible to grow
growth. ' some 0 1 ese durinS the entire yevar.
In other words, there is no differ- lfle question is often asked, just
seen the fields of that section with Where wheat is to be sowed after pnr hetwen the o-eneral relatione how much nitrogen is added to the
the tobacco stumps showing down peas it. is. far better to cut, cure and. 0f legumes and other plants, to the soiI when a crop of legumes . is
the wheat fields while the wheat was' feed the peas than to turn them un- plant foods in the except as to grown: first, when the crop is plowed
small and green. They let the spring der, for the turning under of a mass nitr0gen. Let. us not forget this under "and second, when the tops are
plowing for tobacco remain settled . of vegetation so late will prevent the fact Forgetting or ignoring it has removed for hay?
and merely fine the surface. . Poper settling and compacting of lead m le into error and ; Thi b w d fi
This should be the case whenever the soil. Cut, cure and feed the peas sulted in much disappointment in itely. A legume growing on a poor
small grain is sowed after a hoed iZll Zlw dildTa? theIr attemPts to build UP their- soils soi1' kin less growth, will
crop. The cultivation of the hoed and haf" or increase the production, of other take a larger proportion of it, nitro-
crop makes the summer fallow. But row tne Pea stubble fine. crops by growing and removing le. gen from the air than will the same
it the wheat crop to be sowed on Several years ago a farmer wrote gumes from the soil. Any careful legume growing on a richer soil. In
tallow the plowing for wheat should that he had a field of peas where he observer has found instances where fact, more nitrogen in actual pounds
not be later than the middle of Au; wanted to sow wheat and asked if it the growing of legumes, even when might be taken from the air by a le-
WforeMeMino l get ettled to tur.n the P,"5 unde: removed for hay, have greatly in- gume on a soil of moderate fertility
betore seeding time. Then the sur- Doubtless the turning under, would creased the yields of the crops im-. (Concluded on page 13, column 1)