The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-02-17

attention.
Row 90 Get Glover to GROW.
Editor Morning News: A correspondent
IN Eastern North Carolina lately wrote
that he had tried hard to get crimson Glow
or to grow He showed some on a field
where cotton has been grown for twenty
five successive years, but the success was
very poor. and he said that one of his
neighbors has some that has grown only
about eight inches high and so thin that
il will not hide a rabbit. This Is only
the ola idea so prevalent among our farm
ors of getting something out OF nothing.
The land in his section is naturally very
dedcient in potash and if there is one
form of plant food that clover Will not
do without, it is potash. The same sort
of success has been had by many farmers
in all our coast region, and to them 1
would recommend the experience sent me
by one who has taken my advice and sue
ceeded. He writes: -Four years ago the
station sent me about one pound of Grim
son seed, which l sOwed on wheat ana
narrowed it in about Nov. l. OF course,
this late sowing was failure. Inc Ioi-
lowing August l determined to try again,
and sowed about the first of August about
an acre, on a pea falioW. The land was
our finest grey tobacco land, only two
years from the original forest l was con-
tdent of success, but was doomed TO dis
appointment, for while / had a good stand
and it passed through the winter all
RIGHT il made very poor growth. / was
disgusted and gave it up as mo good"
for this section. But / determined to tind
the reason why, and now l have my re-
ward, after reading all you have writ
ten the subject for three years. | remem-
bered my failure, and studied the plant,
as well as my land. l found the lana
woefully deficient in potash, the very life
of clover. Then 1 knew why had failed.
] bought seed, and III August last after
! had dug my early potatoes, on which l
had used a very liberal quantity of high
grade sulphate of potash. 1 soWed the
seed. To-day 1t is two feet high ana as
thick as il can stand. On another field
of wheat stubble that l had broken for
winter oats l sowed one and half BUSH
els of oats, fifteen pounds of crimson
clover seed and 800 pounds of kainit per
acre. This Held beats anything IN TINS
section. The oats are about four feet
high, and i'm bloom (May 30 and the
clover is about two and a half feet high.
! am very much pleased with the COM
binauon of potash and crimson clover
This man is beginning to farm, and you
may depend upon it he will never go back
10 the old ldea or planning some seed,
and hoping that luck will do the rest.
y GU Will notice that he sOWed one lot
where potatoes had been MANFRED with
potash. Now, my opinion is, that if he
mad put crop of crimson clover ahead OF
these pOtateS, with a liberal dressing of
acid phosphate and potash, he would have
gotten a better crop OF potatoes, though
1 have no information as to the size of
MS potato crop. Where he put the potash
directly on the clover, you will notice
that the clover is better. Now. the bet
ter the crop of clover, the better it will
gather the nitrogen and store 1T
in the soil for the follow
ing crop. 1 cannot too often insist that
the true mode of using fertilizers is to
apply them to the crop that is going to
improve the land and at the same time
make an extra crop of forage to feed
stock and make manure. The great lack
in all of our old lands is phosphoric acid
and potash, and it is useless to expect
TO get clover to grow on them without the
nelp of these forms of plant food. If you
have tried clover and find that it does not
grow on your land, it is strong presump-
tive evidence that it needs potash. Potash
IS far cheaper 20 buy than nitrogen, and
II you give the clover the cheap potash
ana acid phosphate, it will get the costly
nitrogen for you. The New Jersey agri-
cultural experiment station has shown
that a good stand of crimson clover will
return to the soil as much plant food
len tons of stable manure And it will
De IN Just as good shape as the stable
manure. But to get this amount of food
u must nave food to use, and fortunate
~ the food it needs is the cheapest part
OF the stable manure. and the very part
IN which the stable manure is most de-
hclent While chemical manures will
enable farmer to feed more stock, he
can at the same time, if he is not so
situated as to make the stock pay, keep
~ ana increase the fertility of his acres
ny the use of the legunes and chemicals
alone, and sell hay as we'll as other
inlngs. Under the old system of sole de-
thought a crime almost for a farmer to
sen hay but if he can get more for his
nay than he can get by feeding it. a wise
man VIII sell the hay, and get the same
results that the animal manure would give
MN by the use of mineral manure and
cover and peas. The greatest value of
stable manure, it is admitted, is the
amount of organic matter it gives to
Inc soil to keep up the process of nitrifi-
eaton. But in the pea and clover crops We
FEY much more organic matter on the
land without the expense and labor of
hauling it there. And it is already spread
Just where its shade will help the nitrifi-
cation that is being carried on in the
roots, and the removal of the tops leaves
more organic matter still there than a
5000 coat of manure would leave. The
question for the farmer to decide is
whether it will pay in his condition to
ICED stock and haul the manure on his
ana, or to replace the sold hay with
pant food in some other shape, and
usually a cheaper shape. W. F. Massey.
North Carolina Experiment Station.