The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-03-05

feacneu Wnefe tneSe expensive leftli'
izers are Improbable. Decaying or
ganic matter in the soil is absolutely
indispensable to fertility, and the pro-
ductiveness of a field will decline when
there is deficiency Of humus, even
though the soil is full of potash and
phosphoric acid. A soil rich in humus
will retain more water than one de
ficient in it, and hence will stand more
drouth. There is difference in tenn
perature also, the soil rich in humus
having been found to he sometimes as
much as degree warmer than one of
the same physical composition without
humus. You will obtain larger and
more immediate results from CONNER
cial manures applied to lands rich in
humus. And more i'm, ,.ortant still,
the humus acts as a reservoir, entering
into combination with nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, lime, potash, sui phur, mag
nesium, iron, and other elements es-
sential to the growth of plants, fixing
them in a form available for the needs
of the growing crop, and preventing
their teaching and washing away into
the drainage waters. Every rotation
must have at least one crop in four or
five years that will supply this organic
matter which is so necessary to the
maintenance OF the fertility. Fallow-
ing and the blowing under of heavy
crops as green manure are no longer
considered evidences of good farming.
| The first, results in much loss of solu-
bic fertilizers by teaching and washing,
the second not only often proves posi-
lively injurious by causing the soil to
'.boil'' and ''sour," but there is much
needless waste ofvaluable forage which
might be used to better advantage by
feeding to farm stock. If the crop is
fed and the manure returned to the
field there will result greater per-
centage of profit. A crop of grass or
clover pastured, or cut for hay and fed
on the farm will not only support
enough farm animals to pay profit
! on the use of the land, but when the
| turf or the clover stubble is turned un-
der, there will be large addition to
the amount of organic matter in the
soil, and a resultant increase in fertili-
ty due to this fresh supply Of humus.
The relation of the clovers and other
leguminous crops to fertility and the
reasons therefor-how they secure
their nitrogen supplies directly from
the air, how they open up the soil to
great depths by means of their strong
root systems, their immense feeding
value-all these are so well known and
so thoroughly understood, that l will
not 90 into further details concerning
them Our chief desire Oh knowing
,chy to plant meadow grasses and pas
ture grasses, changes to the question
of rhnt to plant; Aow; and uhe"9
In answering these questions We
shall presuppose that the ground has
been first well prepared, plowed to the
depth of six or eight inches, narrowed
and pulverized and the surface soil
brought into as fine a condition of
filth as possible. 1t is folly to SOW
the tame grasses on poorly prepared
field, worse than that, it is waste of
good seed There is no other crop in
the cultivation of which sowing the
right kind of seed, at the right time,
on the right soil. has greater influence
in determining its success or failure.
Grass seed as purchased from seeds
men is expensive and often of poor
quality, and to obtain satisfactory re-
suits from whatever good seeds there
NAV be in the mixture, it is necessary
to have the soil in excellent condition.
| believe that many of the failures to
obtain a stand are as much due to poor
preparation of the seed bed, and sowing
the seed on lumpy ground when it is
| too dry, or too hot, or too cold, as TO
the seed being bad, though Of course
there are INSCRIPTIONS dealers who
will sell as new, seed which has been
i'm stock several years and has entirely
| lost its vitality.
Grass seeds are mostly small. They
germinate readily and rapidly at the
right temperature and the young seed
lings are mostly very susceptible to
such conditions as abrupt changes in
temperature and amount of soil mois-
ture. They require an even tempera-
ture Of about seventy degrees to make
The young plants will stand much low
er temperatures, but at about seventy
degrees they make their best and
strongest growth. That means for the
eastern part Of Maryland that the seed
should he sown in autumn, from the
first of September to the first of Novem-
Der, provided there has been rain. No
hard and fast rule can be made as to
the best time and there is wide vari-
ance in practice. Early spring SOW
ing does better farther north where the
winters are more severe. but with our
rather high winter temperatures the
loss from freezing out of the young
seedlings is not so great as to be an
] important factor, and the gain in the