The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-10-30
RALEIGH. N C.. TUESDAY OCTOBER 80, 1900.

~" can now do will be to make .
ii,lNlufe OF 1,200 pounds of acid nbos-
pia'e' 900 pounds of cotton seed noooI
anu ioo pounds Of muriate of potash
u 'pplN >, pounds per acre 10 tba
,.; cotton seed meal will not CO.
interfere with the germination
81 .ne wheat, and if you mix the
a.'.1, well ana narrow ii in before
4,s 'ne wheat YOU will have no
trouble. Put what Won naad ~ ~
is 70 get your land into a regular I'M.
proving rotation. and never Iaava
"heat stubble all summer with moth
ing put weeds on it. Between evar1-
sale crop keep the land busy oroyno
noilie'hlng ~ to he p it and to feed stock
men raising feed, get good stock and
iiiahe Il pront on them and get the
manure, and you will need less fertiI-
iIers. We have, time and again. said
tldI the constant dependence ON fer
'ii~eiS lof every crop grown is not
1afmlng, but merely specuIatino on
the chances. In q dry and hot season
IKE the one we have lust nassed
through, fertilizers on land deficient
IN vegetable matter have done more
nafm than good. and | sincerely he
lleNe lhat on most of the upIands in
,North Carolina this year there would
'e peeh more cotton without the
1ertillzers than with them. The wealth
er mas oeen so dry that the fertilizers
nave not dissolved to aid the crops but
nav rather tended to burn them On
land We'll filled with vegetable matter
from the growth of peas or clover .
drought is not near so disastrous &c
on the land that is cultivated wear af
ter year in hOed crop like cotton.
Tor the humus formed by the decay
OF vegetable matter in the soil tends
continually to increase its capacity for
retaining moisture. and when the
moisture is retained in the soil if dis
solves the plant food in the fertilizers
applied and the plants get the benefit
OF 1t as they do not of a soil destitute
OF humus. Thus the growing of peas
and other legumes not only adds fer
tility t othe soil. but AIDS IN 1h, So
luton of the commercial fertilizers
applied.
From Swain Co.: ''Will you please
give me your ideas as to the Dractica-
bility Of growing alfalfa in th4s seq
ton? Is the climate favorable. and
do YOU think it will grow on sandy
river bottom land? WI it Kill out
the weeds, or viii it have to be culti-
waited at first? How would it do to
more uncertain than alfalfa in this
part of the country. we have never
known it. There is no predicting
how it may do in any particular sec
tion till tried Here it does not thrive
as our under-clay is entirely too hard
for it. With Il mellow and dry sub
soil it may do we'll, but if the sandy
bottoms are but little above the wa
ter level and the subsoil is damp it
will not do at all. It's first growth
is feeble and if the land is Weedy t
will not do without the. cIeanest
culture. 1t takes two years TO get 1t
| into q profitable condition under ia
| vorable conditions. You can grow
more hay with the field peas in one
summer than you can from alfalfa IN
| two wears. and better feed at that.
! There have been some successes with
| alfalfa in this State, buu Ten fallu -
! or more for every success. Alfalfa IS
| good thing for the ard region or
| the West but we do not need it in
our agriculture here. TOR with COW
peas in summer and vetches in winter
we can GROW far more and better feed
than alfalfa will give if it succeeds.
From Alamance Co.: Il enclose a
sample of grass. This grass grows
| t''oi A>'4'>''
is the name and where can the seed
be obtained. and any other lnfoflna-
tion concerning it." The grass in An
dropogon Halapense. commonly cai
| Johnson grass 1t makes good, nay
| but if there is a worse pest to get lnlo
q neiobborhood we have not foHnd IT.
Instead of getting seed OF 1t. YOU hao
better root out every stray clump you
can find. for if it is coming now IN
clumps il will soon be all over the
country about there. IhoSe Who lldNe
= had as in the neighborhood OF
Nocksyille. in Davie county, can e"
Won all about its ways. The man Nn'
would SOW Johnson grass sho',ia pe
,,,oeecutpd rs a public nuisance by NJ
na;obbors. for he Will never Keen -
al home when once well started. be'
tar destroy all YOU find if 1t IS as We
} e.,rce If is a great pity mat II =
sucb an aggressive weed LOT IT
really valuable hav grass. b"' wv Wv
cannot help warning every aon "n'
a,;nct If. We have to foh' - COZ,
t;rnallv here. for it is thick III al
e.+, n1aces about Raleigh. 1t make
| ~, ,,nderoround stem larger thah
l az ,nod and every particle left IN IN
nro,1nd will grow. and nut @ra:S :
/ circumstance to its spreao'i'S'