The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-05-22

that he has been farming. in connec
/ 1Ion With other business for seyera
| years. lie has raised almost every.
! 1hInS needed for stock on the farm
| but cannot see that he is clearino amy
| money. and am oyer-taNpd with ,yori
! to ENJOY life. He has become satisfied
from reading these articles that there
| IS something in farm life better than
! he has hitherto been able 10 get ou1
OF 1t. He wishes answers TO Il few
questions. Has bought TO barrels oi
unslaked lime. which he SIaked and
mixed with pine straw and surface
mold. When pretty we'll rotted. he
scattered it in the drill for cotton on
Il redclay soil There was about lOC
lbs. OF lime to each ten or twelve
one horse loads Of pine straw. Can
eNpecf pay Tor my labor and the
cost Of lime in this years crop? |
also have some OF same prepared for
bottom land corn. and have a lot of
good stable manure which | wish to
use with IT. and some acid and kuinit.
How should | miN it for best results,
IN present crop. On another piece OF
land that was in wheat last year.
peas were SOWn. and mOwn for hav
and the land prepared and sown to
wheat. Shall | SOW peas aeaii. after
this wheat is cut? Used about la5
pounds OF Il mixture Of II per cent
acld phosphate and about / per cent
potash per acre on the wheat. If
the woods litter and lime We're piled
together long enough to have gotten
rotted. there should be some results
from the use OF 1t or the present crop.
hnt YOU Will find that with any such
h.Dlf
be little profit and plenty of hard
work OH the farm You cannot get
something out Of nothing on the
farm or in your store. Dribblin1 a
little stu. III the lurrow for cotton
or corn and being concerned solely
as TO the results in the present crop
IS not the Way to make farming amy
more profitable or the work any light
er. W hile :: mlNturc OF woods earth
and lime laid up together over winter
IS not bad stuff to go on the land. YOU
can get better results With far less Ia
Dor ~ growing the vegetable matter
already spread on the land in the
shape Of peas. The pine straw furn-
iShe> only Y organic matter and has to
be laboliously hauled and piled and
turned. BY the sowing Of peas vou
get better quality or organic mat
ter and do not have it to haul on
the land except after ven have fed
II and made Il profit cut Of the stock
and then have the manure to 90 back
on the land. My advice is to spread
anything YOU may have in he shape
OF manure literally broadcast on the
land as far as it viii 90. and then on
the remainder apply Il good mixture
OF commercial feit tilizers also broad
piication Of acid phosphate and pot
ash at rate Of l25 pounds per acre
on wheat crop can have very little
effect even on the immediate crop.
and none whatever in the improve
ment OF the soil II is this dribblino
of little fertilizer in the furrow
that has made our Southern farms
IN the cotton bCit poor. If YOU had
put about 400 lbs. per acre Of the
mixture on the peas preceding the
present crop of wheat, YOU would have
had far heavier crop Of peas and
far better chance for wheat than
by putting q little fertilizer on the
wheat direct. \ good application in
he right place in Il rotatioil will do
far more good than two dribbingS
in the f'IrroW for the sole purpose of
squeezing 4 little more crop out Of
the soil. You VIII always tird the
cultivation OF the soil Improbable
and the work hard until YOU realize
that the important thing is he fu-
tnre Of the soil rather than getting
back ut once all hat YOU put into
the soil. / is this parsimonions
dealing With the soil that has kept
it poor and its owner poor too. |
have written q bulletin On Farming
in North Carolina. | have in that |
bulletin given the best results from |
my own experience and observation. |
and have detailed what | believe to |
be he true policy for the farmers in |
the different soils OF the State. This |
bulletin Is sent free 10 any farmer in |
the State and believe that it will |
pay YOU to read and study it and |
farm towards an ideal farm.
\ correspondent asks me to write
how to cure clover and pea vine hay.
briefly my method is to cut the vines
as soon as the first pods show signs
of maturity. Rake into winrows the
same evening. Next day turn the
vinrows and in the evening shock the
hav If tn, /leather IS dry and hot,
open the shocks next morning. and
if. after the dew is dried of YOU can
take handful and give it Il hard
twist and cannot see the sap run to
the twist haul it in at once and store
in barn Shut the barn and let it
alone. 1t will heat of course. and if
YOU open it TO cool it off It will
mould. but if let alone it viii gradu
aIIy cool of, and cure into fine green
colored hay with all the leaves say
ed When grown On strong land and
the stalks are very heavy It should be
allowed to lie and sun little longer
than when grown on thinner soil
To nnlc the best hay the peas should
he sovn very thicI<ly, \. bushels per
ocre. ANY one who wishes can see
ny mode Of curing al the Station
farm, this summer.