The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1901-10-02
FARM NOTES.
(By Prof. w. f. Massey.)

from ForSythe county: L WANT ~
sow the following mixture under my
wheat and oats. Would like to have
them in the right proportions. one
hundred pounds of IS dissolved
animal bone and 100 pounds pure Ger
man kainit mixed well together and ap-
pied 200 pounds per acre. Bone l think
is more permanent improver than acid
phosphate. If the article you name Is
really animal bones dissolved and not
acid phosphate from rock under that
name, which is likely to be the case, 1T
may have larger percentage of phos-
phoric acid than the average acid phos-
plate, but one per cent. of it will not be
worth bit more than one per cent of
phosphoric acid in the dissolved rock.
Phosphoric acid is simply phosphoric
acid and that from dissolved bones is
not worth any more than that from dis
solved rock. Raw bone meal may be
more permanent than the dissolved
rock because the phosphoric acid in the
raw bone is insoluble and the bone has
to decay in the soil before it becomes
available to the plants The immediate
action Of raw bone is due to the percent
age Ol ultTOSeH IL MAS III lCs buI IL 10
the most costly form in which you can
buy phosphoric acid. The best and
cheapest form of phosphoric acid in the
South is the dissolved rock or acid phos-
phate as it is commonly called. Then
you propose to use kainit. This is val
liable solely for the potash it contains
and it has but II per cent. of actual pot
ash. the other SO per cent being main
ly salt which is in no manner of use to
you, but you have to pay the freight on
it to get the II per cent. of potash. You
can get the potash you need more cheap
ly in the muriate of potash which con-
tains so per cent. of actual potash, and
you would need to freight but about one
fourth as much to get the potash you
want. Then a mixture of 100 pounds
of acid phosphate and 100 pounds of
kainit assuming that the acid phosphate
is Ii per cent, would contain 6h per
cent. of phosphoric acid and per cent.
of potash, far too large portion of pot
ash for the amount of phosphoric acid
on your soil if it is red land as | sup
pose. Then the whole amount you pro-
pose to apply is too small aside from
the lack of land portion. You do not say
anything in regard to the present crop
on the land. If there are peas or clover
there the mixture Of acid phosphate
and potash will be all right If there
have been no legumes on the land then
you should use a complete fertilizer.
have no particular objection to the per-
centage of potash if you increase the
phosphoric acid. If there has been no
peas nor clover on the land / would
make the following mixture: Acid phos-
phate, 1000 pounds, cotton seed meal,
600 pounds and muriate of potash 200
pounds to make ton, and would use
800 pounds of this per acre. If you are
following pea crop then make the
mixture 1880 pounds of acid phosphate
and 20 pounds of muriate of potash to
make the ton and apply 800 pounds of
this per acre. This will give you per
cent. of actual potash and over II per
cent. of phosphoric acid far better
proportion than you propose. But every
farmer should study the nature Of his
soil. and by experiment see what it
needs You will then avoid buying
what you do not need. How this is done
] have fully explained in my book on
crop Growing and Crop Feeding
From Davidson county: II have
been reading your letters in the
Farmer and Mechanic and get
SO much that helps me as a
farmer that would like to ask
question. When is the best time to
SOW meadow grass, and what is the best
kind to sow on wet bottom land? Also
when is the best time to sow orchard
grass, spring or fall. Please answer in
the Farmer and Mechanic. Bet
ter drain the bottom land is
possible and then you can grow
better grasses than on wet land. About
the best grass you can put there in it's
present condition is Red Top mixed with
Foul Meadow Grass Use ten pounds of
each per acre. Orchard grass is best
sown in the fall at any time up to No
vember. 1t should be sown rather
thickly, so as to some extent countcract
it's tendency to get into tussocks. Four
teen pounds is a bushel and | would
sow twenty pounds per acre, and would
mix some tall meadow grass with it, de-
creasing the orchard grass to the same
extent you add the oat grass.
/ am glad to see that there is an in
crease of interest in the sowing of grass
Grass means stock and stock of all kinds
are the great necessity on all of our
Southern farms When farmers once get
interested in the growing of grass. they
Will be certain to get interested in the
feeding of live stock, and once they get
to feeding cattle they are on the road to
better things, for nothing will so lift a
man out of the ruts as well-fed cattle
bringing in money in the spring when
it is most urgently needed for the spring
cropping. With sod on the land cattle
in the stable, there will be manure to go
on that sod and make more grass, and
the more grass the more cattle that can
he fed, and the more cattle the more
manure to grow grass and so on in an
increasing ratio till the farmer is free
from the fertilizer mixer and buys only
what he needs Of a mineral character to
supplement the abundant nitrogen he
will be getting through the grass and
cattle and the peas and clover. Out in
Henderson county they are making a
great money crop of the late cabbage
and they are shipping train loads to the
Southern cities. Many of the growers
there were anxious to know if the COM
uaercial fertilizers will give them as
good results in cabbage as animal ma
nures There is no doubt that fertilizers
on soil well stocked with humus will
make good crops of cabbages, but there
is also no doubt that tho manure from