The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-03
POTOMAC FLATS FARM
WelI-Cultivated Ground Facing the
River Front.
Progress of Work i'm the aEricu1tu-
raj DEPARTMENTS Experimental
Observation-Disclosures of Its Soii-An
Ideal PInce for Raising Fodder
Piants-Its Variety of Productions.


eye and striking contrast to the grim!
aspect of the other side of the river. Thi'
beautiful piece of farm land as well as thu
rest of the island is owned by the Gov
ernment and is under the supervision OF
the Division of AgrostOlogy. Of the Agri-
cultural Department Native and import
ed grasses and fodder plants form the
principal contents OF the trinity kep'
beds and, as on the perfection of these pro-
ducts depend the excellence of cattle and
horses to a very large extent. II may
readily be supposed that the results of the
experiments conducted on the Flats are oil
great value TO the farmer and agricultur-
list. The soil of the island consists OF
aredsings from the river bed and is very
rich. It is an ideal place for growing the
coarser annual fodder plants and has az
forded an interesting field for studying ths
new perennial grasses and clovers, both OF
native varieties and those imported from
foreign countries through the Section OF
Seed and Plant Introduction. of the Agri-
cultural Department. Lately, the behav-
Tor Of a number of grasses from the
Southwestern States and Territories have
been watched with great interest.
Curly mesquite. from the plains of Tex
as and Arizona. have made wonderful
Roadway and produced a large crop of
seed: turnip grass, from Mexico. is MAX
ing a surprisingly rich growth. and is
seeding heavily; water grass exhibits a
growth which maintains for it all the
claims which have been made respecting
its forage values; and sprangle, native
of Texas and regions west of that State,
promises TO be one of the NEST produc-
tive and finest hay grasses grown on the
trial grounds. number of species from
Australia have grown with remarkable
vigor and seeded most aDunGantly. 1t is
regarded as likely that this grass may
have high value for the farmers in the
warmer and drier regions of the South
west. Mitchell grass, another Australian
species regarded by stoclimen in the in
terror of New South Wales as one of the
best of all native grasses. both for its
ght-enduring qualities and its nour
ishiag properties, has made a vigorous
growth and appears to be perfectly at
home amid its new surroundings. Ber-
muda grass, the king of Southern pasture
ly in the present season and made luxu-
RANT growth, the mass of leaves and
stems covering the ground knee-deep with
q rich bed of pasturage. number of the
Australian saltbushes grew finely and
showed great possibilities for forage pro-
duction of their class. The growth of the
elovers and alfalfa was inferior compared
with that Of the grasses, but the vetches
and different varieties of peas and beans
succeeded well, while such plants as KAT
Or corn. several varieties OF pearl millet
and teosinte grew with great vigor and
yielded an astonishing amount of forage,
especially the last named
The Flats comprise some twenty-five
acres, four acres of which are utilized by
the Agricultural Department as an exper-
iment ground The entire area was orig
inally a tidal march. Its present condi-
tion is the result OF dredging out the
channel between it and the main land,
nov forming the city water front and
pumping the mud over upon the marsh.
The surface was thus raised from two
TO ten feet above high tide This work
was done by the War Department, and
the use of the land by the Agricultural
Department was through the permission
OF the Secretary of War. The land is
exceedingly rsch, being the city drainage
and harbor deposit of many years ac-
areas the soil is loose and porous. wash
ing badly with heavy rains but on the
lower portions il forms a hard crust as
il dries after having been packed by
floods. AS might be expected from the
origin OF the island, the subsoil is v>ry
porous. SC much SO that the surface
water frequently breaks suddenly through
the frmer upper crust into subterranean
cavities. new openings of this character
being apparent after every heavy rain,
go as TO afford rather dangerous walking
on such occasions. The soil is. indeed
peculiar TO the island, and can in no way
be considered typical of this or any other
region. This fact, however. does rot ma
terially injure its value for comparative
experiments.
The ground was cleared and plowed in
the spring OF 1899 and also fallowed dur
Ing that season In the late fall II was
plowed three times at intervals Of about
three weeks, and left rough over winter
In the spring OF last year an Acme harrow
was used frequently, being run over the
Held in both directions TO keep down the
weeds Ever since the formation Of the
land some ten years ago, weeds have been
growing and seeding unrestrained and
they covered the surface with dense and
luxuriant growth On the higher part the
most abundant were sweet elder velvet
leaf, lambs quarter, and morning glory.
cies of heartsease or smartseed were so
abundant and so vigorous as to call forth
the most strenuous efforts to prevent
their choking the young forage plants en-
tirely. A constant warfare has been wag-
ed on these pests, and ii is now believed
that they Will prove less troublesome in
the future.
For several reasons" says c. R. Ball
who is in charge of the work on the Flats
the conditions under which the expert
ments of the past season were carried
out were far from satisfactory fact
which gives greater value to the good
results obtained and no doubt explains
some Of the failures, partial or entire.
Work was not begun until the end of
April. and was then greatly retarded by
a lack OF assistance and equipment, due
to the insuffciency CT the appropriation
which could be used for that purpose
The months Of Mag and June were very
wet, extremely heavy rains on May 19
June 2. and June doing much damage
The first of these, coming after the plant
ing large part of the higher ground
fell with such rapidity and violence as
TO wash away both seed and soil from
pla.s and mix the seeds on several 9TH
ers so thoroughly as TO entirely yitiate
their SINCERITY snd necessitate replani-
ing. Each of these rains covered the
lower field with standing water several
inches deep. This seriously delayed the
planting on that area.
During July and August the weather
was very hot and dry affordIng excellent
opportunity 10 observe the drought-re-
sisting properties of the various crops.
Some very interesting results we're OBJ
tained in this connection. Many OF the