The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-10-19
Agricultural Department
CONDUCTED BY FULTON s. WHITE.

 yard manure is not available. This com plete fertilizer should contain the three elements of plant food; nitrogen. potash ana phosphorio acid. and may be made from cotton seed meal, muriate Of potash end acid phosphate. The proportion of each to rse N 'll depend entirely on the requirements of the soil. But q pretty safe estimate for mixing these would be to use at least one-half acid phosphate. or In other words. for a ton use 1000 pounds acid phosphate, TOO pounds cot ten seed meal and 300 pounds muriate of potash. These should be mixed thor oughly md broadcasted over the soil at the rate of 300 to 400 pounds per acre, and plowed in well fer some days hefore seeding I would also recommend for our heavy red clay soils that the lime as men ticned above be also soWn with the fer tilizer and all plowed under together. Lime. as I have explained before, has very little value as a fertilizer. but 1t has a good mechanical effect upon our heavy soils.
 In p~sparfne fertilizers for wheat great care must be exercised for If toe much is used it will cause too much growth or straw, cause the straw to become weak and to fall before the grain is ripe. This is one of the strongest arguments in favor of always commencing Tt least year ahead in the work of selecting and pre- pairing lands for wheat In fact wheat should be grown in a regular rotation or crops and should always, for best results, follow a cror of clover or peas When grown his way very little additional Ter tilizor will be required But, whatever fertilizer is used, should be sown broad l cast over the soil and plowed under and I the soil narrowed smooth before sowing. The fertilizer should never be used In the l drill with the wheat.
 This matter of fertilizers, every grower should be made perfectly familiar with, and each grower should Know what his 1 soil most needs
 Sowing the Seed.
 Wherever the soil permits the seed should be put in with the press drill But. in order to use the drill to good ad- vantage the soil must be prepared ahead by breaking and narrowing fine, for seed drills will not work among clods, stumps, stones or brush. So that It Is important to have the soil cleared of any or all of these which may be in the way. Where inc land is too rough to permit the use of the drill the grain may De sown by hand broadcasted and plowed in shallow and the surface smoothed over by the use of the harrow. When sown with the drill one bushel per acre will be about pro- per amount, but when sown broadcast, from one to one and one-half bushels will be needed. This. of course, depends upon the soil, but the range in quantity of seed is from one to one and one-half bushels. When the sowing has to be done by hand an experienced hand should be employed to do the work so as to have the grain distributed evenly over the whole surface. Wheat should never be turned under deep for 1t is a plant that grows near the sur face, and while this is the case, yet 1t sends its roots down deep in the earth, but it has to commence its growth near the surface. This Is one great advantage we have in seeding with the drill, for by its use the seed may be put in at exactly the right depth. quite shallow never over 1 two inches.
 Then. again the drill will SOW the grain l evenly and by the use of the press drill the soil is firmly pressed down on the grain which will cause 1t to germinate much quicker than it will when sown and plowed in. The soil should always be dry when the grain is being sown.
 When to Sow.
 This is also a very important matter. While visiting recently in Tennessee, I was talking with one of the most sue cessful wheat growers of the state, who said that he had made repeated tests or wheat sowings at different dates, and that the results were always in favor or sowings made from the 10th to 2oth or October The wheat plant delights Tn cool nights and will grow much faster and stronger after our nights begin to get cool Then, 1t is necessary to SOW so as to escape the ravages of the Hes sian fly Wheat sown earlier than the dates mentioned Is most sure to be effect ed by this fly. So that 1t is much the bet ter plan to commence early and prepare the soil thoroughly by deep blowing ana by sub-soiling where the soil needs 1t, and by applying the fertilizers needed and thus have the seed bed in fine con- dition ready to push the work of seeding when the time for this work arrives. All the deep preparation of the soil should be performed before the grain is sown. In fact, the success of crop depends largely, if not altogether, on having the soil made right for the crop before at- tempting to SOW the seed, and this work of preparing the soil before seeding should be done even if 1t should delay the work of seeding for several weeks. Sow ings of wheat may be continued up to middle of November in this state. Yet, I would advise that sowings commence by the middle of October and completed as soon thereafter as possible.
 In this connection, it will be well enough to advise that only seed of the very best quality be used. The seed should have been well screened and all | the small grains shaken out and none but extra heavy plump sound seed used. as no other will yield fine large crops of | grain.
 Smut.
 Smut or blackheads Is a disease, which Is very frequently found in wheat in the | south, but rarely found in the wheat fields of the west. In fact. the disease is | so common and so likely to occur in wheat in the southern states, that it is not at all advisable to risk sowing seed which has not been treated for destroying the germs of smut. We have never been able to locate the cause for this disease. though we have conducted many expert ments in order to locate the causes. Sometimes only a few heads of smut scattered through the crop may be found. have seen whole crops that were worth less. I have seen smut pad in crops that an offensive cdor would arse and one could hardly bear the smell. The germs of smut are easily destroyed by the use of bluestone Use one pound for every five bushels of seed. Beat the blue stone fine, dissolve the powdered Jumps in warm water and add warm water enough to the solution to color the grain. Leave the seed in the solution from twenty-fcur to thirty hours, every few hours keep stirred up and be sure that all the seed are kept well covered with l the solution. There are other remedies and methods recommended, but the blue stone is absolutely a sure preventative. and besides it is cheap and the method prescribed easy to follow, and so I see | no reason for giving any of the other remedies that are recommended. I have repeatedly proven this by actual tests with same seed and soil. all sown at same time The seed treated with bluestone yielded fine grain. free from smut. while that not treated was always more or less effected with the disease The seed should be sown at once, when removed