The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-02-04

y.
than ever before in her history Many .
farmer can look with pride on his full
barns and numerous hay stacks. He has
g very comfortable feeling as he sees the
for he knows that even il his cotton
does net bring what he expected he Will
be all right anyway.
But while the South has produced this
year comparatively large crop OF hay
| the industry is Yet il its infancy. The
majority OF our farmers DO not yet real
| iZe that hay can be grown more profit
ably than cotton. or thai ii can be made
TO fill out rotation which Will help 10
increase the yield of cotton per acre
AS rule il is not considered good
economy 10 sell hay OF the farm as the
| crop carries with il i large amount of
| plant food AT ordinary prices ii would
| Undoubtedly pay better 10 feed the hay to
cattle on the farm and return 10 the soil
| the greater part of the plant food in the
| manure. AT present prices, however. ii
| Will pay better to sell the hay and even
| ia ordinary times we make hay Very
| profitable a market crop.
| While it is true that il removes q large
!
land by preventing it from washing ard
teaching, thus utilizing a large amount
| OF fertility which would otherwise be
! lost This is especially true en- those crops
| which hold the land in winter such a.
/ the Gray Winter or Turf oats. These
| cats make excellent hay if cut when III
| bloom, and they DO well on any ordinary
| upland We solo them last spring IN
| Atlanta at SIS per ton, and the price viii
undoubtedly be still higher this year
| The fertility removed from the soil by
| ton of this oat hay is as follows. nitro
gen, 23.8 pounds; phosphorc acid, 1874
POUNDS. and potash. 50.S pounds. The
| nitrogen used by this crop would in a
| large measure have leached out of the
soil and be lost with the winter rains if
| the oats did not use it. Il is worth on
the market about i cents per pound and
therefore the S3.57 worth Of this element
| used by the oats is really saved, instead
| Ct removed from the soil. The other
| Two elements Of plant food are not SO ex-
pensive, being worth only about fYo
| cents per pound. They are seldom
| leached out Of any soil and may, there
| fore, be considered as removed by the
| crop OF the two, potash constitutes by
| far the largest amount of the plant food
| removed. We can, however, Well afford
| to return to the land in the shape OF
chemical fertilizer the s3.ll worth of fer
| tility represented by the phosphoric acid
! end potash, especially on q crop which
| pays as we'll as a hay crop.
| Another advantage OF the oat crop for
| hay is that it can be harvested in time
| ic SOW the land peas and thus
| grow two hay crops on the same land in
side of twelve months. The oats also
| come in in June and reach the market
at a time when the price of hay is at its
! highest point. At this time it viii sell
for as much as timothy at other sea
| sons.
With the COW pea the principal ele-
| rlonr OF plant food removed from the soil
IS nitrogen. A ton of this hay contains
| $3.50 worth Of il, tut II cannot be claimed
ttat this is really removed from the
| land for the COW pea obtains its nitrogen
| f ON the air and actually leaves the soil
! richer in this element than it found it..
| even though the vines arc cut and re-
/ moved from the land There is also
about $l.47 worth of potash and = cents
worth of rhcsphoric acid removed in a
| ton OF this hay or with crop of two
] tons per acre. about 81 worth Of fertility.
The main thing in growing those hay
crops proftably Tor market is 10 see that
| Il
| supplied. Ii the cow pea hay crop is we'll
| fertilizcu each year with at least 600
| pounds per acre Of a fertilizer analyzing
| 10 Per cent phoSphoric acid and 10 per
| cent potash and the Oat crop is also fer
| tilted III q similar manner there will be
! q steady gain in the fertility OF the land
| while producing raylng crops or hay. II
your soil is a very stiff red clay the pot
ash in the above fertilizer may be re
duced about one-half such land con-
| tains more potash than loamy OF sandy
| soils.
| II is needless 10 say that the land for
| these crops must be thoroughly pre-
[ pared We cannot expect results from
| the applica ton Of fertilizers on land
which is merely scrat ched over There
is one thing which IS just as necessary
as fertilizer 70 a crop. and that is water,
and unless our land is broken deeply
and worked fine it VIII not hold water
This tillage also makes a comfortable
bed for the plants grow in and helps
to liberate the dormant plant food IN the
soil.
With proper attention TO preparation
and fertilization we should be able 10
grow easily four tons OF nay per acre
Il one year two tons OF pea vine hay
and tow tons OF oat hay. OF IN the neigh
borhood OF these amounts some crops
may run over and some under according
TO the sea SON Al sls per ton, and these
hays will easily sell for that. II nor more.
this coming spring, We have a gross IN
come from one acre OF land OF s72 per
year With such figures as these We can
easily afford TO fertilize aud perpGre our
land in the best possible manner
OF course ii the hay is 10 sell readily
it must be cut al the right time. we'll
cured and neatly packed in uniform
sized bales. The trade demands this,
and in fact il is the only way in which
kay can be protitably handled There