The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1903-04-07
Thoughts for F'arnn8r8 for HpriI,


The heart Of Mother Earth now stirs
apace
With fresh awakening from winters
sleep:
Soft melody of love and gentle zephyrs.
sweep through budding woods and DER
meadows creep.
hDru is the month of sunshine and
shower. 1t is the month of buds and
blossoms and Of creeping beauty over the
landscape and bursting life in the forest
Esr5ure enlivenS the surface of the earth:
birds mate and chatter in the exuDerance
.of enjoyment while they build their nests
and prepare for parental delights Every
animate and inanimate thing seems to re
iotce and to take Oh new life or fresh
c5Ioriug in April.
To the farmer April is q yerv busy
month The rich earth feels the mellow
iug influences of the plOW and harrow,
and warns for the reception and fructifi-
cation Of the seeds to be committed to its
BOSOM In all portions of the South corn
should he planted-indeed, in the Gulf
States it should be up and ready for the
initial cultivation. Fertilizers are now
frequently applied to the sell for this
crop, especially upon lands that have
been run down. good fertilizer is one
containing phosporic acid, 6 to s per cent;
potash, ) to 6 per cent, and nitrogen, 2
per cent. y crop of fifty bushels OF corn
abstracts from the soil sixty-seven
pounds OF nitrogen, eighty pounds OF
potash and thirty-one pounds of phos-
phoric acid. The application OF 500
pounds of a fertilizer of the character
indicated would greatly increase the
yield. and should the season be favor
able, will be found to be highly profit
able. Fertilizers may be applied in the
dr.u or hill where the corn is to be
planted The best land, however, upon
which to plant corn in the South is a
clover or grass fallow that has been top
dressed the previous year with stable
manure. An application of the latter
Just before planting is often found to be
injurious. as it induces the drying up
of the corn should the season be hot and
dry. 4 crop of cowpeas or soy beans
or crimson clover the previous year is
almost as good as an antecedent crop as
rcd clover.
CORN
OF all the crops grown il the United
state corn is the most important as an
article Of food both for man and beast.
To the poorer classes in the South In
dian corn is the staff OF life. \ peck Of
ne cal and from four to six pounds of hog
meat per week is the, standard allowance
throughout the South to the negro work
ers. In its Importance to the human
family it rivals or exceeds rice. In it's
value to internal commerce it stands
first and in its money value it exceeds
Wheat more than two times, hay and
forage twice, cotton two and one-haIf
times. and forest products eight times.
It's value reaches $S2S, 900, ,0G0, which is
nearly one-fifth of the value of all farm
products in the United States, including
livestock. The South raised in 1902
SOP, ,4S7 .609 bushels of this great staple,
which is about one-fith Of all the corn
grown in the United States, but its value
is considerably greater than One-hfth,
and approximates $277 ,0C0, 900. There are
numerous varieties of corn, some of them
well known in all parts of the country.
The flint corn Of the Atlantic coast
States the dent corn of the West and