The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-07-10

than the top ear will Some wears
ago q farmer wrote us that he had
been following our directions in saw
ing his seed corn and that his corn
was making from three to five ears on
a stalk, and that his neighbors were
all seeking his corn for seed. In the
annual report of the Rhode Island
Station, the result of one wears Sc
lection of the lower ear as compared
with the upper one, showed a result
somewhat in favor of the upper ear,
and from this one test they have
concluded that "the supposition that
to increase the number of ears one
should choose always from the lower
one, because that is the last one de-
Veloped, is shown to be erroneous"
Since no one has advised the continu-
Gus selection of the lower ear after
the ideal plant is secured, the advice
is rather Superfluous. In fact, no
one experiment can determine the
tendency of any work in plant breed
ing. We have found that not less
than seven years are needed to fix
the character of corn as q strain or
race, and after breeding for the ideal
plant we can then select with some
confidence the ideal ears from these
plants The Rhode Island Report
gives cuts showing the corn from low
er and upper ears and so far as we
luxuriance is in favor of the lower ear
seed The mistake seems to have
been in assuming that what has been
advised as a means for getting the
ideal plant is always, and in any eli
mate, the best for the crop at once,
and that a single experiment can de-
termne the value of any method of
plant breeding. Breeding to cure de-
fects in the plant for a certain eli
mate and breeding for continuous pro-
duction differ very materially.
Practical Work In Stations.
We have often wondered why the
Agricultural Experiment Stations have
not given more attention to the mat
ter of farm rotations designed for the
economical Improvement of the land.
Such work would be of the highest
importance to the farmers in most OF
the States, as object lessons in mod
ern farming. Studies of fertilizers
and their effect on crops have been
| made without number, and the spe-
cial formulas devised for different
!, crops'are without number, till in many
States the farmers have come to the
conclusion that for every crop planted
| they must buy or make a special for
mula of the various fertiliZing mate
rails. This is particularly true in the
| South, where the burden of most of
the letters that come to the Stations
from the farmers is. what formula
! do you advise me to use for this. that
or the other crop No doubt the
fertilizers can be made a valuable aid
in the production of crops, but the
mere use of fertilizers to get more
crops out of a worn piece of land is
| not farming. The highest and best
use of commercial fertilizers is to in
crease the productiveness of the land
| in those crops that tend to improve
the soil and to feed stock and to en-
able the farmer to increase his home
made manures until he will need to
| buy only the mineral elements, phos-
! pnoruS and potassium in some combi-
! nation. We are glad to notice, then
| that the Rhode Island Station has
| been studying the results of a 6-year
rotation and has published a useful
| bulletin on their work, which We re-
view and make extracts from in this
| issue.
Talks on Timely Topics.
Avoiding Celery Blight.-A reader
| in Boiling Springs, Pa, asks me to
| tell of q sure cure for celery blight.
| The surest cure for this disease is not
| to have it. In other words, ii is hard
! er to cure a badly diseased celery
| patch than to keep the disease out in
| the first place. In the earlier stages
of growth, and long before the cell
cry is to be used, the plants may be
sprayed and kept sprayed, with the
| common Bordeaux mixture. The
| (blue-stone or blue vitrioD, however,
blue-stone or blue vitrioD, however,
is more easily made, and / believe far
| more effective although it may not
be so lasting in its effects. If weak
enough, say an ounce of the Sulphate
to two gallons of water, it is perfectly
harmless to the celery, but sure death
to the germs of fungus diseases. Spray
the plants before the disease appears,
or at least on the first sign of its APP
pearance and spray every week or ten
days, and the blight will most likely
be kept in check. Protection from
excessive heat and dryness is also a
valuable preventive of celery diseases.
1T involves partial shade, and applica-
ton of water, preferably by sub-irri-
cation, in very dry and hot weather.
Transplanting Beans-John r. M,
of Maryland, says that much time
may be saved when butter and lima
beans fail to come up, by transplant
ing plants from hills where there are
too many, to fill in vacant hills. They
are almost as easy to transplant as
cabbage plants, and Will grow right
off We have practiced this, in case
of emergency, for many years. When
we have miss hills in our lima bean
rows, especially where to be trained
to our wire and twine trellis, and
where a bare spot would make a bad
showing, we invariably try to find
few plants where they can be easily
spared, or where they would make too
heavy a growth, and these we take up
with a trowel. carefully SO as to get
some soil adhering to the roots, and
set them into the vacant spot or spots
They hardly ever fail to grow right
along, and help to keep trellis cover
ed.
The Summer-Set Strawberry Patch.
just at this writing We are picking
really immense Brandywine strawber-
ries from a patch of plants transferred
from an old bed to their present loca-
ton last summer CON or before Au-
gust 1sD. a new plantation that viii
give a reasonable quantity of fine ber-
ries of extra size can easily be made
in midsummer, in any garden hay
ing a strawberry patch already. l
have never been able to grow a pay
ing crop of strawberries on fall-set
plants the next spring, even when So
called pot grown plants had been
used The new bed however, should
be made as early after the fruiting
nd MIL oc. 70