The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-07-03

cotton farmer TO-DAY VINO blye nitro
gen al u 10 - cents 81 pound i'll =
complete fertilizer, is wasting his
means for what hc could get without
cost and make = Drotit IN thc getting
"hIie, instead Of making two bales OF
eottpn per acre. as has been made
therc by good farming, he laboriously
goes over four or five acres to get a
pale. ana the fertilizer man takes the
pfo1lt. There Is no crop grown in this
country that offers Il better prospect
Iof money making than the cotton
crop if the land is farmed right And
hef" ana tnere farmer is finding this
out, but The great mass. Who read
nothing about farminG and l1bori1ttely
80 on IN the same Old ruts keep the
general average Of the crop down to
about 200 pounds of lint per acre. and
| the crop this season on tWenty-eight,
or more million acres will probably
be twelve million bales while half the
number of acres should produce as
many, or more, ANA leave the rest to
grow peas for forage and corn to fat
/ ten thousands Of hogs and steers to
| leave manure to lessen the fertilizer
bills. Some day the Southern farmers
will understand this better ana good
farming VIII become general.
Some station men give strange ad-
vice to farmers. one director says:
| IF we had some way to keep the
weeds down one of the chief reasons
for tilling the soil would be removed.
The functions Of tillage for growing
Il crop like corn are tWo-fold First,
to keep down weeds; and second, to
conserve the moisture III the soil by
preventing the eVapOrating from the
surface. \ third function that was
supposed to be performed by tillage
was TO stir the soil 50 that the roots
could penetrate and develop. If the
| land has been properly prepared be-
ind Hoe
does not exist. since the soil viii be
pOrus enough to permit the fullest de-
VelOpment of the roots" BY tiilagc
We always include the proper prepara-
ton of the land. and there is 40 doubt
that prevention instead of killing
weeds is an important part of tillage,
But the fining Of the surface by hal
low cultivation has Il function beyond
the conservation Of moisture. which
Of course, is important. ii is that the
lining Of the surface. the grinding of
the soil releases plant food. The same
writer says further. you need some
piling OF the dirt around the stalks, or
ridginG to 4 limited amount. III order
to keep the corn from falling down.
Now. III our experience, nothing Of the
sort is needed. The more level the sol,
whore the corn grows, the stronger
Will the brace roots take hold and the
better the corn win stand no. The
director advises shallow culture. which
IS all flSIlt Where the FARMER farms
right and gets humus enough in his
soil to make it mellow and to allow of
the use of a Weeder. Another adVan-
tdge of very shallow culture is that
the weeds are killed as they germinate
and no more are brought up from be
low to 9erminate. We knew corn
field worked entirely with the Weeder,
on which there We're no weeds at ma
turity, simply because all that We're
near enough to the surface to germi-
nate were destroyed by lie rapid cul-
tiVation and no fresh seeds were
brought up. But if you pile earth to
your corn YOU will bring more to the
light and heat and will dry the soil
where the surface roots are feeding
by taking the blanket off them. Weed
killing or prevention is an incident OF
good culture and not the main object.
The weeds viii have no chance if the
Weeder is used rapidly as it should be
from the start.