The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1907-11-08
Recent Experiments in AppOmatiOx
County.

buuutJs
Appomattox county being strictly a
dark shipping tobacco county, IT Is
gratifying to know that ninety-two per
cent of the soils Of the county are Of a
sort best adapted TO that type Of to-
bacco. Two years ago the Bureau Of
Soils published the results Of its survey
Of Appomattox, and very recently the
same Bureau has issued its report on
the best methods Of handling tobacco
lands in the county. The Bureau Of
Soils has been criticised for boring
holes in the ground giving scientific
nome to what the augur brings up,
describing how the land is actually
formed, aud passing on. In the case
Of AppomattoX county this criticism
is now worth nothing The Bureau of
Soils has not only surveyed the ground
but has spent three years in finding
out how much tobacco il could be made
to grow.
The authors Of this report Bureau
Of Soils, Bulletin, No. l6, Improve
ment Of Virginia Fire Cured Tobacco
very sensibly remark that 'notwith-
standing the great strides made in
agricultural science during the past
quarter Of century, the methods Of
cultivation, fertilization, and crop r0ta-
ton now in use in the dark belt are
essentially the same as they were "A
century ago. Why is 1t that other to-
bacco sections Of the county have i'm
proved their methods Of culture and
fertilization, pr ducing larger yields At
less expense, even on soils less produc-
tive than the clay soils Of the Pied
mont region? Without wasting time
in answering this question at length,
Messrs. McVess, Mathewson, and An
derson Cave demonstrated that it is
quite possible to produce the larger
yields in Appomattox county.
Five acres Of land were selected for
the experimental work, which extend
ed through the seasons Of 1904, 1905,
and 1905. The land chosen was on the
farm Of Mr.. II. G.. Babcock, 81 miles
northeast Of Appomattox. Ofthe land
selected only three acres gave re-
suits Of any where from the stand
point of an experiment. a govern
ment experiment, we understand, is o
very serious matter-nOt like ordinary
experiments which so often come to
nothing The three acre field, before
being turned over to the government,
had been planted in corn and yielded
with small amount Of fertilizer be-
tween two and three barrels TO the acre.
Prior to 1903 it had lain out for mum
Der Of years, being used occasionally as
pasture. The wireworm and very
unreasonable weather spoiled every
thing for two seasons in the two acre
field.
The three acre field was divided into
plats Of one acre each. The first plat
was fertllized according to the method
so much i'm vogue-iOO pounds Of the
old standby 3-S-3. The second and third
plats were fertilized with a mixture
compounded at the farm, the third
plat receiving heavier application
than the second plat. Duringthe three
seasons no change was made in these
applications. The first plat got moth
ing but 3-S-3 The second plat got a
commonsense fertilizer, and the third
plat got more Of the commonsense
fertilizer. The mixture was compound
ed az follows:
Acre, No. 2.-Ground Fish 800 lbs.
Nitrate Of Soda. 100 lbs. |
Bone Meal 100 lbs. |
Sulphate Of PO-
fash ............ $50 lbs. |
Total to the acre, ............... $50 lbs.
Acre, No.3.-Ground Fish / 200 lbs.