The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1908-01-23

large, prolific plant rather than get
early maturity, as is desired in
crops grown for early market, the
fertilizing should be such as to
stimulate good, steady, perfect
growth. Slow acting fertilizers,
however, like cottonseed meal and
coarse barnyard manure tend to
stimulate active growth late in the
SESSION at the expense Of of maturi-
ty, endangering the crop to frost;
on the other hand, fertilizers, car
rying readily available nitrogen,
like fshscrop and best, well de
compose stable manure, when ap-
piled heavily tend to produce too
much vine Such fertilizers
should be used very cautiously for
tomatoes. In this connection
Professor L. c. Corbett says:
"Since the tomato belongs to the
potash consuming class of plants,
the fertilizers used should be es-
pecially rich in potash. 1t is not
to be understood. however, that
it is not Necessary to apply nitro
gen, for frequently soils are used
that are either not naturally we'll
adapted to the plant or have not
been previously well applied with
vegetable matter containing nitro.
gen. On such soils additional
nitrogen is very important, and
nitrate of soda. is one of the best
forms to use, as it is absorbed full
ly by the roots, thus encouraging
an early and vigorous growth of
plant and a normal development
of fruit. Sow acting organic
forms of nitrogen, on the other
hand, frequently begin to feed the
plant and'cause its rapid growth
when the energies should be con-
centrated in the growth and ma
turity of the fruit.
Nitrogen should be largely sup
piled by growing legumes, especi-
ally cowpeas and red and crimson
clover "a Although not generally
practiced, there are instances which
show that the cowpeas turned un-
der green in the fall, in conjunc-
ton with applications of lime at
the rate Of from twenty to fifty
bushels an acre, very materially
benefit a succeeding crop of toma-
toes.
Addition of lime as a corrective
of unfavorable soil conditions is of
the greatest Importance. This is
particularly true in the case of
those heavier soils that tend to run
together and compact with satur-
ating rains and those soils that
have become sour, have accumu-
lated deleterious substances or as
sumed an unfavorables5 structure,
which conditions freqently are in
duced in the soil by long cultiva-
ton with out due attention to rota-
ton. The value of lime in this
connection is interestingly illus
trated in the case Of the Miller
clay, a very heavy alluvial shil de-
rived from the Permian red beds OF
Oklahoma and Northwest Texas
and spread out over the bottom
lands of rivers rising in that re-
gion. The high clay content
would make an extremely unyield
ing, impervious soil were it not for
the presence of lime in the proper
ton that induces such floculation
of constituent PARTICLES as affects
an open structure favorable to good
air drainage and circulation of soil
moisture, making it as nearly per
feet in structure as any clay soil
known. Tomatoes of the most ex-
cellent quality are grown on this
soil in the bottoms of the Brazon
River, Texas. Lime applied to
the broken surface of fall ploughed
land at the rate of from twenty to
fifty bushels an acre, according
as the soil is light or heavy, has
been found very beneficial with
the soil of the Eastern Shore, and
especially so in those rotations
which bring tomatoes to follow