The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1909-12-28
MASSEY'S
VIEWS
Progressive Farnler.)

tIoSISSS1NG ~
The article on the first page OF the
issue for December 4th tells the Whole
story about conservation ana
application, and yet now ley" IaTiieio
practice the methods advised. only
a day Or so ago ] had q letter from q
farmer who keeps a large hoch Q.
poultry and wanted to know how best
10 keen the manure He said that ne
mixed it daily with air-slaked lime,
and doubtless one golng WheFe ne
keeps it would have his nostrlss stuhs
with the sharp scent OF aInHioiia e9-
Gaping from the manure, n most val
uable part Of it escaping into the ar.
And vet. there is no one point about
manure saving that has been more
warned about than mixing lime III
~anure. Then how many lHldSlHe
that q manure pile is something to keep
and admire while it is wasting IN the
BARNARD, and how many tnat
bv mixing a lot of soil raked from the
fence rows they are making it all ma
nure. when that fact is, that the ma
nure from caItle that lived on snucks
all winter was poor enough already
without any dl1utlng.
And then after laboriously dllutlns
this shuck manure, how many there
are who dribble a little OF it IN the lur-
rows and expect to get more CT some
thing to sell. We need more Good
forage and good grain feed to make
fat cattle and fat manure tor the
manure is just what the feed makes
it, and if the animals do not get hlsniS
nitrogenous feed hey are not gong to
leave youy rich manure Cattle lett
standing out in the weather and just
kent from starving Will give You ma
nure hardly worth the hauling. You
had better have ploWed the shucks ana
corn stalks under at once.
Then many m imagine that II
they haul out the manure as last as
made and spread it broadcast there
Will be a loss, while. in tact, there Is
far more loss in keeping 1t IN the iot
and less loss Is spreading it on the lahd
than in any other way.
i hat final noe, noL to waste time
and money with recipes Tor making
fertilizer out of the manure by cutting
it up with lime and acldS TIL lnaliy
you have tar less plant food IN il than
you started with, needs particular ro-
tice. And yet, thousands OF farmers
all over the South have been paying
$3 for such a recipe and wasting their
manure, though they have too little
already.
Fertilizer Crazy.
\ farmer WrILeS to ne lor q ofmuia
to make a fertilizer that Will give him
80 to 40 bushels of corn next year on
land that he says is run down SO that
it will not make over five bushels.
Now, this shows the fact that our
farmers are fertilizer crazy. There is
no or1nula that could be devised that
would make land that poor yield a
fair crop all at once. 1t did not get
poor all at once, and it is not going
to get rich all at once, no matter how
much fertilizer you waste on It. Bet
ter put it in peas and let them die on
the land and turn them under and SOW
rye and turn that under in the spring
and fhan with 81 fair DnDIJcItiOn OF
phOsphorjc acid and potash the land
Will make more corn. Then by sowing
peas among it and following with Win
t%eroats, and the oats with peas, you
may gradually get the wasted humus
back into the soil; and by following
u good rotation of crops with plenty
of peas and rimson clover, you may
finally get heavy crops.
To maintain and increase the pro-
duct1Vlty OF our soil we must use
brains and continuous and wise effort
and no sp%asinodic application OF fer
ulizers is going to do the work for rs.
How to Get GOod Seeds.
All over the country people are
writing to me to give them the ad-
dress of Mr.. Bats who made the big
corn crop ir North Carolina. I uni
fOrmly refuse to do SO, as l have nc
right to load Mr.. Bats with letters;
and to take corr. from central North
Carolina to Ohio. Indiana or TO the
Tar South would be to waste money
and time. The best way to improve
the seed for corn planting in any see
ton is to take the corn that has beer
grown there for generations and breed
it up by careful selection in q seeC
patch to itself. 1t takes years tC
breed corn or any other plant TO {
new hereditV, and the men who are
always after some one else's seed corr
are ont the ones who are going to dc
this. 1t AXE intelligent and continu.
Gus effort and study to bring up poor
land to greater yield, and it takes in.
telligent and continuous effort to i'm.
prove the character of the seed used.