The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-11-01
MASSEY'S VIEWS
What Farmers Want to Know.

What Farmers Want to Know.
A cellar that has heretofore ke)
sweet potatoes well, now rots them.
l do not think it the fault of the Gel
lar, then, but that you are storing the
potatoes with black rot in them. The
digging and handling Of the roots has
a great deal to do with the keeping.
Potatoes grown from uttng or the
vines set in July will keep far easier
than those from spring plants. AS
soon as frost has nipped the vines,
get the vines off at once, for they Will
communicate disease to the roots II
left on. Dig IN a dry sunny day, and
do not throw the potatoes In heaps
and bruise them, but let them lie along
the rows and sun during the day. Haul
to the cellar carefully in basket or
crates. Do not store any cut pota.
toes nor any with brown blotches on
the skin, for thar shows the ~black-rot
disease. Then when all are in, 1t pos
sible, heat the cellar up to 80 degrees
till the potatoes have dried off from
the sweat they always go through.
After that a temperature Of As degrees
in winter is warm enough and the
cellar should be we'll ventilated In
good weather.. 1t is far better to have
a potato house made for the purpose
as I have heretofore described.
Wheat After CottOn.-As a rule, |
do not advise sowing wheat after cot
ton, as it is usually too late. But II
the cotton is off early, You can go
over with a disk harrow both ways
and chop the stalks up. Keep golns
till all are chopped and the surtacs
made fine. The more you harrow ana
tramp the soil the better the crop Will
be.
ICED Corn.-Taking the lower ear
of corn for seed will tend to prevent
the ears setting higher on the stalks.
and in my experience, also tends %
make ears above it. If I had corn
already Of an ideal stature, l would
select the best ear on the stalks for
seed without regard to where it grew.
Where the corn makes 1t ears too
high from the next ground. a constant
taking Of the ear next the ground
will bring It to d better shape.
Late SO.yn OatS.-Winier oats should
" been soWn in September for the
best results. But / have known fine
crops made from later sowing. The
polnt of importance is to get the sur
Sace three inches. made as fine as
possible by narrowing, and then to
drill the seed at rate of two bushels
an acre. The regular wheat drill is
the best thing for sowing oats if the
ground has been properly narrowed
and tramped firm. Winter-killing re-
suits from a loose preparation of the
soil.
Distance to Set Fruit Trees.-Wants
10 plant a home orchard and wants
TO know when to plant. / assume that
the orchard is to be Of different fruits.
Apples should be set so to s. feet
apart each way; peaches, 90 feet;
pears Of standard size, 25 feet; dwarf
pears, 10 to Is feet; plurns, 16 fee:
each way, Plant in the South all trees
IN the fall. The best place to get the
trees will be the nearest reliable nur-
sery.
Rotation of Pasture Crops.-Twenty-
five acres Of bottom land of good quail
ity, one-third now in corn and two
thirds in peas after oats. Wants tc
feed some beef cattle. If it is pro
posed to rotate the 25 acres in CROP
L would not use any grass, but would
make a three-year rotation Of corn
with peas among it. Corn cut anC
peas harvested and land prepared witt
disk harrow and seeded to oats. Pea
sOWn after the oats and made int
hay and red clover sown on the stub
bic in September. Glover pastures
the next summer and the followin;
spring turned for corn again. If you
idea is to put the whole 25 acres il
pasture permanently, | would seed +,
10 grass this fall, sowing 10 pounds o
tall meadow oats grass, and 5 pound
Of aIsike clover. Never turn cattle O.
clover pasture when hungry, or 80
will have some bloated, but turn o
after they have been well fed and a
first for a short time and they wi
not gorge themselves.
Straw errieS.-A louisiana CORE
~spOndent is bothered about fertilizer
for Strawberries, and wants to knO'
about the formula. | have given otf
erS. The stations down in that pa
of the Mississippi Valley have decide
that potash is not needed ther
Hence, the low per cent potash in til
formula | gave. may not be needc'
But plenty of phosphoric acid j
doubtless, needed, and the nitroge