Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-04-26
miscellaneous 3raaine.
USE OF NITRATE OF SODA.
When and How Employed to Produce
Best Results

4
Chas. Petty in News and Courier.
| Many inquiries have been made
about the use of nitrate of soda on
small grain and in mixing fertilizers.
This salt contains about 16 per cent of
nitrogen and the balance is impure
soda. The nitrogen has undergone nj
trification and is available as plant
I food when applied. The nitrate from
cotton seed meal. blood and other
sources require considerable time to
undergo the nitrifcation. Heat and
moisture hasten it.
Sometimes nitrate of soda is applied
to grass or field crops and little benefit
is received. If put on in cold weather,
or when the soil is very dry,
it will do little good The time
to apply it to small grain is about the
time that it begins to get "in boot or
two weeks before. But the ground
should have considerable moisture in
it so that the salt would readily dis
solve and the nitrogen enter the moist
soil. and be taken up at once by the
| 1eSO rOOlS OF lle pliHlS' IL 10 away
better to run smoothing harrow with
teeth set at an angle Of As degrees over
the grain as soon as the nitrate Is scat
tered. The quantity depends on the
nitrogen in the soil. Land which has
been we'll fertilized in previous years,
| on which there is luXuriant growth OF
wheat and oats, needs no more nitro
gen. But if the plants are pale green
and weak apply 100 to 200 pounds and
harrow well. But wait till rain comes
and vets the land.
Farmers are advised not to use nj
trate in mixing fertilizers unless 1T is
for an application about laying-by time.
| The proper time for cotton is july to
the goth. according to age and progress
of cotton. If applied in August 1t may
promote leaf growth and keep the plant
green late in the fall. but the fruit will
not be greatly increased. 1t should be
applied to corn wnen it begins to bunch
to tassel 1t is doubtful whether much
benefit is derived from applying to corn
after it begins to silk. The blades may
be kept green and more fodder pro-
duced, but the crop will not be greatly
benefited beyond that.
Do not understand that nitrate Of
soda is volatile like spirits of ammonia,
but If applied some time before the
rootlets of the plant reach out for it
| the danger of loss is from teaching
when heavy rains fall.
The Irish Potato.
1t is a sad commentary on South
Carolina farmers when they purchase
| thousands of bushels of potatoes for
planting purposes and seed. Every
year they are becoming a more desira-
BILE article of food. In former days the
average farmer of the up-country
planted his little patch in the garden,
and while they were fresh and crisp
| they were cooked. After August it
was a rare thing to see them on the
| table
One difficulty is in keeping the early
potatoes, which mature by the first Of
| July, in a plump, crisp condition. Tney
are apt to shrivel and get tough and
strong. If left in the ground they are
| liable to rot. 1t is pretty difficult to
get a good stand by planting the early
potatoes and making second crop. If
any one has a plan by which second
or fall crop may be assured he will do
favor by making it known in this de-
partment Of the News and Courier. A
fall crop of the Peerless, Burbank or
Green Mountain potatoes would furnish
superior potatoes, not excelled by the
Maine or New York crop.
in 1860 to 1870 there was fall va
riety of potato grown in York and Un-
ion counties. They We're red and nearly
round, the shape being like the Bliss
potato. If kept in a cool cellar they
showed no signs of sprouting till the
first of July. They yielded abundantly
when planted on good land.
The only fall potato which we know
is the Lookout Mountain potato Of
Georgia. They are fine in appearance
and first-class as 70 quality. They keep
in bulk without ice until the first Of
y JuIN, "IlSll llltS DtSiIl W SIloul' "hNh
the soil is suitable and the fall seasons
good they yield abundantly. A Georgia
| farmer says that he has selected twen-
ty potatoes which weigh sixty pounds.
The seed of these might be secured
| from the seed houses of Augusta or
Atlanta by immediate orders.
G. w. Chumley, a farmer of this
county. gave us new idea about plant
| ing the fall crop Of potatoes. He said
that unless one had very suitable
place-the middles between the rows Of
his early planted corn was admirably
suited for the late crop. especially If
the land is thoroughly prepared and
planted after the Williamson style. At
the last cultivation of the corn run a
! furrow with shovel. apply fertilizer
at the rate of 600 TO 500 pounds to the
acre in the drill. and run a second fur
row to mix the fertilizer with the soil.
| Plant the potatoes eighteen inches
apart and cover about three inches
deep. They can be cultivated with the
hoe without interfering with the corn.
BY the middle of August a cultivator
or short shovel and sweep may be used
to hill the potatoes. The corn will
shade the potatoes somewhat and they
will not injure the corn, as they make
little growth before the corn is made.
| We suggest this plan to farmers of the
state. 1t is certainly worth trying.
Present Conditions.
! There has been no rain of con-
sequence since March II and the sur
face soil is very dry. Fields that have
been ploughed only two or four inches
deep cannot be broken. Up to the close
of last week about one fourth of the
cotton acreage mad been planted. Many
farmers have finished planting corn,
and the early lots are ready for running