Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-04-26

that il will not respond to the use of fer
tilizerS. and there are few crops which
make a heavier draft on the soil than
corn: therefore. il is we'll to feed it rather
literally where large yields are antlci-
9ated.
! WITCH DYING FROM NITROGEN
STARVATION.
: T. c.. Waynesboro, Ga, writes: ! plant
ed vetch last fall with rye oats and wheat
with the intention of turning under this
spring to benefit the land. Some of the
I vetch terminated and afterwards turned
yellow and died. I do not know the
cause unless it was the dry fall and cold
J weather afterwards. Some one suggested
il might be defective seed. l am think
: ing of putting down 200 pounds of 1O-f
acid to the acre and bed on it, and put
9-9-3 around the plants as l cultivate.
propose to bed on the 1914 with a view
of getting more acid and potash in the
land than is contained in the s-2-2 or 9-2-3.
What do you think of this plan?
| There are two varieties of vetch quite
commonly grown in the south. One OF
these, the hairy vetch, is very hardy 1t
us slow grower. however and even when
seeded i'm August may make but little de-
/ velopment before the spring of the year.
The Oregon vetch, however, is a rapid
grower and if seeded in August or Sep
temper, it may make considerable growth
by December and will cover the ground
I'm mild winter in January or February.
This vetch, however. is not hardy and a
severe freeze will kill it. Last year We
had this vetch II inches high on
January 20. when a severe freeze came
and destroyed il. The hairy vetch grown
alongside of it was not injured at ell.
The vetch as you know is legume and
gathers the nitrogen it needs from the air
through the medium OF the bacteria
which develop in the nodules forming On
d its roots. When put on soil where it has
never been grown before there are some
times net a sufficient. number, of these
bacteria attached to the seed to inoculare
the land and cause the development OF
the nodules When this is the case, the
plants will generally turn yellow and die.
If y is not too late already. examine the
roots and see if any nodules have formed.
If they have not formed this will proba-
biz explain the cause of your trouble.
The seed may also have been defective
and il you got the tender variety, the
/ freezes have probably destroyed it. We
! see no objection to following the method
of fertilization proposed in your letter
save that there should be a little nitro
gen of rather quickly available form ap-
piled under the seed of cotton or corn in
order to give il quick start. On this
account we would say to add at least
Il per cent of nitrogen to your 10-4 mix
ture.
J.H.F. Monroe, Ga, writes: 1 would
like, TO know the best fertilizer for peas
and corn. Il have decided to use a 3-10-i
for cotton and am thinking of using
1874 acid for peas, and corn. Do you
think ii will pay to inoculate the peas?
will this incretse the yield much? have 40
acres of cotton and will use about 500
pounds Of fertilizer under or around my
corn and endeavor to make 100 bushels
: to the acre. Would you advise planting
! Marlboro corn 4x1 or will other distances
suit better?
Z 4 3-10-4 should make a satisfactory
formula to use under cotton; a 1914 will
answer for peas or other leguminous
crops to be grown on red clay upland
soils. For corn we would be disposed to
use as much phosphoric. acid as for cotton
and more nitrogen; in other words, a
4-1O-5 would be better for this crop judg-
ing from our experience than a S-s-5
such as you suggested. Corn makes a
much heavier draft on soil fertility than
cotton and requires a great deal more
, nitrogen. In fact the small quantity of
nitrogen applied per acre and the deficit
ency of vegetables matter in our soils
undoubtedly are responsible to large
extent for the low yields of corn which
/ we have been making in the past
From my point of view the farmer should
never apply probably more than 2 per
I cent of comercial nitrogen to either corn
\ or cotton. but should depend on get
ting the balance needed from growing
legumes and practicing crop rotation
/ This is a policy we must look forward
| to but of course il can not be inaugurated
all at once.
! Personally, the writer has not seen very
marked benefits come from inoculating
! large seed legumes, such as the cowpeas
SOW bean and velvet bean and could not
advise the practice, therefore. OF course,
/ on land where these crops have never
been grown before. ii occasionally happens
that they do not make a good growth the
/ first year but the trouble may be due
/ to the avidity of the soil rather than
! to the seed and unless there is some
material defect in the land. the crop when
grown the second year makes a salts
4 factory development. Eight hundred
! pounds OF a high-grade fertilizer on bot
! tom land should give our corn crop a
sufficient supply Of plant food to insure
! high yield II you use good seed and
= cultivate the soil well. We are inclined
to depend too much on fertilizers. and
( sometimes forgot that soil preparation
and cultivation ere as essential i'm crop
production as the mere application Of
fertilizers: therefore. emphasize these
matters and your chances of success will
lie better. Marlboro is a very good varie-
" Of corn. one Of the best Of the prolific
sorts. We would be inclined to plant
! it about IL by feet on bottom lands,