Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1911-05-26

the southern part of the state 1t will
mature grain with fair success. 1t is es-
pecially well adapted for this purpose in
Florida. Where ~ natures grain it can
be grazed TO some advantage by hogs.
In this section of the state it can be
grazed By cattle. The beans may also
be cut along in the autumn when they
are beginning to mature and used as
soiling crops for cattle and other classes
of live stock as WELL We have fed them
in this condition with success to our
dairy herd. They make a tremendous
growth of vine and great bulk of for
age, but on account of the large amount
of water they contain are difficult to
cure for hay unless seasonal conditions
are exceptionally favorable. We do not
believe they are as we'll adapted for hay
production as the cowpea. nor so we'll for
grain production as the soy bean. We
are using them for the Improvement of
thin lands on the college farm, however,
and find them admirable for this pur-
pose. We plant them with a twohorse
corn planter, having secured what we
call bean plates. These cost comparative
ly little and will be furnished by any
manufacturer of two-horse corn planters.
You should plant about peck of velvet
beans to the acre in rows at least four
to five feet apart. Cultivate with the
weeder until the crop is UP and has start
ed growth; then probably once or twice
with a smoothing harrow or with a one
or two-horse cultivator as is most con-
venient The beans will shortly cover the
ground, rendering cultivation impractica-
BILE and will produce a mass of foliage
which is simply astonishing. If it is de-
sired 10 turn this crop, under for the en-
richment of the soil, 1t will be we'll to
run over the mass of vines with a heavy
roller and then with a disk. The Spald-
ing ~eep filling machine will bury them
completely in the soil. A good crop of
velvet beans will gather from the air
from 100 to $50 pounds of nitrogen. They
have a wide utility in this state and
should be cultivated extensively. In fact,
there is not a farmer in Georgia which
should not devote an area to velvet beans
the present season to turn under for the
enrichment of the soil. If this crop were
used as the basis of preparing part of
the corn and cotton land for next season
the yields would be greatly increased,
and the results secured from fertilizers
enhanced as we'll
PREPARING A HIGH GRADE FOR
MULA.
G.. l. w, Grayson, Ga, writes: VIII
you please give me a formula for mixing
cottonseed meal and acid for cotton on
gray sandy land? 1 want an extra high
grade fertilizer. have the 1874 acid and
some meal. Should I put anything else
with it, and how much?
Gray sandy land will need a higher
grade of fertilizer than red land. Using a
1874 acid-potash mixture as the basis, you
can by mixing together i,4O0 pounds of
this material, 900 pounds of sulphate of
ammonia and 400 pounds of cottonseed
meal secure formula very well adapted
to such a soil. A ton of the above mix
ture would contain approximately 1872
pounds of phosphorus, 6i pounds of nitro
gen and 81 pounds of potash, and its
percentage composition would be 9.6 per
cent of phosphorus, 80 per cent of nitro
gen and 80 per cent of potash. If the
land is quite sandy there might be some
danger of teaching away the nitrogen,
and in that case it would probably be
better to reserve 100 pounds of the sui
phate of ammonia and apply It as a top
dressing about the 1st to the 18th of June
To still maintain the mixture on the ton
basis use 1900 pounds of the 1874 mix
ture In place of 400 pounds. You may
use 500 pounds of this fertilizer to the
acre with profit. OF course your chances
for a good yield are always enhanced
by the per cent OF vegetable matter in
the soil which enables the plant to as
simulate the artificial food supplied more
quickly and completely than would other
wise be the case. and also puts II In
condition to resist drouth to better adj
vantage. This is very important mat
ter, as a dry spell of from two to six
weeks frequently occurs during the grow