The farmer and mechanic., 1911-07-11
PROF. MASSEY'S VIEWS

10 keep up the productivity OF the
land as they can stay on the farm SO
long as they stick 10 the rotation ano
farm well. Your three-year rotation
, is all right.
NatermeiOnS Failing.
Last year and in 1906. | lost my
crop Of these Il few days before II
was time to gather: Is there any
remedy?' | suppose that you nave
the Watermelon wilt disease This IS
bacterial disease from soil infection
and no spraying Will do any good 1t
might be overcome by breeding re-
sistant plants from seed Of melons
that grew and fiourished where others
died. But the best thing at present IS
to avoid land where the disease exists.
This same Wilt affects tomatoes, egg
plants and potatoes and land where
any Of these grew last should be
avoided
Peas in Corn.
''WAat shall | SOW III my corn at
laying-by peas or soy Deans ?? As q
soil-improver, | prefer the peas to the
beans and would rather SOW a bush
coWpea among corn than the SoyS,
which would be apt to grow too tall.
For d hay crop, | think a mixture Of
soys and coVpeas is excellent as the
beans help to hold up the peas and
make them more easily harvested.
cNcktfS OH oi H.
Should the suckers be pulled from
corn - If they are Very small, and
YOU nave absolutely nothing else to
employ the hands YOU might pull them
off, but f there is any work on the
farm. | would let them alone. | quit
replantng and suckering corn many
years ago.
Getting Il stand Of CrimSO Glover.
If there is plenty of the little gray
h no. ~ hi ,.in mo
Your section | do not think that you
Will need any artificial inOculatiOn for
crimson clover. That is the case where
! live, and We have no trouble IN get
ting crimson clover on the thinnest
soils. and no one has ever tried any
artificial inOculatiOn.
Annual Flowers.
| would suggest to Mrs. Pamela G
Reade that there are other things she
can SOW IN the fall besides pansies and
sweet peas l have very pretty bed
Of Phlox Drummondii that has been
blooming since April from seed sowed
in the fall. The little plants are per
fectly hardy and bloom a month or
more earlier than from spring-sowed
seeds. Hydrangea Hortensia is very
easily protected if merely shaded from
the winter sun by pine boughs corn
stalks. 1t stands the winters in south
ern Maryland with this sort of protec-
ton. 1t is always best to send to the
florists or SeedSmen and get the bes
seed o. Eansies rather than trust -
sell SbNe.. seed. W hich are apt to de-
tcllcraJc. a;W2ys set fresh seed. un-
less [ use some saved from the finest
T. "crs- ] SOW tne pansy seed in
August and transplant some of them
tC sma,l frame with glass sa.shes for
early b'9 ming All Set re cll:ers N
a well-prepared bed outside to follow
the frame flowe-s. When the flowers
run d3Hn small in hot Wea.h- II
clean them out and fill their place
with OtAer things. But the phlox car
be had in bloom the entire summe
by sowing some in the fall and some
mere early in spring to come in as the
early ones gradually fail. Each sowing
Will bloom for two months on more
killing Land by Flowing
1T s an accepted theory here that
1t kills land to plow it in summer. III
tais is correct, how shall I prepare a
heavy wheat stubble for peaso., Col
ahead and kill the land and preparel
1t we'll and drill the peas in. 1t Will |
come to life all right. Somehow or
other notion SetS started in a farm
IEg community and every one accepts
it as true without ever trying to prove
H. Ihe Old practice of a long summer
falloW for wheat resulted IN the re- |
lease Of plant food to an extent that
the natural resources of the soil We're
decreased, by the long exposure to the
sun. But the falIOWing practice was
abandoned mainly because Of the ex-
penSe OF tliS sort OF preparation. and |
we nave found that 1t is best to follow |
wheat after hoed crop like corn or |
tobacco, the cultivation of which an |
SWerS all the purpose of a summer
fallow without its disa advantages The |
mere ploWing Of the soil Will never t
damaSe it at any season unless il is |
plOWeG too wet.
July on the Farm
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