The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-01-19
WANTS STATE TO
GRIND LIMESTONE
GOVERNOR MANN WOULD EsFAB-
LISa Two MILLS IN THE
STATE
EXPERTS ON SUBJECT
VIRGINIA STATE FARMERS IN
STITUTE HEAR ABLE AID
DRESSES At SESSIONS
YESTERDAY

! Believing that ground limestone is
one or the best SOL enrichers, as has
] been proven 10y agricultural tests IN
! several States, and with the idea In
I mind Of utilizing the rich deposits
! in Virginia, Governor Mann, follow
| ing the plan adopted in Illinois. will
| have presented to the Legislature to-
day q bill providing for the esta D.
( llshment of two limestone mills in the
| State, one in the Tidewater section
and the other in the western part
| both To be operated by convicts taken
from the penitentiary.
| Governor Mann Is deeply interested
| in the agricultural roDiems of the
! State and was an attentive listener
to an address made by Or. Cyril G..
! Hopkins. of the University OF Illinois,
/ to the members of the Legislature
| and the Virginia State Farmers In
| stitute In the House chamber last
night. Or. Hopkins spoke on Soil
| Improvement" with special reference
to the use Of ground limestone as u
! fertilizer, He spoke in the afternoon
at the Jefferson auditorium on soil
| fertility. lime and limestone, which
/ address was along the same line as
| the one he delivered last night
! Explains Use OF Limestone.
| DIR. Hopkins, who is I'm expert IN
| the use of ground limestone and its
| benefit to soil, explained in detail! the
! chemical constituents OF the primate
! and it's effect on the soil, the manner
! Of applying II TO obtain the best re-
suits and quoted facts from expert
! ments made at Rothamstead. Eng
! land, also on the experimental farms
! in Pennsylvania. Illinois. ohio and
| Tennessee.
/ - 80
and grinding plant operated by the
/ Illinois States prison, where con-
viots are used In the plant. and 1t Ia
the following up of this plan provided
| in the bill which will be drawn ny
| 10y Governor Mann, according TO u
! statement made last night.
AT the morning session of the In
stitute In the jefferson auditorium
yesterday. Professor e. l.. Goodrich, of
| the United States Department of
Agriculture. made the principal adj
/ dress. his subject being "Humus.' OF
/ decaying animal and vegetable mat
| ter, and its value to the soil. Pro-
| fessor Goodrich said. among other
things. that the crop yield of Viz
ginia IL not one-third of what II should
b.. with the climatic and other OPP
pertunities enjoyed in this State. He
said that the lack of crops was due
largely To the poor attention pafa by
the farmer to soil fertility and
methods of enriching IL He also eS-
planned that humus was the CHIEF
plant food and without 1t fertilizer
would be useless.
Following the address during the
afternoon session by DIR. Hopkins on
soil fertility. pr. John Lee Coulter.
OF the United States Department of
Commerce and Labor. gave an Inter
esting talk on Cooperation Among
the Farmers" He advocated the use
Of the telephone. and said that sta
! ttstics showed there was not one
farmer IN twenty In Virginia that
had telephone. He spoke Of the
value Of getting together and of how
by cooperation the farmers could
save each other money.
Farms Shy on FERTILIZER.
He read from the report OF the
Census Bureau that there were lSt.-
| o0e farmers In Virginia and at the
| time the census was taken each
farmer was asked how much money
he had spent for fertilizer the pre-
ceding year The report showed that
| Virginia farmers had not used much
fertilizer. and -. Coulter then ex-
planned how the farmers by getting
together could buy fertilizer In car
| load lots and save money
He told of the immense quantity Of
Irvine that Is used In his home State,
Minnesota. for binding wheat and OF
the high price the farmers had TO
pay for II until twine factory was
established In the State penitentiary
enabling farmers TO buy 1t at price
that saved them several cents a
| pound. Convicts are now making
harvesting and moving machines In
the Minnesota peniteutiary, which
are sold to the farmers for less money
! than they could buy them eizewhere.
This was brought about. he said. by
the cooperation Of the farmers.
/ He stated among other things that
II each farmers in Virginia would
pay one dollar toward fund for
making tests 81 the sell and expert,
ments to determine what was best
for enriching 1t. an amount many
times greater than that used by the
State Of Illinois would result. And
the discoveries made in Illinois has
been Of inestimable benefit to the
farmers there.
i DR.. Coulter said that Virginia had
very low percentage Of tenants.
eeventy-four out OF every hundred
farmers owning their own farms, and
the tenants. for the most part being
negroes q. s,z -
I John f. jackson. editor of the
Southern Planter. was presented
with a handsome silver loving cup
by the Virginia farmers during the
afternoon session. The cup, which
Is fourteen inches high, bears the
following inscrtptinn:. Presented to
John F.. Jackson. editor Of the South
4 ern Planter. by the farmers OF Vir-
/ gfniA. In apprcctAtiye recngnitioH- ef
his successful labor Of q quarter CEN
fury for the Advancement Of South
arm nrrirultMro I"