Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-10

are not solid. The stalk of the cotton
begins to die whom the fruit ought to
be doing its best work. Would like to
know if there is any fertilizer / can use
to remedy these troubles.
The chances are that your land does
not contain enough vegetable matter or
available plant food to supply the needs
of the crop when adverse seasonal con-
ditions develop. This difficulty can not
be overcome all at once but great inn
provement may be affected by instituting
crop rotation system. BY this plan
you will devote part of your land to
the growth of soil improving crops. Any
of the legumes will be valuable for this
purpose You may grow during the sum
mer the soy bean, cowpea and velvet
bean. and these should be grazed down
or turned under in the fall. Then in the
winter you may grow the vetch or GRIM
son clover for soil improvement pur-
poses and turn them under in the early
spring to be follow ed by summer crop.
The chances are that the land described
in your letter is deficient in lime, and
this is one reason why the peanuts do
not make a better growth. You should
use from 1000 to 1000 pounds of lime per
acre on land intended for peanuts. Put
il on as soon as you can get it. Use
the caustic form at this seasin of the
year. Apply ii as a top dressing, and
put II on something like 80 days before
using the fertilizer or planting the pea
nuts.
The firing of the corn may be overcome
to some extent by an application OF nj
tuate of soda or the use of a side APP
a D.. ant 70
lief in this direction will only come,
however, from the addition of every con-
siderable quantities of vegetable matter
in the soil You can demonstrate this
for yourself by taking an acre of corn
and cotton and applying I'VE tons of.yard
manure under the drill row at the time
of planting with a liberal application Of
fertilizer. say not less than 500 pounds
of an S-S-4 for cotton, and 900 to 700
pounds of a 1O-3.5-5 for corn. Suppose
\ YOU try a top dressing with nitrate OF
soda at the rate of $50 pounds per acre
as soon as any evidence of shedding on
the part of the cotton or stunning of
the growth of corn occurs. Use the nj
trate of soda i'm two applications of IS
| pounds each. The last application should
be made about ten days before the corn
lunches to silk and tassel, and about the
first of July for cotton. Shallow sur
face cultivation of these crops should
| be kept UP later in the season than is
ordinarily practiced on most of our
farms You will find that the deep plow-
| ing and thorough preparation OF the
land 10 conserve moisture and make the
fertilizer applied to the land readily
available to the crop Is an important
consideration an insuring your crops
against drought.
I
RECLAIAIING RED LAND IN UPSoN
COUNTY.
FF. r., Thomaston, Ca, writes; /
/ am interested in the reclamation OF
rolling red land in Epson county, and
would appreciate any advice you can
! give me along this line. When is the
best time to SOW peas for this purpose
and how should they be fertilized!
What are the best varieties Of Irish po-
tAtoes to cultivate a staple crop; also
method of cultivating and fertilizing
the same?
Cowpeas may be sown any time after
danger of frost is past. In fact, they
may be seeded along with cotton as one
is not more sensitive to the cold than
the other Extra early seeding of peas
Is not advisable because they often fail
to terminate we'll, and the growth in
cool weather is far from satisfactory
Cowpeas offer one Of the best means OF
reclaiuiing the red clay lands Of Upson
county. You will also find the velvet
bean excellent for this purpose. 1t is
often harder and will make a ranker
growth on depleted soils than the cow
pea.
Probably one of the best varieties OF
potatoes which you can plant is the
Red Bliss Irish Cobbler is also a
good variety, and Burbank and Early
Rose are standard sorts Second CROP
potato seed is generally best selected
from the first crop. Maine grown seed
i potatoes seem to give excellent results
\ throughout the south. In planting Irish
potatoes you should get them in the
ground as soon as possible. Leave
| about two eyes to the piece and plant
Immediately after cutting. If planting
is delayed il is often we'll to dip the
potatoes in gypsum to prevent the loss
of moisture Potatoes should be plant
ed in rows three and a half to -four
feet apart, depending on the richness OF
the land. and should be dropped about
Is TO IS inches in the drill row. II
manure is used, it is generally best
broadcasted on top of the land and
worked in with a disk. 1t should not
I come directly in contact with the pota'
toes. Use a high grade fertilizer, es
peciauy on sandy or loamy soils. a
l0-3-5-S will often be found a good
formula to use. On clay soils some
what lower grade of fertilizer will oft
en- prove satisfactory. From 500 to l.,
600 pounds should be used pei acre un'
der the drill row at the time of plant
ing. Give the potatoes clean and fire.
quent cultivation so as to hasten growth
and maturity.
THE BEST CROPS FOR HAY
PRODUCTION
J. Z. D., Pulaski. Ca. writes: / have
some land that ] wish to sow to hay as
early as possible, as l want to make
two crops on the same land What is
the best thing to use, and how should il
be cultivated and fertilized?
A number of crops may be sown fol-
/ a rs HIT Of a1I has