Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-05-17


more desirable in establishing sod of
Bermuda grass to use the sets. This
may be done by blowing the land and
then laying it off in rows two to three
feet apart, and dropping small pieces of
the sod three or four inches apart in
the rows. OF course there are more
rapid ways of setting large areas than
this, but this is one of the best meth
DDS to follow where you desire to es-
tablish a relatively small area of this
grass. We have set out many acres
by the method suggested. and often
when the sets are put out in April or
May a magnificent sod is secured be-
fore the summer is past. OF course,
Bermuda, like any other grass, does
better ION soil which has been well
prepared and put in condition to re-
ceive the sod before it is planted. On
this poor land it will do as well as
any other grass, but the growth will
not be so vigorous as on better land.
THE SUCKERING OF CORN.
E. G. s., Hagan, Ga, writes: How
can 1 manage to keep corn from suck
erlng? Our experience has been to
plant deep in the ground and put the
most of the fertilizer on after the CO
is large enough to pillow. If we do not
do this ii will sucker and fire badly,
and blow down. My boy has joined
the corn club, and 1 have given him an
acre of land that lies lower than the
rest of the land. 1t is dark chocolate
with a red stiff subsoil seven incne
below the surface. 1t has been cleared
only two years and has been IN sweet
potatoes both years. l have plenty
yard manure and S-3-6 guano. Would
like to have all the information you
can give me how to raise a big corr
crop. >~ -.....-. ~ .s
There is no method of planting corn
with which we are familiar which will
insure it's not suckerlng. Some vari-
cites are more prone to this trouble
than others, and this is especially true
of the prolific varieties. If there is a
strong tendency to suckering, howev-
err, the trouble is generally due TO
planting in too wide rows and too
far apart In the drill, and may some
times be overcome by thicker planting
than is often followed. suckers
form in large numbers removing them
by hand or hoe would be a laborous
undertaking, and with field crops we
would not ordinarily attempt to do
this On a prize patch suckering may
often be desirable, and if undertaken
should be done as soon as the suckers
begin TO form. They may be chopped
out with a hoe or pulled out by hand.
If our corn suckered badly this year.
we would try thicker planting another
season, and probably lessen the az
of nitrogen applied at the time Of
planting the crop If necessary thi'
nitrogen could be used later in the
season as a top dressing. Our expert
ence has not justified the Withholding
of fertilizer until late in the season
with corn. 1t is all right to use a side
application with corn on soils low il
vegetable matter and not well suprl
with nitrogen. In fact. two side aD-
plications may sometimes be mad
with advantage on some sandy land.
Fertilizer put under the drill
at the time of planting is not the
cause of the corn firing. That is duo
entirely to a lack of moisture in =
soil. and the inability of the land be-
cause of it's lack of vegetable matter
to hold the moisture which falls q
rain and supply it to the crop as need
ed. can not see how, and our expe-
rience does not Justify the conclusion
that putting fertilizer under the
some weeks after it has been planted
will prevent it's blowing down.
1t is gratifying to know that yor'
boy expects to raise prize acre Of
corn this year, and / hope he may
successful in raising one of the largest
crops in the history or your section O.
the state Advise him TO brea-
land as deeply as he can whenever the
ground is in good condition for pillow
ing Do not try to force the seas0~
however, by breaking the land when it