The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-08-29
/ WITH THE FARMERS
By Prof. w. F. MASSEY


Glover.
ION land that is good and wei,
deeply plowed in the spring and 500
pounds of fertilizer used and planted
To corn. l want to get permanent
hos pasture for all the year round.
1t is sandy loan, with u strong, red
clay subsoil Can i SOW the seed and
cover with one-horse cultivator? One
acre In this lot Another acre was
prepared in same way and fortified
and sown to crimson clover, which was
turned under and peas sown among the
| corn when 1t was laid by. l want to
put this acre in alfalfa. How should
l prepare the land? Soil like the other
acre, but richer. a third acre lot has
a heavy growth of peas on it.. and
want to put crimson clover on this
acre. How shall l prepare 1t? The soil
| is good"
| For a permanent pasture for hogs 1
know of no grasses better than II mix
ture OF ten pounds Of orchard grass,
! ten pounds of perennial rye grass and
! ten pounds of tall meadow oats grass,
| with q small amount of red clover seed
scattered after sowing the grass seed,
and all lightly brushed in with 81
smoothing harrow. Prepare the land
well after cutting the corn and make
the surface fine with disk and spike
harrow before sowing. On the acre
{ in peas where YOU want to get alfalfa
! l would cut the peas and cure them
for hay after getting the corn off. Then
| pillow the land we'll and harrow in Il
ton OF slaked lime all acre, and then
apply 500 pounds an acre of acid phos-
phate and SOW twenty-five pounds of
seed an acre and brush these in too
with the smoothing harrow. On The
lot in peas alone, NOV the peas for
hay and disk the stubble over finely
and fifteen pounds of crimson
clover seed an acre. Get this seed In
late in August or early in September.
Sweet Soil Necessary for Most
LeEumes.
Clovers. alfalfa and others of the
lcgume family are enabled to get and
combine in forms that plants can use
thc"free nitrogen gas III the air. They
do this through bacteria that live in
little knots or noduleS on the roots.
These bacteria cannot thrive, as a rule,
under acid conditions :. the soil There
are some few cXcepticas to this. for
cowpeus and n few other plants have
bacteria that do not mind soil acidity.
while those that live on clover and
alfalfa demand we'll swcetened soil.
Lime Carbonate the Great Soil Sweet
ching Material.
We can make the soil sweet for these
bacteria by the use OF lime. Burnt
lime, slaked and allowed TO get. by the
action of the air, returned TO the con-
dition of q carbonate, is the readiest
means for restoring the alkaline con-
dition in the soil. The natural car
Donate in the lime rock pulverized very
finely will answer the same purpose if
used III double the amount Alfalfa
especially seems to demand large sup
plies of lime carbonate, and this
il is common to use Il ton OF slaked
burnt lime or two tons of the pulver-
lied limestone an acre. Lime should
No he, t-rt lie
always to sink i'll the soil and we
want to start it near the surface SO
that ii Will go through and affect the
whole soil. Hence we apply II on the
plowed land and simply harrow it in.
! Where to Apply Lime.
! l have said that crops like alfalfa
especially need line, and. of course, the
application for this crop should be
made in the preparation OF the soil for
the sowing. But where To apply lime
in the general farm rotation is a mat
ter for serious consideration. The best
! place that | have found for the lime
| in the farm rotation is after turning
down n clover or grass sod to plant
corn Narrowed in then, at the rate of
! 1908 pounds an acre, ii promotes the
decay and nitrification of the organic
/ matter plowcd under, and also prevents
any acidity in the soil from this green
vegetation turned under,
Then | have spread lime on red
! clover the second spring after sowing
/ il and before vegetation starts in the
\ spring, and brushed it In with a slant
( tooth harrow. This gave me wonder
| fully good results in the clover crop.
/ But rule the place TO use lime is
after turning down green growth Of
any sort for planting a hood crop
! How often should Lime BE Used.
/ FOR the first time. and getting good re-
suits, is apt to jump to the conclu
4 sion that all his land needs is lime
/ But We must not forget that we DO not
! use lime as a manure Plants do use
/ some lime as food but for all the
I purposes Of plant food all of our Gull
! tivatcd soils have an abundance of
/ lime. We use lime, as we have said,
/ To swecten an acid soil, to promote the
/ activity OF the nitrifying bacteria and
/ 10 improve the physical texture of
/ the son. making clay soil more mel
! low and sandy soil more compa ct
! IT is found that the microscopic plants
I we call bacteria. which are the means
/ through which the legumcs get aerial
! nitrogen, and other forms which act
! upon organic decay and bring the
nitrogen ii contains into a form that
! green plants can use, have no green
| matter But, like green plants. they
need carbon. Green plants get carbon
! from the air, through the power that
! their green matter has TO break up
the combination Of carbon di oxide and
get the carbon. The bacteria. having
no green matter, cannot do this. But
ihey have the power 10 get the carbon
they need from chemical combination
III the soil, and when lime carbonate
present they can get their carbon
from this, and in this way the lime
carbonate greatly promotes the growth
ana activity of these soil bacteria
BisuIphidc of Carbon.
Nelson county: "Referrng to the use
OF bisuiph!dc OF carbon for killing
weeVil III corn. please let me know if
II VIII Kill the Unmatched eggs as well
and If It's use Injuries the value Of the
corn for feed or meal? Is there any
way 10 eXterminate the moth from an
old corn house," | am not sure. but