The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-30
WITH THE FARMERS
By Prof. w. F. MASSEY

poor that better crops cannot thrive
Not that sorrel will not thrive on
sweet and fertile soil: for. given
chance to do SO. IT will grow all tho
better Tor good conditions, just as any
plant will. But you have probably
done MS the majority do. thinking that
the pasture Is thing that can take
caro- of itself and feed stock without
your doing anything for 1t. If tho
grass In the pasture had had a top
dressing OF bone every spring and
some lime every sixth year. you would
have had growth of grass that would
have given no chance to the sorreI.
If I had pasture overrun with
sorrel. would break it deeply at once
and prepare 1t well. and would SOW
cowpeas. and in September, or after
the peas are mature. 1 would disk them
down and then pillow them under and
narrow In a good dressing of slaked
lime. and then resow the land to grass,
as suggested recently in a reply to q
letter from mountain graZier. Then,
after getting sod on the land keep
1t good. in the way I have moro than
once suggested. Too many of our
pastures are q disgrace to the farm.
and l have often been told that per-
manent pasture east of the Blue Ridge
Is certain to run into only broomsedge.
This is doubtless generally the case
If you do not encourage the better
grasses. Nature Will give you the
broomsedge. but keep the soil fertile.
and swccten II with an occasional lin
ing, and broomscdge will never get
the upper hand. Broomscdge comes in
because the soil gets too acid and poor
for better grass.
Onions RunnlDE to Seed.
Ny onions from fall-planted sets
arc running TO seed. and will not make
onions OF course they are. I plant
sots in the fall only for early green
N In
seed and not make good. ripe onions
unless the sets were OF the Yellow Po-
tato onion. which never makes seed
You can SOW seed OF the Big Boston
lettuce In early August and transplant
them TO very rich bed. and can have
them headed early In November. and
II you have frames and glass sashes
you can SOW again In September and
set the plants in the frame TO head in
early winter. Then | use the double
glazed hot-bed sashes and under these
SOW rad!shcs and beets about New
Years. and have the radishes in the
winter and move the sashes TO other
frames In March for my tomato plants
and let the beets remain exposed till
ready TO pull. Some glass sashes on
frames are very interesting and use
ful In TIM garden. and by their help
/ have lettuce and rad!shes from No
Vemocr iii June Then one OF the
most useful winter vegetables IS the
leek. II IS now too late to SOW these
sow them in Il bed IN April. and in
July transplant them IN rather deep
burrows heavily fert!lized. Then as
they start to grow. the soil is pulled
10 them. and finally hilled up some.
as we want to make large and long
white shanks These are very hardy
and can be pulled for use during the
winter whenever the soil is not
frozen, and they take the place OF
green onions tn the onions come in
Trouble With Irish Potatoes.
From Orange County: Il read with
much pleasure your Instructive advice
In The Richmond Times Dispatch Can
YOU tell me what is the matter with
my potatoes? l have bought seed Of
the Irish Cobbler and the White Bliss
The vines are uXur.ant, and have some
bloom. but in digging we find sound
pieces OF the old potatoes. some Of
which ! am sending you. and in some
places one or two new potatoes, small
ones. and In other places none Were
the old potatoes kiln dried. or what Is
tho matter? This Is the second time NE
have had this happen. and others have
the same difficulty. and man near
Alexandria says he Is going 10 give up
potatoes because OF this trouble For
years there has been very little bloom
on potatoes here In my grandmother's
time this garden made fifty TO sixty
bushels OF potatoes from planting two
and a half bushels. Last year ! plant
cd bushel and three pecks and made
about fifteen bushels" I have quoted
this letter rather fully because IL is
illustrative OF the general result In
planting potatoes in old gardens. The
whole difficulty seems to me TO be the
deficiency in the soil of the mineral
mr. F1r - L.
that the tops arc luxuriant This
shows that the soil is well supplied
with nitrogen. and you have probably
been using only stable manure on the
garden, and 10 make potatoes this Is
deficient in some things The land
formerly made good potatoes 1t would
do II now. but for the fact that Il has
become deficient in the very things
that make the tubers: the phosphoric
acid and potash. Now to grow pota-
toes in an old garden that has for
years had only stable manure. I would
not use manure on them at ALL but
would use literally OF acid phosphate
ana su!phate OF potash. These are the
materials that aid in the formation of
starch and It's location in the plant
where needed. and II you have not
plenty OF these in the soil you can have
Dig tops and few or no potatoes
Now Plant some late potatoes in that
same garden. Plant them as have
before suggested. in deep burrows. But
before planting put In the burrows acid
phosphate and sulphate of potash at
rate of 500 pounds of acid phosphate
and seventy-fve pounds of sulphate OF
potash an acre. and mix It we'll in
the soil in the bottom OF the burrows.
Plant seed OF the Irish Cobbler that
have been kept In cold storage. and
which you can buy from Richmond
seedsmen. Cover them very lightly
at hrst. and then as they grow, grad
ualiy MI In the earth to them. and then
wnen level keep them we'll cultivated
shallowly and level to retain the
moisture. If you do this you will find
that that garden Is still capable of
growing potatoes. and next spring try
the same with the early potatoes. only
With thcm plauf ~ usual and LII -.