The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-13


grass ten pounds OF Meadow Rescue
ana hvo pounds Of blue grass an acre.
You can got and maintain n blue grass
sou on any Of our red clay soils. and
even In the coast and Tidcwater Soc
IONS, by keeping up the fertility Of
pi,., and and occasionally lining.
Hsht In sight of where / am writing
lhis Is a sandy field on which 10
nense u SOD OF blue grass as ever grew
80 heHlucky' and right down here In
nVe miles of the ocean.
Home-MiNcd Fertilizers.
ns same bulletin says: For eight
80, several brands of factory-mixed
,,iS,. were compared with home
.iii"tures or equiNalcn comuosit,on
made OF tankage. acid phosnhatc ma
.a,ul or potash. The outcome or
ei'is test was n greater Increase =,
Up from the home mixture. tb,n
from the factory mixtures in oynr,.
e"se, Whilc tho cost OF the homo ,nI>
e eures was much less than that OF Tho
800 mixtures. Acid phosphate ana
steamed boncmeal have peen f,nnd
more economical sources for nhas
phoric acid than ground phosnhate
rock. On the Ohio roll IL was .hnu.,,
'hat II is impossible To grow, ,.1o,,o,.
Win success till the soil il Iined M
n,al.er now well the land is MANFRED
81 iertilize1." And would aud thst
o ~ true In NEST OF our soils ana
~, ~ ''mihs Ia or far more Importance
about now adays.
~ Crop Rotation.
80, nc ouiictin adds: phosphorus alone
wiz not maintain fertility. Nitrogen
ana potash must be supplied In some
AL" All. Du, under ordinary farm CON
oitIons. IT VIII be found necessarv ~
ana'n'a,h the nitrogen supply from
aoHie cheaper source than the fertil
ger sack. II profit Is TO be sncurad
hehce, tho Importance of n systematic
'o'a.ion or crops, including clover and
s.1'iar nitrogen gathering crons ara
the careful savinG and use OF animal
mahnres This is all in line win
"Hdt nave been urging on our farm
10Y generation or more 1t is
MI, .na' phospha,es alone will not
maintain the fertility OF the aojl
houSh IL Is evident that in most of
our Ola soils phosphorus il the ola
meht most generally lacking. Eut ~.
the IDeral use ~ some carrier ar n,,o1
pnorlc acid and the growing ana ,,sinr
oi iesume crops, there is no doubt
~. thc farmers in any of our red
49, upiann3 need to buy IN a fer
ui"er nothing but phosphorfc ACID
Tor IL has been proven that tho raa
cray or the Piedmont section cont,ins
an inexhaustible supply OF potasb do
!tfcd from the decomposition of gran
tic rocks. This IS in an inso1rhio
loFn In the soil. but II has been shown
.hat an occasional lining will bring
.v"e ~ y mo use. and the accumula-
ttoh OF organic dccay from meas and
clover and the homemade manure
VIII bring moro of il into use THROUGH
ne actlon Of the organic acids And
- inc leRume crops. properly used
VIII give US abundant supplies or nj
trogcn. " Is evident that TO maintain
anu increase the productivencsr of our
soils. all that these soils need ~ ~
form Of chemical plant foods is nbos
phor'o acid IN the level sandy soils
some potash will need to be addod
though in much Of the coast section az
IN gloucester, IL has been shown thai
potash Is not needed along the rivers
mat take their rine In the Blue
i,idEe ana yet, through the neglect
OF systematic rotation and the use
OF i"Su'res. farmers All over the state
are spendinr their hard-earned cash
ior plant foods that they need not buv
II they farmed right.
Sowing Spinach.
Wlii II do TO sow spinach on the
same iand that has been in spinach for
two ycars?' Constant cronnir,cr of ~
~ truck farming as In general farm
ING. Diseases that affect n plant viii
Always De increased by repeating tho
crop on the land. no matter how well
Tortured. The only truck crop / know
az that seems to stand and do veil
year altcr year on the same land is the
onion crop. and while onions seem 10
,hrlNe year after year on the same
land. after while the diseases that
AFFECT onions will become more trou-
biesomc In smaller truck pardens
pout Lamberts Point. near Norfolk.
spiAach has gotten so diseased that tho
crop can hardly DO grown Rotation
OF crops Is always desirable and i'm
portant, and when man is growing
garden truck on q large scale it Is nj
ways best to change part of his land
every lew years and grow some clover
on !, as means for getting humus,
winch is as important. or more import
ant for truck crops than for general
grain crops The constant dependenco
on heavy use of commercial fertilizers
alone has brought trouble to the largest
truck growers, so that crops that for
merry throve finely arc now very un-
certain. You should get in winter
cover crop OF the land rs often as
practicable, and follow early truck with
cowDeas to turn under for the fall and
winter crops Neglect OF the legume
crops has brought trouble to manv
eiuSh BIo"cTS, ana 10 no CultivatOrS
OF the soil are the legume crops more
important than 10 the truck farmer.
one of the most successful truck grow
ing firms / know keeps n large dairy
nerd, and runs milk wagons in the adj
joining city, more for the purpose OF
gotting animal manures to maintain
the humns in their soil than for the
profits of tho dairy, and their crops
show the wisdom of the practice.
Crops DO not seem to thrive on their
own decay. and IT is far better to
make rotation OF crops of a different
character. following leaf crops like
spinach with root crops, and. above all.
maintaining the humus in the soil III
the spring crop OF spinach is follow
Ell by cowpeas III summer and the
whole growth of cowpcas turned under
in the fall. there might be less danger
in putting tue land in spinach again.
But 1T would be better to put winter
cover crop of crimson clover on the
land, and turn 1t Cor sweet potatoes ir
the spring. giving the potatoes n heavy
dressing Of acid phosphate and potash.
Then you could set early cabbage
plants after the sweet potatoes, fol-
low these with peas and turn the peas