The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-10

Il Siio, and make an abundance of en-
silage.
Cow Peas and Crimson Glover.
From Accomac County: Il write to
you as an authority on crimson clover.
have some sandy soil that l propose
10 plant in cow peas, early In June and
| turn them under in time to SOW Grim
son clover on the land. What kind of
fertilizer shall ! use to hasten the
growth OF the peas and make them
vigorous. The land is poor. and | wish
TO improve ii with leguminous crops"
l am always glad to hear from any
one in my native county who is wish
ms TO improve his land with regimes.
Tor there has been great neglect of
these III Accomac and Northampton,
and too great a dependence on the con-
slant and heavy application of com
mercial fertilizers. While the people
on the Eastern Shore counties of Nir-
ginia are thrifty and make money in
truck crops, there is far too little at
tention given TO the getting of humus
in to soil and the Improvement of the
land in this way. In passing through
these counties in winter one is panied
TO see the wide areas OF bare land left
to leach fertility in the winter rains.
while il should be covered with a green
crop. if only rye.
The potato growers there laborioulsy
in winter TO spread OH the land for
sweet potatoes. when they might get
q far better cover of organic matter
by growing winter cover crop.
Where the land is left from late crop,
it may be rather late to get clover on
and growth of rye even would give
them as much organic matter as the
hauling or trash from the woods
While the trucker might find a
growth OF crimson clover rather late
for his sweet potato crop, he could
make fine crop of corn on it, and
would thus get some humus into the
soil and then get rye and sweet pota-
toes without so much labor of raking
and hauling and spreading the pine
trash from the woods. The great need
OF the soils on the Eastern Shore is
humuS or vegetable decay. The pine
trash does give them some. but il costs
more and is not as good as clover that
would save the buying Of ammonia in
fertilizer. What is needed there is
an alienation of the land in farm
crops and clover and peas. and then
in truck with the fertilizers. There is
too little attention given to the raising
of live stock and the making OF ma
nure. since forage crops are generally
ignored. Accomac and Northampton
could be made greatly more productive
filters If more attention was given to
the lcgume crops.
But the hardest thing is to argue
against success, and as long rs
these people make money with truck
crops and commercial fertilizers. II
IS hard to convince them that they
could do better by the growing Of
peas and crimson clover. and always
having some sort of Il winter cover on
IL.
is washing from their soil in the win
! ter rains. and return ii 10 the soil in
spring by blowing under the crop that
has taken il up.
Now. after all this preliminary. will
say that the hest thing you can do for
tho peas will be to give about 500
pounds an acre Of acid phosphate and
TWENTY-FIVE pounds of muriate Of pot
ash we'll narrowed in, in the prepare
ton OF the soil.
Then drill! tho peas in with = wheat
drill set TO SOW two bushels of wheat
Inis will put the peas in at uni.
FORM depth, and they Will grow OFT
tnuch better than broadcasted and
narrowed in. The best pea for your
purpose will be the speckled whippor-
will. as II is a rather carly pea. and
VII be ready TO turn under earlier
man the black or CLAW meas @,
course. you can urge the more rapid
growth ny using some nitrogen in tbo
fertilizer. But If you do this, the meas
VIII take il and will not Get TN. nitro
gen from the air, and hence Will not
! do as much for the soil Tho vim
set more OF this aerial nitrogen ON
poor land, IL we'll supplied with acto
I phosphate and potash than on rtch
! SOIL where they can get nitrogen from
/ tho soil.
/ Let the peas get we'll matured ne
! fore turning them under, and then
! prepare the land we'll and SOW fifteen
/ or more pounds OF the crimson clover
! seed an acre. and brush it in lightly
with smoothing harrow. The best
! tiin" 10 SOW the clover oin he in late
August or early September.
Hn*mnn sweet Potnto.s and Onions
Another Peninsula man writes; DO
3 understand that you keep the iIav-
I man or Southern Queen sweet notat o
In an ordinary cellar or in ono vim
! furnace? Where can get the lIav-
man plants? My father raised onions
/ called English or French mul,ipIiers
an early onion, that made large on
/ IONS FROM sets. and largo ohes made !.
lot OF sets. do not recognize them
In the catalogues. Can you help me
yes where handled the potatoes NV
sen AMI summed them we'll before
storing, and ten kept the cellar omen
and airy ill the nights got frosty.
nave kept the IIa>man sweet pota
Toes very well In an unheated cellar
'ha' Was we'll protected from frost.
And have had them decay in ?
cellar with hot water boiler i'm il
Whcrc bought the potatoes from
som" one who had handled them bad
" and hauled them miles 10 town
II is matter Of ,areful hardlilg a.
h'ch as storing 1 try 10 Keep swee,
p"ta'"cs in temperature - 81 To -
m.srr's You can get the oiamts from,
W. r. Allen Salisbury. Md.
Potato Onions
me onions You refer TO arc doubt
iesa the yellow potato onion There
AZ" two varieties of these multipIIers
of onions that increase at the BUN
ana make no seed. The yellow potato
|H''l makes very large onion from
IaiI-piantcd sets. and number O,
o''se's mat can either be used as
srecn onions in the spring or kent for