The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-11-25

AENNAAN
Il have some land that is now
rather poor, n want to bring it up
H. make a 5O0-pound bale an acre.
what kind of fertilizer and how much
ln acre to make such a CROP" 1 real
rs cannot say, and am not quack
enough to try to say whether any
amount of fertilizer you may use on
Door land will make 500 pounds of
lint an acre. Liberal fertilization.
especially with phosphate and potash.
generally pays we'll on cotton. But
the way to get your land profitably to
make a good crop is to practice a
GOOD rotation, growing plenty Of peas
and clover and feeding stock to make
manure for the land. Your land did
not get poor all at once, and it is not
going to get rich all at once. 1t took
Years Of robbery to reduce it's fer
ti1ity. and it will take some years to
restore it. Get the soil well stored
with vegetable decay, and grow plenty
vi legume forage n feed it to stock
aud make manur for the land. Some
years ago a young man in the South
ern Piedmont section offs North Caro-
lima bought a little farm. and got me
10 look at it and advise him. 1t was
as p~oor-loOking a piece of land as l
ever examined. | laid down a rota-
tion for him and he stuck to it, and
the last time / heard from him he was
making more cowpea hay than he had
barn O for, was making over a
bale of cotton an acre, and made on
one field s~eventy-five bushels of oats
an acre and got two tons Of cowpea
hay an acre after the oats. He did
not get to this in one season or by the
use Of fertilizer alone. He used fer
~tiliZers judiciously, but filled his land
With humus from the clover and the
manure from feeding the pea hay.
Today he could sell that little farm
for five times as much as he paid for
ii. Go thou and do likewise.
Injuring Land.
My cotton field has gotten an i'm
nense growth of crab grass since the
fail rains set in. Will it injure the
land To turn this under with the cotton
stalks after all the cotton is OFF," In
stead Of injuring the land it will be a
great advantage to turn under the
dead grass and stalks and SOW rye
on the land as a winter owe to be
turned under early in spring for corn
Do not pay any attention to the mer
who tell you that you cannot max
corn after cotton. Get humuS into the
soil 10y turning under the dead grass
and stalks and spread all the manure
you can max in winter as fast as i
- made, and you can make corn aftel
cotton as we'll as after any other hoet
crop. Sow peas in your corn and fol
low the corn with winter oats, II tn
oats with peas again for hay to US
for feeding and Misunderstanding, ant
then crimson clover to turn for cot
ton again, and you will be improvin,
the land all the time.
Potatoes Mixing.
tsG,,nn t,nro ;,.;gt fhof diffnrant wa
rieties Of Irish and sweet potatOe
viii mix in the hills if planted to
close together. What do you think o
this" Plants mix only by the bios
SONS crossing and the seed from thes
being sown for new varieties. Pota
toes canno mix in the hills. Their
may he at times what are called sport
Or mutations that appear sudden
among plants Of all sorts. But thes
are not the result of crossing, bu
from causes not well known. Tn
white skinned bliss potato appeare
among a field Of red ones, and ha
been p~ropagated, and | could nan
hundreds of instances Of these sport
but they are not crosses at all. Re
sweet potatoes have appeared suddeI
~ among yellow ones, and no on
can tell the exact cause for the mi
tation. 1t is the effect of a sort {
evolution in the plants.
Getting a Blue Grass Sod.
Can l get a sod Of Kentuky blu
grass here on red hills of the Piet
mont section? If so. please tell n
how to do it" Yes. you can get {
good a sod of blue grass there
anywhere, for / have done it yea
igo. ! would break the land no
ma SOW rye as a winter cover, ar
turn it under in early spring Whe
only a few inches high. Then app
900 pounds of slaked lime an ac'
and harrow it in, and 800 pounds
'aw zone meal an acre. Then SOW tt
pounds of orchard grass, ten poun'
II kentucky blue grass seed an acr
Then scatter about eight pounds
White clover seed. and brush all
With q smoothing harrow. Do tn
IS early as the land can be work.
II good order in the spring. The tn
cocks of the orchard grass and t
ed top will protect the slower bl
md If the sod is kept good by annu
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