The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-11
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

Is made in the presence OF potash but
there is no potash in starch. When
starch Is formed 1t is conveyed by the
phosphorus TO all points where growth
is being made. and also is stored in
seeds and tubers for the future use of
the plant. In some seed, the starch Is
largely changed into oil. and in some
10 sugar, and in most seeds is stored
as starch This is especially true in
corn. Nitrogen. by supplying the liv-
ing matter that does all the work in
tho plant, increases the vital energy
and stimulates growth.
But growth consists in building new
cell walls. and starch is needed for
these. and unless there is plenty of
potash the living materials cannot get
enough building material, or material
for making seed. and hence the inn
portance CT phosphorus and potassium
In seed production. But to fully cS-
plain all the complex functions car
ried on in the plant would take a vol
ume. Aud when YOU have n great corn
stalk YOU will find that over 90 per
cent OF its bulk came from the air anG
not from the soil. There are numer-
Gus books on plant life that will fully
explain these things
You can dry and burn n large corn
stalk till you have only white ashes
LETT that YOU can hold In your hand
But YOU have destroyed nothing. You
have destroyed the com binat that
nature had built up on the form OF a
corn stalk. but all the materials that
went to make that corn stalk are still
In existence. The materials that came
from the air aro still In existence, and
have gone back where they came from
TO DO used in the making Of other
plants, and you hold in your hand the
ash elements that tho plant got from
the soil. ali except the nitrogen. That
the plant got from the soil, but in the
ultimate analysis il too came from the
cir and has gone back as gas into
the air, and can be captured again by
the wise farmer who grows the legume
crops. All the woody matter, the
starch, the sugar, the oil and the
acids, came from the air and have
conc back there. The only part of
these that came from the soil was
tho water. and that too has gone back
10 the air where 1t came from to the
soil. and Will return to tho soil in the
rains The water that turns tho mill
wheel flows on to the sea. and cvapor-
ates into the clouds, and comes back
to run the wheel again. Nothing In
nature has been destroyed. The ma
terials that make the corn plant have
always been in existence. and may
have constituted parts OF millions OF
corn plants and other plants. or mil
lions of animals. We are told by the
Master to consider the lilies how
they grow and yet how few there arc
who study how tho lilies or any other
plant crows Some years ago a farm
er wrote TO morning paper In
Raleigh, y. c., saying that he noticed
that his spring swellcd up before n
rain. and wanted to know the reason.
IL.
editor told him that ii was easy to ex-
plain, as ut that season Of the year the
sap was running out of the tree roots
and swelled in the spring. This was so
ridiculous that l wrote some eXplana-
ton Of the functions or trees. and !
met intelligent men, collegc-bred men,
on the streets. who said: "Do you mean
that what We have always been taught
that the sap rises in the spring and
goes down in tho fall is not true?"
assured them that IL was certainly not
true and that no roots ever leaked.
and that tho sap that rises in the
spring is not sap At all. but merely
water in which the plant food from tho
soil is dissolved. and the true sap. the
material for growth, is formed in the
leaves. and sent in every direction in
the plant, but not a drop OF II ever
leaks out the roots. though q great deal
OF tho water is cvaporatcd into the
air by tho leaves, and the sap In this
way is concentrated. The true OK
plnnation of the swelling OF the spring
before n rain was that there is n dc
crease Of atmospheric pressure just be
fore rain, and the mercury will swell
in the same way In the cup OF a ba-
romctcr. bringing II down in the tube.
All good farmers should consider how
the lilies grow If they want TO know
how 10 treat plants and feed them
Preparing for Tomatoes.
Halifax County: Il have been reading
Your columns in The Times Dispatch
and find them timely and helpful.
have field, mostly sandy loan, with
part red clay. 1t was in cowpeaS last
year, followed by oats, with good
application of basic Stag. The crop
OF oats was good, and the stubble was
broken seven inches deep and sown
10 cowpeaS rather late on account of
dry weather They are now about fif-
teen inches high. with half stand or
volunteer" oats in tho peas. / wish to
plant this field in tomatoes next sea-
son. What would you advise to do?
Can ! get hay from these oats, ana
what kind OF fertilizer should use
on the tomatoes"' In your section
there is still time TO SOW crimson clover
UP to the middle OF October. would
turn the peas and oats under now, and
SOW crimson clover seed This will
u,
be turned under In the spring in time
for setting the tomatoes, and 1t will
pay. even If the clover has not run to
bloom before il Is necessary to pillow
for tho tomatoes. With two legume
crops turned under, YOU Viii need for
the tomatoes 900 pounds an acre Of acid
phosphate and twenty-five pounds Of
sulphate OF potash. harrow these in
broadcast
IL. as ] suppose. YOU are planting
tho tomatoes for canning. get the best
seed OF the stone or the Success tomato
/ Now ii VIII pay YOU TO start the to-
nato seed rather early in n frame un-
Ger glass sashes. and transplant them
TO larger frames covered with cloth
for hardening them and getting strong
plants to set. Sowing seed in the open
ground and transplanting to the field
directly from the seed rows, makes
the crop late, as II takes some time
for these plants with small roots to
get started But where they are start
81 under protection and transplanted.
they get mass OF good roots and are
far easier 70 transplant and grow of
/ far better.
Tie Tenant system.