The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-23

to your query and you can keep IT
for what it is worth. All my expert
ments with tobacco we're made with
the bright tobacco generally grown in
North Carolina. and TO some extent in
Southside Virginia. My experiments
were made on the sandhill section of
North Carolina, where we experiment.
ell with fertilizers because the soil
was naturally deficient In plant food.
ana we thought TO het more accurate
results than from an old soil which
had been changed in it's character By
cultivation. The land where the ex-
periments were made wa covered by
:" thin growth Of the long leaf pine.
we took every tree off the land. roots
and all. and prepared the sand for the
experiments not only in tobacco. but
All sorts OF crops. We used various
forms OF plant food alone and in nu-
lnerous combinations for tobacco
found that the result from the OF
heavy application OF phosphoric acid
resulted in thin. papcry. leaves and
big veins Where potash was applied
in the form OF sulphate the quality was
good. Where II was used as chloride.
As in the muriate Of potash. the to-
bacco grew green too late and never
matured properly Nitrate OF soda
made fine start but failed late in the
season unless some organic nitrogen
was used with 1t. The best form OF
organic nitrogen found to be pure
i made up the following as the best
formula for dry upland soils:
500 pounds OF acid phosphate, Is per
cent
100 pounds OF nitrate Of soda.
600 pounds OF dried blood
400 pounds Of sulphate OF potash. to
make a ton
The high grade sulphate only should
be used, as the low grade. or double
manure salt, will not give the per
centage Of potash needed on such soils
This was used in Granville County at
the rate OF 200 pounds acre. and
made crop Of tobacco that brought
the highest price OF the season on the
Durham market. Another man in tie
dark. moist, soil in Eastern North
Carolina tried IL in the same amount.
and made rank crop Of inferior to-
bacco. Had he consulted me could
have told him what the result would
probably be in his soil. where a much
smaller amount would have been bet
ter
Another man in the Piedmont sec
ton got the formula. and instead OF
making IL at home, got fertilizer
manufactures 10 make il for him. He
reported very poor and badly rip
cned crop. asked him TO send mo
his fertilizer bin, and he did so They
had followed tho formula in uuanti-
ties. but when II came 10 the potash
they wrote III very small letters. low
grade, KANT"
This explained the whole trouble. He
not only cot but onc-f fourth the amount
OF potash. but got IL in form that
spoiled the quality OF the tobacco and
II was. ! believe. done Intentionally TO
discourage home mixing In making
up a fertilizer formula get the best
materials and mix them yourself
In the trucking section of North
Carolina this formula has been very
successfully used for vegetable crops
simply by replacing the dried blood
with cotton seed meal. II has been
found In the experience OF farmers and
in the experiments made by the State
experiment station that phosphoric acid
is less needed than other things on tho
dark soils OF the coast region. In fact
many farmers there say that they get
no good results from the use Of phos-
phoric acid. This is very different from
the results in most sections OF the
country. for a rule it is the phos-
phoric acid that is the governing factor
in all fertilizer mixtures, for phos-
phorus is more generally deficient in
old cultivated soils than any other form
OF plant food
Lime Tobacco.
Some years ago number Of tobacco
farmers in Maryland, who grow a
heavy shipping tobacco. tried expert
ments with lime on the crop AT a
farmers institute in Prince George
County. one man exhibited tobacco on
which he had applied 1900 pounds OF
=
heavy. coarse. dark tobacco. OF very
inferior quality. Another man had
some on which he had applied 800
pounds an acre. This was heavy. but Of
fine brown color and very good
quality. The effect OF lime seemed to
increase the weight and darken the
color OF the tobacco. and where not too
heavily used II made fairly good to-
bacco. | have been asked # II would
be we'll to use some lime In the cultiva-
nf he
reply was that ] believed that. in
good rotation OF tobacco, lime should
be used in moderate amount, but not
directly on the tobacco. but on a clover
bright tobacco If applied directly To
the crop would be to darken the leaf,
which would be injurious there.
Preparing for the Wheat Crop.
The old method as We have seen, was
to fallow field early in summer, and
keen II narrowed till seeding time.
Doubtless good crops Of wheat were
made in this way. In fact the heaviest
crop | ever knew in this country was
made by a long summer fallow. This
was in the fine wheat section of Talbot
County, Maryland, many years ago. Tho
owner of the farm had field in red
clover which he intended TO pasture TIL
July as usual, and then break II ana
prepare 1t for wheat. ON part OF TINS
tield a weed had started that he wished
10 destroy, and this part he plowcd in
MAY. and kept it narrowed all summer
with no crop on IL. Later, the whole
field was plowcd and prepared for
wheat.
Al seeding time the part broken in
Nav was simply n coat of fine dust
with hard settled soil below. The
drill he said roared on it like a hard,
dusty road. but it was seeded in that
state The growth was so extra strong
on this part that he had the county
surveyor measure it. and the best SIX
acres were measured separately. There
were eighteen acres in the piece. The
six best acres made siXty-four and
half bushels OF wheat an acre. and the
whole eighteen acres averaged fifty
four and one-half bushels an acre, or
double what the remainder of the field
made. But that long fellow had re-
leased SO much plant food that the