The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1913-12-31
NOT MUCHDO|NG
IN VISITING TO
FARMS LATELY
HOLIDAY CONDITIONS INTER
FEREo TO SOME EXTENT, AND
FOLKS WERE INTERESTED IN
SOMETHING ELSE BESIDES
FARMS.

I Report OF Agricultural Adviser for
| week ending Dec. 81, 1913.
| Owing to holiday conditions, there
| has not been much doing in the way
/ of farm visitation, as every one was
more or less interested in some other
! things than crops and live stock.
We are now at the time of the year
/ when we want to make plans for our
! entering; all business men take stock
/ of their resources and plan for future
t endeavors at this time. and the farm
err. trucker and fruit grower should
| follow this plan even in graeter de-
! gree than the business man.
If breaking of the land for spring
| planting has not been already done,
/ it should be begun right away; it is
| advisable, in this connection, that the
best kind of tools be used. A piow
that will put all the trash and vege-
tation on the land completely under
is the only kind that will give salts
| factory results
In breaking land, it is recommended
that it be broken a, few inches deeper
than it was broken the last time. so
as to add to the available soil mois
ture content of the soil and the soils
ability to retain moisture is what de-
! termineS more than anything the crop
yields at harvest time.
The subsoiler should be used freely
in land breaking at this time, as we
|
an excellent condition 70 rsubsoiling
work. The tool for this purpose need
not be of an expensive type; a scooter
stock with a four-inch shovel on it
is one of the best tools one can use;
it should be run in the furrow i'm
mediately following the breaking
pillow; the effect of subsoiling will be
seen all through the next seasons
crops, particularly if a dry spell should
overtake our corn, cotton, sugar cane,
or sweet potato crops.
1t is rather late in the season now
to get good results from planting win
ter cover crops for blowing under pur-
poses in March, to add humus to the
soil for spring planted crops. Land
broken in January should be fire.
quently narrowed UP to planting time;
this narrowing particularly after the
heavy rains of January and February,
opens up the soil to aeration, thus
promoting its sanitary condition, helps
to warm it up, and what Is most i'm
portant, helps it to retain moisture
for the use Of the coming crop.
Sweet Potato Seed Beds.
The sweet potato crop is assuming
an important position among our
farmers as a dependable cash crop,
particularly the earlier varieties for
shipment to northern markets. To
enable, the grower to have available
draws as soon as the danger of frosts
are over in March, the seed bed should
be prepared right now and the pota-
toes put in place in it as soon as pos
sible. To get early draws this bed
must be located where it has a south
ern exposure and is protected from the
cold winds of the north; on the south
side of q tight board fence near the
barn, where it can be properly attend
ed to, is the most desirable location.
A place should be selected about four
feet wide and as long as necessary;
a Trace of ten inch boards should be
made, and the soil scooped out gut
six inches deep, in the bottom of the
bed & layer of stable manure from
the horse stable should be placed about
five inches deep; on top of this a
couple of inches of soil should be put.
a frame of ten inch boards should be
left q few days in the sun 20 warm up
the soil so as to get early sprouung
when we put the potatoes IN place. In
selecting the potatoes we should aim
to have the best possible for seed
purposes. They should be well ma
tured, with we'll developed eyes and
plenty of them; the sizes should be
as uniform as possible, neither too
large nor too small, and we should
above everything else, make sure that
every individual tuber is true to type,
The corn grower that has selected |
his seed in the field While growing
has a decided advantage over the one
that is depending upon crib selec-
in this work is the determining of
the termination of the seed, where the |
seed is still on the ear, a grain from |
each ear should be selected from the !
middle of the ear and tested by the !
rag doll' metho for vitality and |
termination; this method consists in /
taking piece of cloth about six inches |
wide and a yard or so long, mark It |
or in squares about a quarter of an /
inch in size, number these squares and /
number the ears of corn; after wet /
ting this cloth thoroughly. take q grain /
from each ear and place on the square |
in number to the ear I
from which Il was taken; after l
all are placed in position, roll UP the !
cloth into q roll and put in a warm /
water in. it, so as to absorb moisture
as required. After a few weeks that
roll of cloth Will swell to q. large size
owing TO the swelling Of the germiuat-
ing grain. When YOU think ali arc
terminated that will co SO. unroli the /
cloth and examine the grains and see
the percentage of the seed corn that is l
Of high enough vitality 10 insure a II
good crop when planted
Our farmers in general don't pay the |
attention they should TO this matter 4
of seed selection for all their crops, II
Tor it is the vitality of the seed that Il
determines the crop yield as much as
any other one thing. one cannot eN-
1ect d vigorous plant from puny par
antage in any of our crops
This week I expect to visit:
Gonzalez and Roberts-Tuesday III
Dec. 30th.
Olive-Wednesdav. Dec. Sist.
Ferry Pass-E'rlday. January End