The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-12-25

IE38$i3A e4S& YfHSlof the Italian va
tifzflzG szsss6eaaa -ricties. The larg-
w. r. Massey. est of these is the
white onion. called Giant Gibraltar.
These large onions are produced By Il
different system OF cultivation. | sow
tho seed In IL cold frame under the
double glazed sashcs In January.
These seed will produce plants that
in March viii be ms large as an ordi-
nary lead pencil They are then trans
planted to the open ground in soil that
has been very heavily tcrtilized, or
about 1900 pounds an acre Of a feru-
lizcr analysing 7-6-5 Ia nitrogen.
phosphoric acid and potash In trans
planting the roots are slightly clipped
and the tops. too, and they arc set in
very shallow burrows. This method
makes very large onions. had some
Giant Gibraltar onions sent me this
fan. grown In this way in Colorado
which weighed nearly two pounds
each. In the lower South the seed can
DO sown outside in September and
,ransplentcd later. have had them
sent TO mo from New Mexico. grown
from fall sowing. that weighed over Il
pound each.
The High Cost of Living.
Tho Investigations OF the Depart
ment OF Agriculture show that tho
farmers and truckers are not responsi-
bla for the high cost OF per!shable
r
unalysis OF the present system indi-
Gates that only 81 to SO per cent OF the
price the consumer pays for pcrishable
products reaches the producer. Tram
portation takes 20 per cent, commits
sion TO 10 per cont. and tho dealers
make from 90 TO 100 per cent profit
IL Is evident that some means Is need
Cd to bring the producer and the con
sumner closer together. Some years
ago lady IN Western North Carolina
wrote TO mo that she kept good Jer-
Soy cows and made rilt-odgc butter.
but that the swell hotels In Ashevile
seemed 10 prefer Armour's Oleo, ana
she could not get a fair price for but
tor She said that She would be sat
listed with uniform price OF % cents
pound. rs was paying 81 cents
in Raleigh, ! wrote to her 10 scnd me
twenty-five pounds. and would rec
what the express rates would add 10
the price she sent the butter. neatly
wrapped each block in wa1cd paper
and veneer folder. and all packed III
Il light crate. When II was received
AZ the express office, the president o.
ono OF the women's colleges was pres
cnt. and | showed him a cake OF the
butter. and he asked me TO let him
have the print for trial
took the remaining prints home ana
found the butter excellent After us
iHs II. wrote 10 the lady for twenty
i've pounds moro. She replied that she
was sorry. but that DR. Dinwiddic was
taking all She made I at least opened
her a market, and have often thought
that II farmers undcrstood the value OF
printers ink they could get FAR more
for their pcrishable products. a farm
er putting an ad. In a city paper
stating that he can furnish regularly
10 city customers certain products in
general demand. could soon, In this
day OF the parcel post, establish a reg
uiar trade with the city people TO hts
and their advantage. cutting out the
middleman and tho commission mer
chant entirely. and the farmer could
get better price and the consumer pay
less The Development OF the parcel
post is certain to open UP great OPP
portunities for the country producer
II he will simply let city people know
what he can supply regularly and At
what price by post throw this out
as a suggestion or one way 10 get more
than 81 cents of the dollar the CON
sumner now pays.
Lime for Cotton.
II have some crimson clover which
intend TO turn Tor cotton and plant
the cotton on the level VIII an APP
plication OF lime be of benefit TO tho
cotton after blowing under the clover
have no doubt that II viii help the
cotton. II your land has never been
lined, II is probably acid and the turn
ing under OF tho clover viii Increase
the acidity. Experiments too have
shown that lining greatly helps the
cotton crop and the yield was largely
increased One station reports an in
crease from small crop TO over loo
hounds OF seed cotton after lining. 1t
Is nearly always advisable to spread
and harrow in some lime after blowing
under ~ green growth.
Il have been told that applying lime
before planting corn VIII make the
corn fire. Is this true?' THIS same
query has come up before. have
lined land many years before plant
ing corn. and never had any such re-
suits. But always had sod to turn
for the corn. on land deficient in
ganic decay or humus, as we call it.
there might be some such result, but
even there I think II doubtful il the
soil was acid and needed ,iinc. But as
] have often said. YOU must remember
that we do not use lime as q fertilizer.
and only on land that evidently needs
swcetcning. or after turning under n
green crop. Land that has never been
lined and has gotten into an acid con
dition will often show marked results
In the crop from a lining, and the
farmer Is then too apt to conclude that
he can get the same results by con-
tinuous lining, and he will soon find