The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-09-06
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY


very favorable results. and I have
crimson clover culture from the sam
I establishment which I. am now try
\ Ing. But I would not say that this l.
/ surely good simply because I foun,
/ the culture for cowpeas good. If i
shows up equally VOL with the Glove
! l Will be in a position to say that /
/ has done well with me.
! l have tried somo other things tina
have been advertised and found then
/ wanting, and. of course. 1 cannot sa,
anything about any that have no
tried. But do think that a culture o.
! bacteria enough to inoculate seed fol
an acre cannot, if It is really good b,
made for so cents.
Insects on Dnhlins.
| a lady correspondent in Nottowa,
writes that her dahlias are infested
with little Mes that suck the life out
of the buds, and wishes to know what
TO do for them. 1t is doubtless the
honeydew aphis that is eating your
dahlia buds. and probably YOU will
find the leaves sticky with the sweet
emulation. Get some tobacco stems
and boil them down to a strong tea
and use this as a spray Or YOU can
get nicotine pre- partitions from any o.
the seedsmcn in Richmond which give
the nicotine in n more concentrated
form. l use concentrated article
called -Aphne diluted with forty parts
OF water. and find it very effective.
Improving nm Orchard.
Nelson County: Your articles are
adding greater value to The Times-Dis
..patch | wish some informa ton in re-
gard to my orchard. near the base OF
the Blue Ridge. The trees are about
fifteen years old largely Winesaps
There seems to be some deterioration
in the trees. and have thought of fer
tliZing with bone meal or phosphate
and potash. Which would be the bet
ter, and how would you apply it? |
am thinking of digging around the
trees aSfar out as the limbs extend and
sowing the fertilizer on the fresh
ground. Can YOU give me any sugGes-
tons?" l understand from what YOU
say that the trees have been standing
in sod. and that you propose TO dig
around them. If the orchard Is in
grass and has been so for some years.
the roots Will have gotten near the sur
face, and the feeding rootlets and root
hairs that get food for the trees are
now right out where the limbs dliD.
That is the place for the fertilizer If
there is good grass sod. I would not
disturb it, but would apply fertilizer
literally over the space where the
limbs drop and a little beyond rather
than near the trunks of the trees,
where there arc few feeding roots This
Will mean in a fifteen -year-oid orchard
AN application to most OF the ground.
The best material will be pure raw
ground bone applied at rate Of 800 to
ovV pounds an acre i believe in keep
ing a bearing orchard in grass if the
grass is kept solely Tor the trees and
Tot used as hay or pasture. Encourage
the growth Of the grass BY top dressing
" 20 INV
eral times during the growing season
and let IL remain as a mulch TO the
roots. An annual top dressing and
moving several times during the grow
Ing season. leaving all the cut grass
as mulch, and TO add fertility 10 the
SOIL VIII keep the orchard in thrifty
condition. II the land they are on is
the red clay. they Will need no potash,
hut If the trees are in n cove or what
is known as Pippin land I would add
some potash 70 the fertilizer. saw about
twenty-five pounds OF the muriate of
potash an acre. \ crop OF apples will
remove three times as much potash
from the soil as crop Of wheat on
The same land that would make twenty
bushels an acre.
Sundry Truck Questions.
Il am in the trucking section. and
tried small area in velvet beans. about
!hree- quarters OF an acre. They have
mace very rank growth and have
about run out the Bermuda grass maj
covered the land. II l pillow the vines
under after frost has killed them. viii
the land be in good shape for a cron Of
early Irish potatoes TO be PLANTED ~
late February or March? Will the soil
lose fertility in the winter?
II put any cover crop on it will be
700 late Tor the potatoes and IN.
amount OF lana is not enough to use
IL Tor corn. / am told that lime an
pHcd around tomatoes viii check the
bacterial wilt Have YOU ever t,ira
II am told that in Colorado they
''aVe no worms in cantaloupcs. as they
put torches in the fields and SET in
tubs Of water, and thus catch the moths
that lay the eggs that make the pickle
worms Have YOU ever tried this?"
On the land where the velvet beans
are ii Will pay YOU TO SOW rye as n
winter cover. OF course, il will moi
be tan by the time you need 10 nlow
Tor the potatoes, but all the same
whatever growth 1t makes will be say
ing plant food that would leach ON
IN the winter, and II will not take
much rye for small piece OF land.
floW the land in sIrln,; without any
regard to the conditions OF the rye ON
piece Of land in North Carolina ibot
was infested with The bacterial viii
spread lime and narrowed IT in bcf,rc
planting tomatoes. and that season
there was no blight This was purely
Experimental work. and I planted tho
! same land again the next season. and
| mo pl2nts all blighted IL seemed
/ mat III" lime had a temporary effect In
/ checking IL for season. for tho blirh,
! had DESTROYED the plants the summer
/ before Various traps for catcbing
! insects AZ nigh, have been devised
| sNch as lanterns set in pans Of wate,
| covered with kerosene. The diGic,liv
I Wlth these traps Is that they DESTROY
as many beneficial insects as Of harm.
ful ones The best means Tor wardino
Oh the pickle worm that attacks melons
ana eucunbcrs is 10 spray reCularl,
WIN lead arseratc ono pound in thirty
gallons Of water. Spray early and
several times and you can keen then
down
HmyinG Nitrogen or Growing II.
Nitrogen in Il mixed fertilizer ueuau,
costs the buyer 20 cents a pound Evn,
in the low grade 2-S-2 there ara ..
pounds OF actual nitrogen or A.
pounds ammonia The 80 po,Inds ,bn,
cost $3.50. peck of crimson clnvo
seed costs si12i2. and y growth .
CRIMSON clover VIII put In the soil "a
more nitrogen than tho u.Loio