The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-12-01
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

own opinion is that YOU VIII not make
the Kind OF tobacco Won wish If you
I fertilizc as is customary You must
/ take into consideration The increase Of
nitrogen from the lcaurnes and use
less in The fertilizer. Then while YOU
/ can use the nuriatc OF potash on your
cotton you should use only tho birh
grade sulphatc on the tobacco It viii
be an Interesting experiment In YOUR
section. and may do away with tho
. prejudice against clover among thu.
bright tobacco men. as 1t may disprovc
! their notion ana be a great help to
your section shall be Interested In
the result
Hurdles for Hogs
Newport News: Please publish i'm
Tb" Times dispatch directions for MAX
Ing cheap but strong hog hurdles FOR
Fencing them ia pastures? - When ono
has plenty of rail- timber tho old n sh.
Toned worm fence Is about as cb,;p .
hurdle as can be made When yyas
iaIming In Albemarle ! had a lot Of
CHESTNUT rails that I used foi, teinpot-
arE fences, and when not i'm use stack
ed them on cnd in any convenient
place. iut where rails arc not avail
able. In" best temporary fence Is MADE
% amy Of the woven wire fencing will
galvanized Mch gas pipe TO driy.. down
for posts.
Not in the rial Estate business.
Recently / replied 10 tn auer, iron,
. young man in Bland County. vino
wanted - know something about
Grecnsville County as hc was thin.-
Ing OF buying = farm there Now the
mail brings me letters from all parts
OF The state from parties who wan;
20 sell the youn1 rn;i = farm ana = : X
IN ,F...tt
him Now, | am not in any wa, in the
real estate bus'ne do not tilc those
letters after answerlng them in tho
paper. ami hence cannot give the ad-
man 20 undertake 10 sell land for any
one. and would never advise any on. TO
buy land without a personal inspcc-
ton ! raj - idc2 OF starting fresh
correspond. lcW ~ telling the young
man what knew about GreensY He.
these letters
Smut In Sorghum
II never heard Of smut H. sorghum.
but this year fully 90 per cent OF my
sorghum heads planted for syrup. were
blacll and smutiN 7 got my seed from
a Southern seen house is smut on
sorghum prevalent ~ the South: As
IS" mad the worst drought for Years in
this part of the STAGE. perhaps tina,
would account for it" The smut YOU
send is very similar t. not identical.
with tho smut in Indian corn But in
tho case OF sorghum. It may be car
ricd by the seed for the specimen YOU
send las some good seed in the head,
and as these arc covered with spores
,h.y VIII carry tho Infection II planted
without treatment. The dry weather
had nothing TO do with IL and the smut
was proba bly carried Oh tho seed You
may have bought the seed from a
southern seed house. but that does no;
tell whev. they were grown, and hitve
no reason TO supposc that tho fungus
is more prevalent Inv the south Than
eiscwhcre. Before planting amy seed
from this crop ! would soak them half
an hour In solution Of iormaldch yde.
ono pint to twenty gallons OF water.
This viii destroy the spores. But at
the sam" time would select seed from
plants that are not suutty. The smut
fungus has been growing through the
plant All the season, ana the black
smut IL the fruitiuE OF tho plant and
every grain Of IL WIN grow Ike a seed
II u rs Ia contact with tho gerninat-
Us seed. With this fungus growing
through !ts tissues, would assume
that the quality OF the sap FOR syrup
making would be very seriously AT
fectod. Like YOU. have never before
seen the smut IN sorghum heads
though u may be common i'm some
sections
Fall Flowing.
u read great deal in some OF tho
Farm papers about the value Of plow-
ing land late in the fail for spring
crops a. "a tho case Of heavy clay
the frost will mellow the soil. and only
q disking Will b. needed i'm the busy
season az spring What is your opin-
ion in this matter There is no doubt
about tho mclloWiug influence OF frost.
where the soil freezes deeply in winter.
There is also no doubt that. in the
y l. {,, 81 -,
bare all winter VIII lose more fertility
than tho ruclloWinc is worth.
Ii ! plowed n piece OF heavy land in
the fail would also SOW rye on it as
4 winter cover. and would replow in the
spring. But would never plow any
land III tho fan in the South and leave
IT bare all winter. 1t may do very we'll
III The North where the soil is locked
up hard all winter, TO practice this hut
in the South wouln never do ii un-
less | sowcd winter cover on tho
land The best preparation for corn
or cotton in tho South is a winter
cover of crimson clover. and the late
fail blowing prevents this. | would
not hesitate to pillow a piece OF heavy
land In tho late fali provided rye was
sown on II. and thnl. that the fan
Dlowing with this viii he Il great ad-
vantage TO heavy soil, and the more
organic decay we can get into such a
soil the more mcllo.r it Will become.
Then, in the case OF clay hills where
II is desirable to make a deep bed OF
loose soil 10 prevent washing, the fall
Is tho best time to deeply subsoil such
lands. In fact, they are about tho only
lands where deep sLosoilinE will nav
Subsoling the hills can be hest done
IN the fall, for the sou is then dryer
In the spring, when tho surface is in
good blowing condition. the subsoil is
apt to be too wct for subsoiling Eut
never leave land bare in the South in
winter.
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81 G. m " B