The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-05-26

"here lana commands high price one
cannot afford to pasture stock pas
turing Is Tor wide areasJ ana cho,n
!ahus ana on small place devoted
20 GARY work on land that is worth
over SloV an acre. 1t will pay well to
gro" soiiing crops during the sum :
Iner and hay and ensiIapn crons 20,
the winter, keeping the cows i'm tho
stable most of the time or I'm n Tor
Ior exercise You will In this way
MAKE largo amount or manure. and
TINS spread on the land az fast no
made. will greatly increase tho
amount OF forage you can produce
Dr. Dctrick on little farm at Phil
aaeiphla. Kept thirty cows profitably
on hfteen-acre farm, and got the
nttle piace wonderfully fertile by the
constant application of the manure
buSinE Tor the cows some grain food
mat he did not grow, and this added
10 tho fertility Of his soil. since II was
grown elsewhere
This method OF growing clover. peas
anu other crops for cutting green is
wen suited to dairy work on n small
place Of high priced land. But when
Or. DERRICK tried to use the same
method on large farm OF cheaper
iand, he soon found that the labor bill
was TOO heavy and that on such lands
and sfch an area the pasture comes
In MS the most economical method
Pasture for Tidcwntcr.
For all SOUTHEASTERN Tidewater near
the bay there Is no grass that can
compare with bermuda az pasture In
summer. Many farmers who have
gotten patches OF wire grass in tho
cultivated lands, detest It, and often
write asking how to get rid OF It. Ber-
'nuda Is rather persistent and does
give trouble in hoed crops. But a few
months ago in the fall ! was driving
with friend over his farm and passed
his corn field. He pointed out one
spot and said that he always had
trouble there with the wire grass. and
wished that he could get rid OF IL
Passing on and looking AT his corn I
said, II notice that where you have
the wire grass you have the best
corn suppose the grass compeis
better cultivation. bu; | have often no
,icod that patches Of wire grass or
bermuda in cornheld, do somehow
make better corn
But for permanent pasture in the
sandy coils OF the lower coast. the
bermuda cannot be excclled. even by
tho Kentucky blue grass pastures in
limestone soils. bermuda is a sun
loving grass. ana VIII not grow in the
shade. This tells us Just how 10 de-
stroy II II YOU have il where you do
not want it, pillow II shallowly and
rake out All you can. Then sow the
land thicky la peas and follow tho
peas With crimson clover. and turn
VIII 6nd very little Bermuda lett. In
tho lower south bermuda makes good
hay crops. but as far north as lower
Nirginia It's SOIL value is as sum
mer pasture.
You can run n disk over II In the
fail and chop IL lightly and SOW Grim
son clover seed. and this Will give you
some spring pasture before the Ber
muda starts. and the disking and the
clover will Improve the sod. But. Ike
All other grasses, TO keep really per
manent pasture you should restore
tho phosphates that are carried off In
the bones OF animals. Keep up The
fertility OF the soil. and the Bermuda
VIII do the rest.
Hay Grasses.
What is the best hay grass for
lower Virginia p" But for its npgrcs-
sive nature, would say Johnson
grass For the warmer parts OF the
State and the South Atlantic in gen
cral. there is no grass that can com
pare with the Johnson grass in yield
and quality. 1t has q higher feeding
value than timothy hay. and makes
several times as much acre, and
viii thrive where timothy will not
The chief trouble is that once get
field OF Johnson grass In n neighbour
hood. and II wants the whole neighbor-
hood, and viii get IL Like Bermuda,
i, spreads ny UNDERGROUND stems. hut.
unlike Bermuda IL seeds plentifuliy.
and tho large seeds are carried about
10y the birds Hence. the man who
starts to grow Johnson grass in
section where 1T has not appeared
Will soon and that he is seeding the
whole neighborhood. and may make
trouble for others that do not want ii.
Down in Mississippi and Alabama.
there arc wide areas where the John
son grass has taken complete posses
sion. IL was regarded by the cotton
planters as great pest. but II has
really been a blessing in driving them
out Of all-cotton into stock feeding.
II can be- kept down by hard nastur-
ing and then a hoed crop grown. either
corn or cotton. and the grass soon
comes back. 1t can be mown three
four times in the season. and no
grass / know of will make more hay
an acre.
But in the upper sections Of Vir-
gnia 1t has not the value that it has
for the coast region, and In the colder
sections would probably he killed in
winter. But there we have other
grasses for hay. Orchard grass, tall
meadow Fescuo (Randall grass OF
Southwest Virginia). and other early
grasses make fine hay. but demand
cutting soon as the bloom Is out
for they will not stand and wait on
you like timothy will
For all the upper Piedmont section
and westward, timothy VIII usually be
the hay grass and II is improved by
mixture OF red top to give better
bottom. Timothy will wait on you,
but even it is better cut earlier than
usual
Where early irish potatoes are
grown for shipping. what is the Dest
crop TO follow Taking the future of
the soil into consideration. would
say follow the POTATOES with cowpeas,
make hay of these. and sow crimson
clover on the stubble, and you can
turn that for potatoes and will need
only good application of acid phos-
phate and potash to make big sweet
potato crop.
1T is common practice in the po-
tato section OF Eastern shore Vir-
snia 70 get crop OF corn after the
early Irish potatoes And. of course,
after the heavy fertilization for the