The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-10-17
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

buy the meat and make 1T at homo 70,
no butcher have ever seen makes
sausage such rs we mako at home So
nowadays all my meat handling is
merely making sausage
A Preacher Wants Advice.
have bought q good farm in the
Piedmont section, and would like to
nave some advice in regard to it, Have
peen preaching for twenty-five years
but have never lost interest i'm tho
iarm' and have tried to keep my eyes
open in travelling around. What do
YOU think of the following crop rota-
ton for that section: Corn. with sofa
beans In the middles: wheat in the
iali then wheat followed by peas, and
the peas by crimson clover; clover
cut for feed and followed by corn
and sofa beans? I want to get to
raising cattle as fast as possible, but
VIII have 10 go slow. Have not de-
cided on whether beef or dairy. Do you
suppose that II will pay to lime the
land? Do YOU think It has ever been
! lined? Do YOU know anything about
the lime mari of the Marlbrook Com
pany, Roanoke. Va? They profess to
have very high percentage of lime
carbonate. How about Mclilotus, or
sweet clover? / see 1t very highly
spoken of. both for hay and pasture
/ Will ii be all right to SOW 1t in the
! SIi iHS W iltt 90 YOU lnlnk OF SOWING
winter oats and Canada field peas early
in spring? viii go TO live on the farm
IN December"
! As to your crop rotation. I have to
say that | have never tried tho sofa
beans in corn. and from what / have
seen ! would prefer to use the Whip
poorwill peas in the corn. Then 1
would cut the corn at maturity, or
when the shucks turn brown, and cure
. it in shocks. tying the tops OF the
shocks we'll. Then. if the peas are
I rank. | would NOW them for hay, and
disk the ground and harrow it as fine
as possible and drill wheat with 400
pounds of acid phosphate. Break the
stubble we'll after harvest and SOW
peas again for hay and disk the pea
stuhble again for wheat as before.
Follow this wheat with peas again for
| hay ana SOW crimson clover on the
I made, and turn the whole under for
pea stubble. and on il during the win
ter spread all the manure as fast as
corn, and repeat the rotation What
oats YOU need for feed can he grown
on tho shock rows after the corn is
gathered and the slower hauled on IL
VIII pay better TO use the crimson
clover for the corn than to cure it for
hay Then feed all the forage made.
Test your soil for acidity. as / have
often suggested. with blue litinus
/ al
is. YOU should give coat of 1000
bushels of lime after blowing for corn
and harrow il in. If the mari at Roa-
noke has the percentage of lime car
Donate claimed, and is sold at rea-
sonahle price. il may pay to use il at
rate of ton an acre. You can get
ground limestone in bulk in carloads
for 81 ton. and I would hardly value
the mari higher. SO far as my cX-
periencc goes. cattle are not fond of
Mclilotus. and we can do far more and
better with cowpeas and crimson
clover, both as feed and soil improve
ment l cannot that for Virginia
there is any advantage in the sweet
clover. so called, for il is not a clover
at all. Canada peas and oats are
very good forage crop In the North,
but here they are very uncertain We
have crops better suited TO our climate.
Cowpeas in summer and crimson
clover in winter make a. good n team
for feed and soil Improvement as we
can get here. They cannot grow our
peas and winter oats in Canada. and
they cannot grow crimson clover. They
can grow the oats and Canada peas in
spring, while we seldom A'll make
tho crop success. Better sticl. to the
crops suited 10 the climate.
Growing, sweet Potatoes.
II have had fine success in a small
way With sweet potatoes, selling them
III iny home town. Have sold $50 worth
IRON three quarters OF an acre. VIII
IT pay me 10 grow them on "A large
stale for shipping North? I can sell
easily $50 worth at home?" The
kinds OF sweet potatoes that Won use
ana sell at homo will not sell in the
North, as the Northern people have
not learned how 10 cook q Southern
yam ana the vans Will not stand for,
boiling or stcaming.
you would have 10 grow for the
northern markets either the Big Stem
Jersey or the Nanscmond vcllo,y or
red. Now, whether 1t will pnv vau or
not am raaiic to say. over here in
lhc great "w,tt potato growing SEQ
uon the crop pays Very well. and much
money mas been made in the growing
ana shipping OF the potatoes But the
growers here have the great advop-
: laSc OF cooperative produce OK
changc, That does all the selling ana
shipping, ana the potatoes are ALWAYS
S"!d before t>cy are shipped and no
commission man has anything TO do
N!th thcm Growing vegetable crons
. mere me business has not extended
Always iiandIcaps the grower, and the
CHANCES are decidedly against a single
tI"Wef IN section Truck growing
II always most successful where there
lS q whole community engaged in II
growers can get better freight rates
Aud can ship always in carloads on
orders taken by travelling statesmen.
hen. TOO here there is always Il mum
per OF buyers at tn" railroad stations
ready TO give fair prices on the sno,
and paying cash and as these buyers
are IN competition with each other.
'h"y give usually as fair prices as
could be expected You are making
sweet potatoes pay as part Of your
farm operations and selling in INC
ZONE market. 1 would stick to thar
and not risk It larger area If YOU
grow more than your hons market viii
take at once, you can have a curing
mouse ana Keep them through the win
ter and spring and get better prices
Tor them. In fact. YOU can keep a sun
NY for sale All the year round with n
good curing house for in such houses
mere they are often kept till new potn-
toes como in.