The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-09-20

Soil Must be InOculated or Success
is DOubtful-Farmers Advised Not
to Sell Cotton Ahead of Season.
Last fall there were twenty-onc
farmers who entered a contest for u
prize of $4,000 offered by the City
Nati"sal Bank to the farmer who
wo Ow the most oats and vetch
J IAN acre. Eighteen of these
= successful, growing from two
= s upward per acre. The average
as from seven to eight thousand
pounds of cured hay. incubation was
None of the three acres that made
failure were inoculated So you see
it is absolutely necessary in nine
cases out of ten to inOculate your
land, unless you have grown vetch
on the land. There have been ap-
proximately ten thousand pounds of
vetch seed sold in Sumter County.
This is great thing for the county,
if all of the requirements are car
ried out. That is, if the seed are
planted in a neutral or slightly al
kaline soil. Most of the soil in Sum-
ter county needs lining for getting
the best results in growing any of
time you have sown any vetch, 1
, would advise using from eight hun
dred to thousand pounds of burnt
lime or ton of agricultural or ground
limestone per acre. Then broadcast
the land with stable manure, taking
care not to let the manure come in
contact with the lime until it has
been on the land for ten days or two
weeks. or until the lime has been
a rain might bring this about in a
few days. You can inoculate the
ground by using six or seven hundred
! pounds of soil from field where
vetch has been successfully grown, or
with the same amount of soil from
garden where English peas have
! been grown for two or more years. In
! transferring the soil care should be
exercised to keep the sunlight from
shining on it and killing the bacteria.
The operation of transferring the soil
should be made on a cloudy day or
! in hn Lot In, ha
afternoon and the ground narrowed
as soon as the inoculating soil is ap-
piled. Artificial cultures or inocula-
tion may be had by purchasing Farm
Ogerm, Nitragin or by applying to
the department Of agriculture through
your representative or your senator's
Directions for using these cultres are
given with each bottle.
The time is ripe for the farmers Of
Sumter county to begin to seek some
other source of getting nitrogen and
plant food into the soil than pur-
chasing 1T in sack. BY growing
cover crops of winter legumes, we
not only supply nitrogen, but we sup
ply humus, much needed element
in either dry or wet weather. Lit
tie did we dream two months ago that
we would get around thirteen cents
for our cotton. At that time it was
estimated that Texas would make
five or six million bales But an All
Wise Providence intervented, and is
giving us not quite as large crop
as we expected, but better price.
Let us take some Of our profits, and
invest them in rye, oats and vetch,
and sow them this fall to be turned
into the soil next spring, and thereby
fortify ourselves against both wet
and dry weather. Also let us build
fences around our farms to keep our
own hogs and cattle inside and those
of our neighbors outside Then by
rotating our crops to keep down dis
ease, in few years we would be
farming on such basis that we
would not become frightened at the
prospects of large crop and low
prices; and sell out before the crop
is made, and let some other fellow
who is better informed, reap the re-
ward of our hard earned profits.
j. Frank Williams.