The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-29
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

seed Oh IL larger anu later ana Dettef
tomato. ] cow the Langdon Earliana
and the Bonhy Best, for tho Bonny
Best. while little later, Is ~ better
tomato, though the i3arllana 10 not
bad. These are transplanted to cold
frames In March, and at the same time
! l SOW in . frame seed of the best to-
matoes L know, such as the Success,
stone. Globe and Beauty. These too
AFRO transplanted to frame later, and
are ready to go out two weeks after
tho earliest have been set out. These
| arc my main summer crop. Then In
May l SOW moro seed of any OF these
varieties, ia the open border and set
| them out In June.
| l want these late ones because they
VIII be In their prime just before frost.
and VIII have plenty of large. green to.
matoes on them when frost comes, and
gather these and wrap them each in
| paper and pack in strawberry crates
and put in Il cool. froBtlcss place and
| bring few of them into warm sun
ny window at a time TO color up and
| In this way L havo had tomatoes for
slcing till January. Ny Earlianas will
! give me ripe fruit the middle OF June
and from that time on I am never
without tomatoes till nearly time to
SOW again
| TOpdressins Wheat aud Fruit Trees.
! Middlesex County: when is the best
I
failed to use any fertilizer when
sowcd them, and want to topdress them
Tho land is rather stiff. fallowed an
old sod last spring and planted corn,
and followed tho corn with wheat aud
oats after cutting the corn. DO YOU
think that g per cent acid phosphate
VIII be sufficient to use as n topdregs-
Ing? J planted a few fruit trees i'm
November and the land is rather thin
have placed two or three good fork
fuls OF good hog-pen manure around
them. VIII this do them any harm
| want To cultivate truck crops be
tween the rows in spring. VII! that
. be good way to make them grow?
How old should the trees get before |
can run my hogs among them" If you
| Intend TO use acid phosphate on the
wheat and oats. tho sooner you put It
I on the better. Then It will be we'll TO
ADD about seventy Ave pounds Of nitrate
Of soda after new growth starts in the
spring per acre, putting IL on when
the leaves are dry. Use 30o to 400
! hounds OF the acid phosphate an acre
\ The manure on top the ground will
help the trees, but never put manure
! in contact with the roots In planting
/ Manuring the land we'll for early vege-
I table crops. AZ you viii have to. Will
/ help the trees, too. But II Will be well
to use such crops as can be gotten off
/ by July, as the growth for the season
VIII then be finished. and the land
should be soTn IN peas for the benefit
/ OF the soil
The Average Farmer.
/ secretary Houston well says: There
! is large number OF farmers, and they
arc scattered through every community
who arc making real successes: they
have forged far ahead of the average.
B The problem is to try TO make
/ the average farmer as good as the
I best farmer and TO make the average
/ farm as good as the best farm. This
! OF course. would be- an ideal result, and
( can never be actually done: but IL is
( the goal towards which we must
work Ana this liz just what these
! columns are intended to help. When
| We read the statistics OF farming in
/ North Carolina and Virginia, the aver
age crops seem remarkable low per
acre. when va know that farmers here
and there Owe! both States are making
I many times as much. But TO make
/ these low averages there must he a
most that does not make even the aver
/ age Now, II seems to me that the
good farmers in these States who ara
! taking and reading the farm columns
! in The Times Dispatch and are inter-
estcd IN them, as many OF them daily
write me, can do a very good thing for
/ their slower neighbors by getting them
10 read the paper \ daily newspaper
can reach great many who will not
one reason for inauSurating this de-
parture in daily paper. Since start
! ing these columns last May. | have been
greatly pleased with the reception
given us by the leading farmers In
/ Virginia and North Carolina-and i'm
fact, have been greatly surprised to
! una how many people in North Caro-
( INA are reading the paper, and that
even in the mountain State OF West
.rginia there are many who get it.
/ And now and then I get letters from
people In New York. saying that they
! read my columns in The Times Dis
/ patch We are after those average
I farmers. We want to raise the aver
age OF farming in the States named.
ana the good farmers, the men who, as
D the secretary says, are making sue
; ccsses. are the men who can aid most
/ In getting at the average farmer and
/ giving him daily newspaper to which
/ he can appeal for help In every prob
/ lem that confronts him in the cultiva-
tion OF the soil. Cannot you help us
I reach the average man?