The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-29

IlrSt ANA jcaTf mo
49, needs Of tho plants.
Y ~ # With properly
14R1sa2Bl constructed a d
w. Il. massey heated houses, the
growing Of wlntor tomatoes can be
made very profitable in the upper
South. / am glad TO know that the
gardeners are taking an interest in
these columns.
Making EnsiIage of Rye.
cwn Il farm near Richmond, upon
which / have been spending consider
able money In improvements. and read
of Interest. few days ago. in The
Times Dispatch, you advised strongly
against rye used for cusilage, and
having some experience that may seem
u he contrary TO this. thought /
would write TO you about IT, After the
study OF bulletin published by the
Connecticut Agricultural College at
Etoors, on chemical processes in siiage.
j concluded to try To make silnge from
rye ana crimson clover understanding
from this bulletin that rye possessed
certain chemical properties which as
sisted In preserving the clover, and in
esmuch 40 rye IN a green state is a
good milk producer. il seemed to me
reasonable TO suppose that rye and
crimson clover combined, II kept we'll
would mako good silagc. Accordingly
last spring ] put about 100 tong Of this
mixture, about half and half into my
silo, and fed IL through tho summer
1t kept very well indeed, and the cows
Atc II up clean and seemed TO RELISH it
very much, and VIC are planning next
spring 20 III the silo up (about 225
tons capacity with this mixture. One
OF my neighbors used wheat and Grim
con clover. but the silage spoiled If
We arc not mistaken in the value OF
this silage. | think IL IL desirable from
other points OF views, rye and Grim
,gell IN
ecther. and as crimson clover is the
only l:sumc crop that you rccomrn end
to plow under, because OF the difficulty
In curing II At that season. il should DO
cut. II Eccms to me that this would
cnablo you. where t.-re are silos. to
advise against tho turning under Of
any lcguminous crop and the feeding
OF ali either as hay or silage.
Last year We experimental with pull
Ing the corn from part of our ensllagc
corn and the rest letting IL 40 into the
clio with the stover. We could sec
little difference or none when the same
weight OF si!aac was fed from the
feeding OF silagc with or without corn.
] know the authorities advise against
this, but II the analysis * tho same.
and the feeding results very much the
same. pound FOR pound, | cannot see
the economy In feeding ear corn as \
substitute for feed costing So TO 81 a
ton"
nave nuOlcN quite lUIiy from Inc
letter OF my friend. The making OF
sIlnRc from clover and rye is a very
different thing from making it OF rye
alone and think that the chief value
or tho silarc was III the clover, and
the rye mainly assisted in preserving
st. Such silage, made in the spring,
Will doubtless make an excellent sum
NOR feed 10 help out the pasturagc in
81 dry time. and II Will have II higher
protein content than corn silage. Ny
experiment was with rye alone, and
after the COWS had been fed for some
time good whole corn silage they
would not cat the rye Mt all. Doubt :
less II there had been clover mixed with
IL they would have eaten II well. At
any rate. your success with this mix
tuEc does open up new. use Tor Grim
con clovct. But what you say about
corn silagc cannot agree with. Pound
for pound. tile eilage without ears
would hardly have the same analysis
as that with cars. Then the ears will
be very immature when the corn is in
the proper state for making ensilage,
and II you pull them off. what are you
to do with them? II you leave the
corn till you can gather the ears for
grain II Will certainly not make as
good ensllagc as that cut Mt the proper
roasting ear stage. You remember the
concrete. hillside silos ] had In Abe
marie? 7 hone that your concrete silo
for found that the constant condcnsa-
ton on the cold walls damaged a great
deal around the sides. But yours, being
ell above ground, may be better. and
not have this trouble. l must confess
that ! have had some prejudice against
concrete silos from the experience in
AIbemarle, and have never used any
but wooden ones since. But | am really
interested In your rye and clover silage.
especially rs II furnishes a feed that
can be used out OF the way of the corn
silago later, and n feed with a far
higher protein content than corn silagc.
/ hope you will continue TO find it II
SUCCESS.
Keeping Up Succession of Tomatoes.
I'VE find here In North Carolina that
the early plants OF tomatoes that were
started in tho frames and transplantcd
for early fruiting, usually fail about
the last of June. What Will be the
best way 10 maintain n succession OF
plants in the best condition clear
through till frost"' ] VIII simply
tell you how l do it, though where I
now live tie early ones last longer
than with you, rs | know by experience
in North Carolina, but they do get in
ferior. and all through the summer
we want the best OF tomatoes for
slicing. l SOW seed of the earliest in
small numbers. about the middle of
February, in shallow boxes i'm tho
greenhouse. only want few of
those to give us the earliest tomatoes,
md want better ones to follow them.
Hence for this earliest sowing only
try to grow n dozen or two CT the
earliest, and sow at same time few