Norwich bulletin., 1914-07-23
TIMELY suGGEsTloNs
 FOR COUNTY FARMERS By Murray D. Lincoln, Director of New London County improvement League.

League.
 farmers to Storrs college on July 2sth are progressing rapidly. Automobiles are willing being provided by both business men and farmers who own them. Present indications warrant that all who care to go will be pro vfded with free transportation To have all arrangements satisfactory be- fore starting however, it Is very es- sential that all send in their names at the earliest possible date. We want sure one hundred farmers and others who are interested on this trip.
 In order to accommodate those who must come some little ways to Nor wich the time for starting has peen changed to 10: 90 sharp. This will ai- low all to complete their mornings work before starting.
 Call telephone Number 706-12 which Is the agents office and In the even ing 9S6 will reach him. Talk 1t up amongst your neighbors and come with us for @ good outing.
 Later on in the week a list of those supplying their automobiles will be published.
 We are out for 25 automobiles and 100 farmers.
 Grand Prizes.
 The various granges of the county should begin now to prepare for the Grange aAxhibit at the annual county fair. There ought to be enough en- tered to make strong competition The prizes amount to $100 divided up into 1st, $50. 2nd $50, and 3rd, s2O. Subjects in the exhibit vii be limited 1 to Fruit. Vegetables. Grains and Home Canning.
 Awards will be made on scale of | 100 points giving variety 40 points, quality 40 points and arrangement 20 points.
 The county agent stands ready to can and it is hoped that all will feel at liberty to call upon him.
 Alfalfa.
 Those farmers who are going to seed alfalfa this year should have their land plowed about now and let 1t lie fallow for one or two weeks harrow l ing meanwhile to keep free from weed seeds. The land should be high. we'll drained and in good tflth. Do not at- tempt to seed without the use of lime and inoculation. Ground lime stone, is the best and cheapest form to apply and it Is better to put this on some little time before seeding. Inoculatior is either by using inoculated soil ol the pure bacteria culture The gov ernment now furnishes this culture free and all farmers sowing any oi | who will accure this culture free oi i charge.
 Seeding Down in Corn. Another practice that the agen wishes to encourage this year is thai of seeding down in the corn at tho last cultivation. This Is practised very successfully in Massachusetts ant New York and has many things i1 favor of it. First it makes an idea nurse crop for the grass seed in tha. | it does not take much moisture iron the grass and provides just enougi shade for best results. Also utilize! the land all the time so that half { year Is gained in the rotation. Th' land should be in fairly good condi tion however and seeding done thor | oughly. This is best done by hand O by a. rotary hand sower going in eacl row or every other row if the corn i not too high and be followed closet. with a fine toothed cultivator. If thi Is top dressed the next year we hay gained so much time and a good crol is generally obtained.
 orchardins.
 Cultivation of orchards should stol in the near future. Considerable dam age has been noticed throughout tn county due to winter killing and t guard against this cultivation shoul' be suspended and the clover crop sown. This allows the fruit to develol and the wood to become ripe whicl will prevent severe winter killing Winter crops are Clovers, Hairy o winter vetch, sweet clover, winter " and winter wheat. Crops that ar killed by freezing although very satis factory for this use are cowpeas, soy beans, rape, turnips, barley, buckwhea and millet (little used). Combination of two or more of these are also to b recommended.
 The Hay Crop.
 The hay demonstration plots tha were established throughout the coun ty early in the season have in mos cases turned out exceedingly we'll Tn principle that the county agent wante to bring out here was the fact that paid to top dress our hay mowingl also have brought out other facts tha are of interest and value to all. There were eight plots established ) One of these was treated with nitrat l of Soda alone at the rate of 20e ib
 per acre, another wit hoo lbs. of com ] mercial fertilizer and the rest with l mixture of chemicals costing $3.0 | This latter mixture consisted of Ia lbs. of nitrate of soda, 150 lbs. of aci phosphate, 50 lbs. of muriate of potasl
 Various results followed. One pl< which looked exceedingly good in tf early part of the season has develope : to be full of weed seeds and while tt , extra hay is well worth the price l, fertilizer applied the plot plainl shows the need of blowing, cultivatin |; for at least one season and re- seedni Another plot was a seeding that hs not been plOwed for six or eight year While it was known that this pl . would not respond as satisfactory : others it was tried and shows that !, needed reseeding worst than anythir else The plot that had nitrate 2 soda alone was not as satisfactory others but it was probably due to u
 seeding which was hit very hard Ia year by dry weather.
 II : The other four plots treated wi :. chemicals and the one with conme , cial fertilizer plainly showed that , pays to top dress a good seeding. :, has been said in regard to three
 the plots that nearly a ton per acre fl i' crease was obtained. While no seal
 were available to weigh this accurat S ly these opinions-Nere given by di 2 interested parties including O. ? Massachusetts man who has had CO t, siderable experience in this experime $ :, tai work.
 T With hay selling at nearly s2o p t ton it can be easily seen that a ve small increase in the yield per ac
 will more than pay for the applic
 tion of chemicals recommended by t
 agen. In New London county the y are 26,1 141 acres of timothy alone al Q timothy and clover mixed sown- value runs up into the hundreds '' thousand of dollars. If by the app
 cation of three dollars worth of h