The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-07
WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

tivlty OF the SOIL the annual crops of
cowpeas In summer and crimson clover
In winter Will help tho farmer In the
Improvement Of his land far more than
alfalfa VIII. And. ton fer ton, tho pea
vine hay Will give about as good re-
suits In feeding as the alfalfa hay
will
VIII Not Drive Out wild Onions.
1t was stated in ono OF the farm
papers that the frequent moving of
aIfaifa would drive out wild onions.
But Virginia farmer says that he
moved alfalfa for five years, then
planted the land to corn, followed
corn with wheat, and the wheat with
cowpeas. and then back 10 alfalfa and
the ,nions are still there as thick az
ever But wild onions can be de-
stroyed by blowing chem under in tho
fall after they have made growth
enough to make the main bulb hollow.
ana again In the spring after thesmalI
OFFSETS have made similar growth
These two plowings will kill out the
wild onions IL they are completely
covered. and are allowed to make the
right amount of growth
Tomato Troubles.
we had fine tomato plants until
inc bearing season. and then tho vines
wilted and died. Is there any remedy
tor this wilt disease" regret to
have To saJ that ] know of no treat
nent that viii surely prevent the Wilt
IN tomatoes and eggplants 1t is
caused by the soil being infected with
certain bacteria or bacilli which get
INTO the plant from tho soil, and grad
uaiiy cut on the rise of the coil mois-
lure. and the plants are suddenly
choked off. II is very prevalent IN
the SOUTH from North Carolina south
"aro, and has made It's appearance In
parts OF Virginia and MARYLAND !
once in experiments in North Caro-
ma iime1 a piece OF land where tho
tomatoes had wilted the previous sea
son ana ihat season they seemed
eioaT OF the trouble. But planting tho
same ground the third season. ali Of
them died -
1t seemed that lining had a te,,o-
rary effect I'm checking the disease
put IL VIII not do 20 try to estabIish
iact from single experiment. hun
me lime Is worth trying The best way
10 overcome tho wilt is to breed. re-
sistant strains. Get seed from ni,nts
INA, survive and flourish when others
around them wilt. and In this way we
may get strain that will resist the
attacks of the bacteria II In we'll
known that the small cherry, plum and
peaF-shaped tomatoes are resistant 70
the wilt. and by starting with tb.sn
may get variety Of good tomatoes
INA! INA, VIII be resistant TO the wilt But
'nere are tomato troubles than can be
prevented by spraying. Here where /
i've every farmer plants n field OF to-
hatoes Tor tho canning houses; and |
nave seen field AFTER field, where the
lear blight had taken all the foliage
anu inc tomatoes then become sun
scaided and comparatively worthless
spraying with tho Bordeaux mixture
VIII prevent this and keep the foliage
heaithy if II Is begun as soon az the
h h nre set and repeated every ten
days TIL tho tomatoes are more than
! haii grown. The tomato crop here
every year Is cut short by this leaf
pught' where no spraying Is done,
~hiie sprayed fields keen green and
hourishtng till frost. This spraying Ia
Also useful In preventing rots, except
! the tip rot. which Is caused by arid
, conditions. Avoid land for tomatoes
where they have wilted and try to
oroed resistant plants by selection