The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-27
/ WITH THE FARMERS
BY Prof. w. F. MASSEY

what the writer calls tho Yokohama
central North Carolina where the old
velvet beans do not ripen seed. The
writer says that the vines grow TWEEN
/ ~ to thirty feet long and an acre will
make $50 bushels of nitrogen. Per
haps no meant pounds. and that would
II out without complete chemical
analysis Of the plant. roots and crop
cannot say. He says this Is the
first time these beans have boon grown
| here and that they came from China.
| And set he gives Japanese name. The
| clipping seems TO be moro IAN adver-
tisement of the fact that the writer
has a nursery than a mere news ar
! ticlc. and according to law 1t should
| have been marked advertisement.
know nothing about any velvet bean
| OF this name. 1 have some beans that
differ in color from the old velvet
I beans. which are said TO be earlier,
! the coming spring. But 1t will be wise
! to go slow on anything that Is brought
! out with such q flourish, and wait
| till the experiment stations have test
/ ed and reported on it, These things
arc generally money making schemes
| A new velvet bean Of such earliness
and value would be very likely to have
| gotten into the hands OF tho explorers
| of the Department OF Agriculture be-
I fore any private Spectator got them.
| IL may be that this is the Same bean
/ that has been sent mo for trial. and
| the cxploltcr has simply given II u
new name. Or II may be simply what
VIC call sproot from the old velvet
! bean which i believe did come from
! China. There seems to be tendency
| this winter 10 get UP wonderful tales
/ about now beans, some OF which have
written about. Now whether the ac-
\ counts OF this velvet bean are correct
| as 10 Its earlness or not i cannot
! say, but l had rather trust report
from an experiment station or tho
| Department OF Agriculture than q tale
| in "a newspaper, the editor of which
! detect a fraud.
FertiIixinE Onions.
Kindly give your opinion OF the fol-
lowing fcrtilizing plan for onions. Soil
fair sandy loan. Twenty tons of
stable manure. plowed under with
| oead pea vines. One thousand pounds
OF l6 per cent acid phosphate. plowed in
ana narrowed before planting, or rath :
+. er transplanting, and 500 pounds of a
home mixture containing per cent OF
ammonia. per cent phosphoric acid
and 10 per cent potash. to be applied
after growth has started in late
March"
From the dead pea vines and the
Stable manure you will get "A large
amount OF nitrogen and organic mat
ter aud the immediate availability OF
the ammonia. Us you call IT, in the home
/ mixture, VIII depend on the materials
used In mixing II. What amount OF
nitrogen you will get in NIL cannot be
estimated. Your per cent ammonia
would be about 3.45 per cent nitrogen.
| 1t would seem to me that II there is
anything wrong In your manuring, il
! VIII toe in an excess OF nitrogen, which
may cause thick-necked onions But
| as you are using n large amount OF
/ pnosphoric acid and potash they may
!. balance the nitrogen and give you Il
/ good crop. III fact, you will have TO
/ make large crop TO warrant such
/ liberal fertilization. and OF course YOU
/ know that IT does not pay to plant
/ onions in rows wide enough for horse
! cultivation. but that the hand implc-
/ ments must be used. l SOW the seed
! III cold frame under glass in middle
| OF January, and the plants will then
| be large enough for transplanting in
| early March, If they are gradually
! hardened off to the outer air I shall
! be interested In knowing the results
/ from your fertilization. Stable manure
! one can hardly estimate the value OF
/ any sample. But you Will find. I think.
that If the manure is fresh you had
( better get IL spread on the land at
/ once and let il lie on the surface till
/ the 1st OF March before turning ii
/ under. The transplanting method is
! excellent for Bermuda onions and the
! Spanish and Italian varieties, but /
have never found 1t Of any advantage
with the American varieties like the
! Southport and Danvers Globe and the
, Red Wethersfeld. In fact, ] have
I grown fine Bermuda onions from direct
sowing OF the seed in the open ground.
! but have no doubt that the trans
| planting method will make larger
| onions. 1t is the only way TO get the
/ great Giant Gibraltar and the Denia
Spanish onions as large as those i'm
! ported. The Colorado grower who sent
| mo some time ago six onions that
| weighed nearly twelve pounds. pro-
| duced them by the transplanting
| method. You will find that it is an
advantage to SOW the seed rather thin
| ly SO as To get stout plants for the
| transplantinG, and in transplanting
| / clip about one-third OF the roots and
| tops OFF, and find this an advantage too.
| My onions that We're planted from
| sets in the fall and are intended only
! for green onions. are now getting n
henvy mulch between the rows OF
rotten street sweepings. I find that
! these swcepings from the paved streets,
| after lying all summer on the dnmp,
| are in better shape for garden work
| than the strawy stable manure, if used
very heavily. I am using the sweep
ings Mt rate of sixty tons an acre. on
my garden. and will add in the spring
acid phosphate and potash mixture