The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-27

- fields OF sandy soil
B ~ - y@s8& ocently turned
~ over and left
w. +. Masney. bare These will
lose more than gain By the fall piow
ing, and will be more leachy than
ever. Fall blowing. if done early
enough to SOW rye on the land may be
q very good practice. but L very much
dislike to sec land. even the heavy
clay soil. lying bare I'm the winter
rains and losing fertility while gain
Ing I'm rnellowness. Bare land In our
climate Is always bad. II may BIO all
right to plow late and leave the land
is locked up by frost all winter. but
here, whore We have more rain than
deep freezing 1t is all wrong.
Every day l get letters from farm
crs asking advice, and saying TINT
their land Is poor. What has made II
poor, IL 1T was formerly fertile? II
you have owned that land for years,
sponsiblc for It's poverty? 1 will be
glad when any farmer VIII be
ashamed to say that his land Is poor.
after he has been cultivatlng II for
years. There is very little land In Viz
gina or North Carolina which was not
fertile when the forest was first clear
cd from It. But year after year VIC
forest ages 10 accumulate and We find
that Nature has locked up her stores
and Will only release them TO tho man
who docs something towards restor
Ing the new ground conditions. We
hayo in our red clay uplands an mex
haustiblc store Of potash for instance,
but with the humus all burnt out this
insolublc potash is unavailable, and
only when we have restored the hu-
mus will the organic acids aid us IN
releasing the potash. The greatest de-
ficiency In these soils aside from nj
trogen i5 in phosphoric acid. Much OF
this too may DO there in an insoiublc
form. and only waiting for the humus
restoration 70 release II. We can get
tho nitrogen In abundance through tho
uso OF the icgumcs. but where the
phosphorus is deficient IL must be sup
piled artiticially Tho hillside pastures
have been losing phosphorus In tho
bones Of ali the animals raised on
them. iii there are thousands OF acres
Of so-called pastures that grow moth
Ing but poverty grass and sorrel, and
the owGcrs are afraid to break them
for fear OF the washing, while in many
so-called pastures there are worse gull
LEG than anywhere else, simply be-
cause the soil has been packed TIL tho
only way for the water TO 80 is down
hill.
vic mas HcIl ucSCT1Dtu u cOClneln
pasture as Il place where no grass
grows. and the pastures. like the cul-
tiyated fields, have grown poor because
the matters that made them fertile
once have been carried away. Now IL
Is easy 10 make these hillside pas-
lures real pastures for / have done H..
by deep blowing and subsoilinG to
make q deep loose bed TO hold on to
the rains instead OF letting them run
lGWnll1lf n kpp M - q
every year that his land is poor Is
responsible for its poverty. Let us
haze change in this respect in Vir-
glnia. for l want to repeat it that in
all the red hills OF Virginia the only
fertilizer one needs TO buy, If he farms
we'll is phosphoric acid in some form
only this and nothing moro is needed
TO be bought by the farmer who farms
in a good rotation and grows plenty
Of peas and clover and uses them to
feed stock. and savcs and uses his ma
nure.
Growing sweet Peas.
lady correspondent asks: Can /
grow sweet peas where lima beans
We're last summer? When is the best
time to SOW them? Can / grow them
along a wire netting fence. and what
sort OF fertilizer should be used:
Please add any hints that will be use
YOU &c, them early enough. for they
soon fail in hot weather. In fairly
fertile soil you viii need no fertilizer
but a mulch CT stable manure OH the
ground will be a help in retaining
moisture. You can SOW them either in
the fall or winter. I have some now
ten inches high. from fall seed, but
] mako my main sowing the first good
spell after New Years Day. If your
soil is sandy and not very strong,
dig a trench q foot deep along where
the row is to be and ill il half full of
old fine manure and cover with soil
Then SOW the seed rather thickly and
covor them six inches deep. They will
do very well where the lima beans
were last year. and / always plant
next n wire-netting fence on which
they can climb Do not bother with
tho cupid or dwarf kinds. but plant
the tall-growing Spencer varieties.
find that they do best in a situation
where they get the morning sun and
are shaded from the afternoon sum-
and plenty of water is an advantage
i plant mine where they can be reach
cd by the garden hose and water them
we'll daily In dry weather. You must
plant early or you Will get few flowers
The Yokohama Velvet Denn.
A correspondent in North Carolina
- IT.