The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-14
WITH THE FARMERS
By Prof. w. F. MASSEY

when spraying is neglected. when
i use modification OF the Munson sys-
TEN, setting stout posts six feet tall
with ciosSDars two and one-half feet
iong boltcu ut top, and from these
stretch three lines of wire, one from
post 10 post and the others from tho
ends of the crossbare. The vine ls
taken up TO the central wire, and arms
are grown each way on this wire, and
the II uitinS shoots hang over the outer
wires. and the fruit underneath Is pro-
tecttd better than on a vertical trellis.
The arms arc renewed every season
from canes grown from near the crotch.
and the old ones cut out and the young
ones shortened to four feet. The vines
are planted eight feet part In the
rows.
Canada Peas for Hogs.
II am tolds that Canada peus sUwn In
Virginia In January will make an OK
eclleht early spring pasture for hogs.
TO thcm?" The crop of Canada peas
and oats mixed that is often recon-
nended is all right for the North, but
seldom advisable in tho South. But
The peas alone. sown either In Jan
uary or early February. Will make
very good hog pasture If used as soon
as Doddcd and that will hardly be
very early in tho spring. But. Of
course. they can be past. red when
simply green and nlooming They
soon succunb to warm weather, and
must be used rather enrly.
PasturinG Rape.
On farm have Just taken pos
session Of find an acre of rape now
about knee high. II was sown last
summer for hog pasture. but has not
oeen used. How and when should /
pasture this for best results?" You
can turn hogs on the rape ut once.
and, II not overlooked, II Will in your
Jart OF North Carolina run few hogs
nearli all winter. since 1t mas been
llowed to get SO strong growth
9erhaps Il would be we'll TO run tenn.
1orary fence through 1t and eat off
one-half at time.
Plant Food In Stable Manure.
II would like to know the amount
OF phosphorus. potassium and nitrogen
in common stable manure, with oak
leaves and wheat straw used as an alb
sorbent. Which is the best way to
apply this manure on tobacco land,
when small amount is TO be used,
In the drill or with the menure-spread
or! | wish To know the amount of
required to grow an acre of tobacco
when the crop will weigh l 900 pounds.
which Is about the average in this
section. My idea is to get the amount
OF plant food required on the land af-
Ter have applied my stable manure
know pretty closely what the soil
has In itY II ia not possible to give
n" percentages of plnnt food in stable
manure. since II Will vary n great deal
a nf q
tho manner in which il has been
Handled Solid horse dung will aver
age o4i per cent OF nitrogen, O.35 per
cent OF potash and OH per cent of
phosphoric acid Cattle dung has o. 90
Ter cent nitrogen. o.l0 per cent OF pot
ash and OH per cent OF phosphorus
aoid This you will see is very low as
compared with commercial fertilizers.
But the manure in It's usual shape has
mechanical effect on the soil. and
lot OF humus-m king material which
the fertilizers lack
Better put II on with manure
spreader. a crop Of tobacco OF /. 600
pounds Will remove from the soil about
t"enty-four pounds OF nitrogen eighty
TWO pounds OF potash and seven
pounds of phosphoric acid And yet
you VIII find that all the ready mixed
fertilizers have a much larger per-
centage OF phosphoric acid than of
excess
of phosphoric acid is to be avoided
have heretofore given the following
formula for tobacco fertilizer: 900
pounds OF acid phosphate. 100 pounds
oil nitrate OF soda. 900 pounds of pure
dried blood. 400 pounds of high grade
suiphate or potash. to make n ton. This
has been used with great success in
North and South Carolina cores
pondent in South Carolina wrote to mo
recently that he and hts neighbors had
used this and made this year $3.50 an
acre on tobacco II was used In North
On your land. after giving a light coat
OF manure | would use 400 to 500
pounds an acre.
The Garden IN Janunrf.
inc MID autumn weather Is making
the cabbage plants set out doors grow
rather tender, and 1t will be well to
give them mulch of coarse manure as
protection from the cold that Jan
uhry viii probably bring
Lettuce In the frames needs constant
attention to give the plants air II this
sunny weather continues In my frames
have had an unusual condition. ow-
ing TO the warm weather in November
and early December. for | find that a
good many plants OF the Big Boston
lettuce are running to bloom Instead
of heading. i hnve never seen this
before, and IL is rather odd that one
plant runs to seed while another right
beside II heads properly.
For home use I have come to the
conclusion that the smaller heading
sorts are better than the Big Bos-
ton, which is always the first to run to
seed In the spring. The variety known
as Hittinger's Belmont Is one OF the
best small headed varieties. and is
largely grown in the Boston hot
houses. Boston market and tennis ball,
TOO. are good sorts.
January here starts the outdoor work.
for l always SOW my early peas and
swcetpcas the first good spell after
New Year. In fact / nave some sweet
peas from fall sowing now about a
foot high, and they seem to be standing
very well. This is an experiment
If there is a sod on the land where
the early Irish potatoes are to be
planted, 1t will be we'll to pillow II at the
first opportunity, SO that the sod Will
be somewhat decayed by planting time.
i never use stable manure on Irish po-
tatoes. but always fertilizer strong in
phosphoric acid and potash. About 3
per cent Nitrogen, s per cent phos-
phoric acid and 10 por cent potash
will make potatoes, il used at rate OF