The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-01-06
P4eksa4o4 ma44e4'4 $ettm

amount of plant food. but the getting
of this humus material makes the
soil more ~retentive of moisture, and
warmer. because of the darkened
color. While Mr.. Tufts had the ad-
vantage Of a large herd of cows to
urnish manure, the same thing can
be done through the growing Of peas
and using them to furnish the or
ganic decay, OF by feeding them and
returning the n to the soil
Aided by a liberal use OF acid phos-
phate and potash, the peas will en-
able the farmer to rapidly Increase
n prOductivenesS Of such soil. and
when you "a get crimson clover
to catch and hold the nitrates that
would leach out in winter, You can
soon get sandy land into a produc-
tive state. But land OF this sort IS
naturally leachy, and soon parts with
its plant food, and the maintenance
Of the vegetable matter must be the
main interest Of the farmer on such
land. A rotation or corn, with peas
among it, oats followed by peas, cot
ton with crimson clover, and rye
sown at first picking, all the manure
of the farm spread on this, and turn
ed under for corn again, will greatly
increase the humuS in the soil and
the productiveness of the land.
A Case Of HeaveS.
You will pardon me for long delay
in thanking you for advice in regard
to my pet horse. She was a fine bay
and a beauty, but was too far gone
for any relief( and we had to chloro-
form her. Now l have a horse tina
breathes ard Int coughs. ! am told
he has the heaves. He is about If
teen years old, and the only one | have
left. I will be grateful for any rem
edy you eau sugges, leading to a
o,r- -, Hoo
caused by improper feeding, es-
pecially feeding dusty hay. and is
most common i'll horses hat are
greedy feeders. When heaves has
gotten chronic there is really no cure
for it. Much can be uone to alleviate
the suffering of the animal. The
stable and the food must b made free
from dust. In feeding, the hay should
be Sprlnkled with water to prevent
dust. Give nutritious and easily di-
gested food and not much Of a bulky
nature. Kun on a pasture a. much
as is practicable. AS medicine, use
FoWlerS solution Of arsenic, beginning
with two teaspoonfuls in the food
three times a day, and increasing .tC
a tablespoonful three times a day, and
continue for two or three months, un.
less symptoms of ~arsenical poison ap
pear. Medicines hat promote diges.
ton will be good, but you can hardly
hope for a permanent cure Of heaves
Alfalfa in a Farm Rotation.
alfalfa be taken in as {
regular part Of a farm rotation O.
crops" 1t could, by frightening the
rotation, for it would hardly pay tt
treat alfalfa as an annual or biennia
crop. You could max a rotation O
corn, with peas SoWn alnOng it, fol
lowed by wheat. or winter oats, ant
these by peas, to De turned under ant
i'm Cd Prr 49, = VI
back to corr and repeat.
This would make a rota
ton and would be excellent for {
farm mainly devoted to stock. I
would quite rapidly increase the hum
us content in the soil and the nitro
gen as we'll, as there would be nitro
gen-fixing crops every year on eacl
yield, and the whole soil would sool
get completely inocuiated for the al
falfa. This mean taking into consid
Grafton that all the land OF the farm
is suited to alfalfa, which will rarel,
be the case. But as d really practica
bic matter and a rapid means for tn
Improvement of the soil l would pre-
fer a shorter rotation, using coWpea
and Crimson Glove as the legumes
while l would grow alfalfa on specia
lots rather than in the general rOta
ton Of the farm. While alfalfa vii
give large crops Of forage, it usuall
takes a great deal more time and ex
pense to get the feed from cowpeas
and there is very little difference be
!, tween the feeding value Of the ha;
made from cowpeas and hat mad
from alfalfa, and in the same length
Of time / am sure tina | can get q
| much from cas- as from alfalfa Cow
{ pea hay. properly cured, is very nea
| as good a alfalfa hay, and can b
, made in a few weeks, while it take
! a year to get a r from alfalfa.
| do not mean to discourage the effort
to grow alfalfa. but on most Of OF
: farms we can grew the peas with
great deal more certainty, and ca
| improve the land more rapidly wit
! a short rotation with cas- ard Grim
? son clover as the legumeS crops.
!, Any rotation Of crops should be dc
viSed in reference to the main none
crop OF the farm or section. Thi
crop should have the place in the re
tation where the conditions are bes
2 suited to it's development and yielG
q while at the same time LOOKING afte