The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-05
Monday.

trip southwark. Last year / had &C.
caston to ride through The Delaware
Maryland. Virginia peninsula from
Wilmington, Del. to Cape Charles, Va.
was. OF course. Interested in observ
ing the farming az the train flew
along. On the beautiful farms In the
upper part or Delaware. i saw men
riding on two-row cnltivntors through
the corn nclds, and tho fields were
beautifully clean. In lower Delaware
sRw them going through the corn,
one man with one horse to an old
fashioned implement used nowhere
clso. and called Fluke harrow This
Is cultivator that has three sweep
+ teeth In triangular frame The men
were evidently trying 10 cover tho
grass In the hills, which would not
have boon there had the smoothing
harrow and the wcedcr been used at
the start OF the crop. TO go over rapid
~ and check the starting OF tho grass
rho F1uke harrow Is not bad Guilt
Nator out II takes man to each horse.
Then. wher / reached the Virginia
counties. 1 saw one man with one
horse and small turning pillow. going
through tho corn and BARRING off," as
they cali IT. That is. throwing q fur
70" from tho corn TO BIO thrown back
later. and then two burrows moro TO
clean out the middles. man and a
horse going six times through tho
row. when man with two horses and
a riding cuitivator would have done
tho work better by riding through
once. And yet they are complaining of
INC scarcity OF labor, when they arc
using far moro labor of the human
Kind Than needed
Then, around Norfolk. 1 saw all sorts
or crops planted Oh six foot beds with
oecp alleys hct% cen. and All the work
needed TO he done BY hand saw a
neid or onions planted in narrow rowe
on these elevated beds. and gang of
negro women working the onions
with long handled iron kitchen spoons
IL seemed TO me that II The ontona
MAD been planted on tbs level and the
rows slightly wider apart 4 man with
one 81 the wheel hand cultiYators could
nave dono the work faster and better
than tho gang OF negro women with
spoons.
saw them planting Irish potatoes.
enc man hau mule hitched to n
thins like wheel without n rim. and
each spoke made II depression In tho
iurrow and hands follow ed droppinc
thc SUI potatoes In .hesc depresslona.
And thought that one man with a
potato planter and pair of mules
Mouii nave Done ali the work tho
gang was doing. and would leave rho
potatoes planted at one ride through.
saw on the smooth fields OF The
ROANOKE bottoms In North Carolina
hvo men In cotton field. each man
WIN a mule and pillow. going four
the farmer there had ever heard ~
two-row riding cultlvator. with
Wnich one OF these mon could have
taken pair of mules and done All
tie Work The hve we're doing and
would have done IL better. And vet the
cry comes up all the time that labor
is scarce, wages high and the labor
worthless. And al the same time tho
farmer Is using three-times or more
human labor as would be needed IL
no used improved Implements The
great Iced to-day in Southern farming
~ more horse labor. more improved
ihhor-sevlnS Implements and less
waste OF the costly human hand. Big
ger horses that can pull bigger piow
ana break the land deeper. and the
use OF Implements that viii enable the
farmer to get rapidly over the crop
and prevent the grass getting ahead
or him. The smoothing harrow and
the weeder az the start In the cotton
or cornheid, followed by the riding
two-row cultivator, would give the
grass no chance TO get start while
the one-horse plow is too slow, and
tho grass gets there and more pillow
Is needed turning pillow in cotton
or cornfield Is an anacronism, and
SHOWS that the farmer is behind the
advance In farming and that he needs
TO learn more of tbs labor saving that
can be done by more use of four
footed labor and improved implements
to save the expensive and scarce hui
man hand.
Peas Getting Unpreductive
Gloucester County: Our land here in
lower Gloucester will not raise prob
ably more than one-f fourth as many
cowpeas us it would twenty or thirty
years ago. AT that time a great many
were grown here and sold or sent out
"A IL
lar bushel and even cheaper, but now
we can rarely ever raise enough for
4 seed. Our land liz not depleted, that Is
not Tor other crops. such as corn and
TRUCKS, etc. The same is largely true
of tho garden or English peas. Twenty
five years ago sevcnty-five to eighty
boxes of English peas was not rare,
but now forty boxes on land Of Same
quality is a good yield. If you can tell
me the reason for this decrease in the
yield Of peas. and how 1t can be over
come so that we can get back to rails
z ing plenty of them, both cowpeas and
English peas, 1t Will. indeed. be highly
appreciated. Please answer through
The Times Dispatch. Your page in The
Times Dispatch is read by me daily
with eagerness and profit. You are
doing a great work for the farmers OF
the country" Another bouquet, thank
you. i really hope that these columns
are doing some good. Now you say
that your N,il is not depleted but 1t is
evident that something is lacking
which the peas need. Has your land
been lined in recent years? Acidity in
the soil is detrimental to most Of tho
legumes. and willis cowpeas will en-
aure acidity better than clover and
some other legumes. they nevertheless
need sweet soil for the best results.
Then what sort OF plant food have you
been giving the peas? On soil that is
we'll inoculated with the bacteria that
live on these plants, there should be
Z normal growth, If the soil is sweet
and the needs of tho plants in the way
of fertilizers are supplied. 1t Is COM
mon to give some nitrogen to the early
crop OF English peas, as they are q
very brief crop and grown at a session
when there Is less activity in the soil
bacteria.
But the cowpeas being a hot-weather
plant can get all the nitrogen they
( need from the air If well supplied with
phosphorus and potassium. Dr. Stubbs
concluded that the soils OF Gloucester