The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-10

- $3.50 Nh feet, and If water
RARXsS n IN &I sutfioed, could irri-
ate twenty-fv
W. Il. Mnssey. acres. have red
clay soil. and could make n reservoir
on the hin. Will 1t pay to tile. drain
and irrigate through drain tiler I
cannot tell you how many gallons of
water Will be needed to irrigate an
mere OF land. for 1t would depend on
tre nature of the land to some extent,
and on the amount of irrigation needed.
Chat Is, how long the need for irri9a-
ton would continue In this climate.
With flow such as you describe and
storage reservoir. you will have an
abundance Of water for twenty-five
acres.
The tiles should be for drainage, and
the irrigation by surface channels.
Now. whether 1t will pay. Will depend
very largely upon what crops are
grown OF the land If 1t is used for
Intensive market gardening, 1T will
pay very we'll. but for general farm
crops OF this section. very much
doubt that It will pay. with a fan
OF 100 feet. It would be better to use
the overhead sprinkiing system. known
ms tho Skinner system. This Is now
being very largely used by truck
farmers in the South. using water ele-
waited into high tanks. Tho lines OF
piping run overhead high enough to
work teams under, and the piping Is
rotated. so that lines of piping forty
feet apart can be made to water
twenty feet each way. With tho fall
YOU mention, this system would be bet
ter than tho surface channels. B,ft In
this climate. where we have large
annual rainfall. I hardly think that
irrigation VIII pay for the expense ON
tho ordinary farm crops but VIII pay
we'll on the crops of the market gar
den. and there Will often mako the
whole difference between success and
failure.
Mixing Fertilizers at Home.
Il have been mixing my guano by
formulas gotten from tho bulletins.
and have used acid phosphate. cot
tonseed meal and kainit for corn and
cotton. and sulphate of potash inst.ad
or kainit for tobacco. For next year /
would like you to give me n real good
formula for gunno for tobacco. on
fresh land that has been In cultivation
one to three years. We use acid phos-
plate largely, and / am told that II
Is made by dissolving the phosphate
rock In sulphuric acid. Cannot | buy
the rock and the sulphuric acid and
dissolve the rock as we'll as the manu-
iacturers. and thereby prepare my own
mako our own fertilizers from start
to finish. But the matter of cos, is
what we need TO learn" Please learn,
as / have heretofore said. that the fer
tiiiZers we use are not properly called
Suano but are chemical mixtures
while guano Is the accumulated cxcre-
ment Of tho sea fowl on tho rninlcss
islands In the Pacific Ocean, and we
get none of 1t now. have heretofore
fnr ,a,.lp
which has given good results In North
Carolina. This IS as follows: 900
pounds OF 10 per cent acid phosphate
100 pounds OF nitrate OF soda COO
pounds or pure dried blood. and 400
pounds OF high-erade sulphato Of not
ash to make ton. On high. thin land
in the old bright tobacco section OF
North Carolina. this was used at rate
of 700 pounds nm acre. and made the
highest priced tobacco of tho season.
But on land in your section and com
parat!Tely fresh soil. / would not use
over 500 pounds nm acre
NO. you cannot probably make your
own acid phosphate. To get ready for
making 1t would cost n good deal In
iead-iined tanks, and the buying of the
rock and acid on smaller scale would
make the article cost you more than
you can buy a better made product.
special apparatus AMI skill in the
workman, and can only he done profit
ably on large scale. You would
inevitably mako an inferior product
and more costly one. The farmer GER
tainly needs to learn that he can mix
his own materials az well as the fac
tory, but he cannot prepare the raw
materials on small scale as we'll or
as cheaply as the commercial factory
lie
II would like you to tell me what
is the matter with my sweet potatoes
When / dug them about the first OF
November I had as nice n lot as any
one could desire. was told that
could not keep them here; but I
thought better and now they are all
black inside, and have the appearance
OF being frosted. They were grown on
rather poor sandy loan, and I used one
and one-half sacks Of Is per cent acid
phosphate on half an acre of land AS
soon as the first frost came i had the
vines cut off, and used them for feed.
but left the potatoes In the ground
Till the first of November, when they
were dug, and brought to the barn that
night In sacks. where they were left
several days. Then they were taken
out and sorted. and the small ones fed
to pigs. and the best ones wrapped
in paper and packed away in cool,
dry place. and now they are black
inside as though frosted? Please tell
me what is the matter and how 1t can
he remedled?"
Well, doubtless the potatoes were
chilled or frosted from what you say
az to the treatment. You left them In
the first place, too late in the ground
Then you handled them in sacks that
would inevitably bruise them, and left
them several days in a cold barn, and
then put them in cool place. In fact,
your whole treatment was such that
they, could not otherwise than spoil
Sweet potatoes are a tender product,
and should be taken from the ground
and carefully handled and stored In a
hot place till they have gone through
n sweat and dried off. Mine were dug
carly, and are stored In n warmed cell
lar, where for n time they had very
high temperature, aud arc now In n
temperature Of not less than 90, and.
they arc In the same basket in which