The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1914-01-09
WITH THE FARMERS
By Prof. w. F. MASSEY

in these columns You can buy the
concentrated article from seedSrnen,
and dilute II according to direction, or
you can make the self-boiled article
by Stacking eight pounds OF limo and
eight pounds of fiowers of sulphur to-
gethcr. and then adding water to make
nifty gallons. Spray well now and
again in the spring. and repeat the
sprayings every fall and spring.
The Watnlsn bean.
There is Il bean being advertised
called the Wataka bean, which they
ga? VIII make $50 bushels an acre. and
| Is wonderful as stock food Can you
tell us anything about it?' The So
called Wataka Is simply n new name
Tor very old plant, the Jack bean, "a
Chinese plant. known 70 botanists az
canavalia ensiforrnis, from It's sword
shaped great pods, which are twelve
70 ifteen inches long and two inches
wide The beans are as largo az an
ordinary lima bean. The dwarf form
mas white beams. while there Is a rank
! climbing variety that has pink seed
ana Is very late. nnd will not mature
seed IN this climate. az / know from
careful trial Neither of them are of
| any value whatever for stock feeding.
being not only OF poor feeding value.
hut cattle do not eat them. The ONLY
INC SO bushel would not give
SIS for wagon load of them.
Tomato strikes.
II train my tomatoes to stakes ana
I nave Il large number OF these stakes
mat are rapidly decaying What prc
| eer'atlVe can use to prevent this and
not AFFECT the plants? II a stake IS
ueGayeu on the outside. bur still strong.
VIII the decayed part have to be taken.
hntf
treat stakes OF this sort than to char
the part that goes In the ground b.
holding II In fire TIL the outside is
"eii olaekened and charred. You could
pant me states with coal tar, but
| mat might have an injurious effect on
the tomato plants II stake has de-
cayed surface and IN still strong. r
would trim on the decayed part and
then char the wood.
The Virginia Truck Experiment station.
1t seems that few of the truck farm
ers or virginia. aside from the irnmc-
diate vicinity OF Norfolk, have any
idea OF the work being carried on AT
the Virginia truck experiment station.
near Norfolk. The very good euuiu-
Hcnt OF buildings there were con
structed AT the cost OF the Norfolk
Irnckers' Association. which associa-
| uon also paid for tho farm OF sixty
acres The whole OUTFIT Is leased TO
the state without rent Professor #
I. Johnson, the director, has recently
published some account Of tho work
being done there The blacklcg dis
ease in Irish potatoes has been shown
to be carried by the seed potatoes used
ana can be controlled by using care IN
selecting clean seed, and as the fungus
!iNes put comparatively short time
IN the soil, proper rotation of crops
! that VIII keep the land clear OF pota-
toes for eighteen months is useful 4
q al inf gt,.I II
crop, and parasite has been intro
duccd 10 feed on these and clean the
crop.
Professor Johnson says in regard 10
fertilizers that "phosphoric acid seems
to be the limiting factor in most of
our soils. for such crops as kale. tur
nips cabbage and rutabagas. by re-
ducing the percentage OF ammonia or
dinar!ly used. and increasing the per-
ccntage OF phosphoric acid, the Yield
OF the crops was very materially in
creased. and the cost OF the fertilizer
likewise reduced"
( This, taken from a letter from Pro-
fessor Johnson in the Progressive
Farmer, shows just what I.have been
advising TO a number OF correspondents
who complain Of the failure OF vege-
tables In their old gardens, where they
have been applying stable manure lib
orally for years. and have gotten an
eXcess OF nitrogen. Phosphoric acid
either III the form or acid phosphate
or basic Stag is the cure for such con-
ditions.
The truck farmers must use q com
plete fertilizer and can better AFFORD
/ 10 be liberal with il on their higher
priced crops than the grain farmer
But IL is well 10 learn that in excess
or nitrogen is bad Tor crops that make
their value In the underground portion
wh!lo leaf crops revel in an abundant
supply OF nitrogen. And yet, with
either it is important to see that the
supply Of phosphorus is well main
tanned. and with root crops the potash
rs we'll
In all vegetable growing, the funda-
mental things are abundant plant food
in the soil. a mellow soil anu a rcgu-
lar supply OF moisture The garden
crs who have arranged for this by some
system OF irrigation, arc usually tho
most successful OF course, our an
nnal rainfall in this part OF the coun-
try is abundant, II 1t was uniformly
distributed. But we are apt TO have
long seasons of drought. and there is
nothing more important to the truck
grower than regular supply of water,
for the great applications of fcrtiliz-
CT he uses are depending on the mois-
tcre for their solution and plants can
lot use them dry. Irrigation In the
truck garden Is nearly as important
East as in the arid West.