Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1915-04-30
IOr d MoInbtsr of Apo Corn Club
w ASA PATRICK
copyrIah,. 191 ). by American Press Association.

copyright lsl D ~ Al
Sans first planting was the Irish
potatoes He hedded mp an acre.
dragged down the beds almost Hat and
planted them early in March Next
came the contest acre. md when that
was finished be planted four more
acres IN corn. making FIVE in all. then
turned to the cotton
Next came the cane. and Sam sowed
this broadcast ana very thick. for ne
wanted to make hay of it. IL the
stalks grow large and stiff II doesn't
make good hay
The young farmer wound up the first
round OF planting by sowing the or
chard In rye. His idea was to let no
bit of ground lie idle. but to keep some
thing growing on 1t instead of weeds.
The weed problem was pretty hard
one for Sam. so many had gone to seed
on the place But be determined that
not one should make seed this year
So be was the busiest farmer in the
whole community. He plowed and
hoed constantly. but it was mostly
blowing, for Sam soon learned that
hoeing is mighty slow way to kill
weeds and grass compared with plow-
ing
People passing along by the Powell
place marveled at the clean. well cul-
tivated little farm But Sam eonsid-
cred other needs of the crops besides
cultivation.
The soil of the place was not nearly
so poor as the neighbors had said it
was-nOt even so poor as Sam had
thought The trouble was that the
surface of the ground had merely been
scratched, and he had remedied this by
thorough cultivation Still the crops
lacked something. and be found that
each acre had certain qualities. As he
studied the farm he began to see that
each bit OF land was strong in certain
ways and weak in others.
There was no time to have soil analy
sis made this year, but be began to
study closely the wild vegetation and
trees growing about and to read the
bulletins and the book he had bought
on How Crops Grow" 1t wasn't an
and reread the book and finally went
over 1t slowly and studied it page by
page. Pretty soon he knew nearly as
much about the soil he was cultivating
as any expert could have told him.
Here is what he learned about soil fer
tility:
Acid in soil that causes crops to fire
e. nv n
on the land Acid can easily be detect
ed also by getting a slip OF blue litnus
paper for nickel nj the drug store
and pressing ii in a bah of the soil
If it turns red there is acid. An appli-
cation of lime cures this.
Crops and plants OF all kinds are fed
by several elements of the soil. but
there are three more important than
the rest--nitrogen. potash and phos-
ph0ric acid.
Nitrogen forms the leaves Of plants
that part OF the plant body which
breathes
Potash makes the trunk, stalk and
tuber of plant or tree.
Pbosphoric acid reproduces-sets the
fruit.
Sam learned these things from read
ing But when he knew them. all he
had to do was TO look about the farm
and learn more things by observation
Where trees grew or had grown well
he knew that potash was plentiful. II
leaves were rank. nitrogen was abun.
dant. IL flowers formed and fell of
the plants before they should be knew
the soil needed phospborie acid
Finally the young farmer formed
what he had learned into nine rules
and wrote them down IL the back of
one of his books, as follows:
Il. Nitrogen Tor ammonial encour
ages strong leaf, vine and bush growth
- Potash makes firm tuber. bulb
and fiber.
"3. Phosphorc acid makes blooms set
and seeds and seed pods form abun-
dainty.
~. If the wild growth on your farm
IS profnse and your tomatoes and mel