Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1915-04-30
PATT0ICK

iGftGan FFEsS ASSOCIATION.
q If your tomatoes. melons. grain
md cotton fail to set plenty Of seed
md fruit phospboric acid is called for.
=. II you expect to take from your
Ind a crop rich in leaf. as lettuce, in
erease the proportion of nitrogen In
your fertilizer
IS II potatoes or onions are desired
provide plenty Of potash
-. II abundant corn. wheat. cotton
bolls. melons. penches. stra wberries or
tomatoes are wanted see to the phos-
phoric acid
San made use of what be had learn
ed In planting and culuvating his
crops. He watched them closely. and
II it seemed to him that any Of them
were not doing well he began to hunt
and study out the cause.
Although be had fortified all of the
farm TO some extent before blowing.
be worked manure INTO the burrows
when he planted his cotton and tried
to give everything lie planted the food
II demanded TO do its best He found
out that one good way to apply this
food was to sprinkle il on the surface
of the ground around the plants and
work it in gently with hoe or rake.
Sam made Il top application of this
kind TO his cotton when it was well
advanced in the summer. The soil OF
the contest acre had been well fertiliz-
ed in the beginning. but Sam didn't
want that corn to lack for any of the
elements it needed TO make two big,
long ears to each stalk and sometimes
three. He waited until it was just
about ready TO silk: then he went TO
town and bought 400 pounds of fer
tilizer. He had this mixed to suit him
self, for he had figured out just what
he thought the corn needed-so much
nitrogen and so much phosphoric acid
With this fertilizer he went over each
row of the acre sprinkled it around
the stalks and worked 1t into the soil.
Fine as the corn was before. it now
showed still further improvement In
a few days it was in full silk. and 1t
seemed to leap up on receiving the
stimulating food around its roots. But
Sam wasn't through with the acre yet.
Every now and then he went over 1t
with & pillow. just skimming the sur
fece to break mp the crust that com.
menced to form One month 1t was
unusually dry. and the young farmer
had a chance to see the good effect OF
this work His corn kept its dark
green color. and by scratching down
two inches. just underneath the dust
mulch. he found that the soil was per
feetly wet.
Fagan's corn across the fence was
burning and whiting in the sun. sam
climbed over the fence one day and
examined the soil He found il baked
hard on top and when he TOOK his
knife and dug little hole he had to
90 nearly six inches before he found
the slightest moisture
That shows what conserving the
moisture will do" be said to himself
as he went back TO his field. I've
plowed this acre a good many times
but it's been easy work and didn't take
long TO do il, because it's in good con
dition. | may be mistaken. but l be
lieve I'm going 10 make lot of corn
at mighty little cost on this patch
Late in the summer. when the corn
was almost made and when other
farmers had long ago laid by then
corn, Sam gave his contest acre 6nal
blowing and sowed black eyed peas
broadcast among 1t as be did so. He
had done his best. and II remained to
be seen whether other boys in his state
could beat him.
But II Sam Powell was through With
the one sore he wasn't through work
by any means In fact, he didn't nave
much time to think about the contest