West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1915-08-05

CHAPTER v.

the whole year was a very
busy ono for Sam. And Il was
not less so for Florence and
MS Powell. Florence often helped
ner brother when the work crowded.
and Mrs. Powell put in all her spare
ume In the garden. melon patch and
orchard.
On the contest acre Sam was forced
20 do all the work himself. The rules
were strict on this point. and after
sams patch had been laid or and
treasured by a committee he himself
planted tho corn and no ono else struck
lick In its cultivation.
Sans first planting was the Irish
S-SSd -toos. he bedded up an acre.
!. agged down the beds almost Dat and
planted them early In March. Next
cams the contest acre, and when that
was finished no planted four moro
acres In corn. making FIVE I'm all. then
turned to the cotton.
Next came the cane. and Sam sowed
this broadcast and very thick. for he
wanted to mako hay OF It. II the
stalks grow large and stiff II doesn't
mako good hay.
The young farmer wound up the first
round or planting by sowing the or
chard In rye. His idea was to let no
bit OF ground lie idle, but to keep some
th.ag growing on it instead OF weeds.
The weed problem was pretty hard
one for Sam. so many had gone to seed
on the place. But he determined that
not one should make seed this year.
So he was the busiest farmer in the
whole community. He plowed and
hoed constantly. but II was mostly
blowing, for Sam soon learned that
hoeing Is n mighty slow way TO XIII
weeds and grass compared with plow-
ing.
People passing along by the Powell
place marveled ut the clean, well cul.
tivated little farm. Bot Sam consid-
cred other needs OF the crops besides
cultivation.
The soil OF the place was not nearly
SO poor as the neighbors had said Il
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
ench 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 Ia
study closely the wild vegetation and
trees growing about and 10 read the
: bulletins and the book he had bought
on" How Crops Grow" 1t wasn't an
easy subject by any means. Sam read
and reread the book and finally went
over ii slowly and studied it page by
page. Pretty soon he knew nearly rs
much about the soil he WINS cultivatinc
as any expert could have told him
Hero IS what he learned about soil fer
fifty:
Acid In soil that causes crops to FIRE
and die is indicated by sorrel growing
on the land Acid can easily be detect
ed also by getting a slip OF blue htmus
paper for a nickel at the drug store
and pressing It in a BAH OF the soil
II It turns red there is acid An appli
cation OF lime cures this.
Crops and plants OF all kinds are fel
by several elements of the soil, bu
there are three more important thar
the rest-nitrogen, potash and phos
phoric 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.
Phosphoric acid reproduces-sets the
blooms and makes abundant seed and
fruit.
Sam learned these things from read
ing. But. when he knew them, all hc
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 II flowers formed and fell OF
the plants before they should he knew
the sou needed phosphoric acid.
Finally the young farmer formed
what be had learned into nine rules
and wrote them down in the back OF
one Of bis books, as follows:
81 Nitrogen Tor ammoniaJ encour
~ rses strong leaf, vine and bush growth
- - Potash makes frm tuber, bulb
and lber.
"3. Phosphoric acid makes blooms set
and seeds and seed pods form abun.
dainty.