Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-10-17

He ATLANTA SEMl-WEEKL\
should soon be obtained. You may plant
Bermuda sets in your section of Geor-
gia as late as September /. OF course,
they could be put out much later, but
would probably remain dormant through
the winter, as this grass is essentially
summer grass and is cut down by the
first frost.
You should be able to obtain from six
to eight months grazing on Bermuda
IN your section and where il is well
managed ii has a fine carrying capacity.
One should seed Japan clover on Ber-
ntuda sod i'm the spring and bur clover
i'm July. August or early September. or
the tame grasses Orchard grass may do
fairly well in semi-shaded conditions.
II you use an abundance of lime you
may succeed i'm raising some white
clover. Red top will do fairly well on
most river or creek bottoms. Alsike
clover may be sown with it, Alfalfa
can be grown successfully in your sec
tion of the state. 1t should be planted
after cowpeas have been turned under.
Prepare the land as for planting a gar
den crop Use at least four tons or
crushed raw rock per acre. Harrow thor
oughly into the surface soil Plant
twenty pounds of western-grown re-
cleaned alfalfa seed which has been
properly inoculated. Sow about October
to 10. Before planting scatter two
sacks OF cotton seed meal and 500
pounds of acid phosphate over each acre
of land. These two may be mixed to-
gether before scattered over the
ground. Harrow in thoroughly. DO
not pasture during the fall. If you
secure a good stand as you should in
a favorable season you will be able to
cut the alfalfa under average condi-
tions five times the next year and you
should gather about a ton of hay from
each cutting. Remember that alfalfa
should only be planted on land of good
fertility and which has been properly
and carefully prepared, fortified and
lined.
PLANT FOOD VALUE OF MUCK.
]. c. NJ, Jackson, Ca. writes: have
about three acres OF land that has been
covered by water for thirty forty years.
II was old mill pond and the dam washed
away In July and the ground is now dry
The sediment is about four feet deep and
fine as flour. Would ii pay to haul
this half mile and scatter over field?
We doubt the advisability of your
hauling the dirt to which you refer from
mile distant and scattering 1t over the
ground as a means of enriching it. No
doubt this muck contains some vege-
table matter and may have some value
for soil enrichment on that account,
but we do not believe it would contain
enough plant food to justify you in
hauling it the distance mentioned. Fresh
muck may ordinarily be expected to
contain about IS per cent of water, about
rs per cent of nitrogen, and only trace
of potash, phosphoric acid and lime OF
course, the more vegetable matter 1t
contains the richer it will be in nitro
gen. Material of this kind varies very
markedly in composition according TO
the conditions under which it is formed.
MAKING SILAGE FROM CORN FOD-
DER.
]. a. S.. Buford, Ca. writes: l am put
ting up silage from dry corn stalks and
wish TO know how many barrels Of water to
use to each ton Of the dry corn stalks.
1t is difficult to ensilo dry corn
stalks satisfactorily. This is due to the
large amount of water which it is re-
quired to use with the corn stalks. Care
full experiments which have been made,
indicate that about one ton of water
should be run in the silo with one ton
of corn stalks. 1t will not do to just run
the water in with the hose after the silo
has been filled, and il is impracticable
to get a sufficient amount of water into
the silo by sending it up through the
blower pipe. About the only way in
which the water can be put in salts
factorily is in the form of a spray. Pos
sibly one-third of it may be put in
through the blower. If you attempted
to wet the silage with hose after it
has been put up the water would imme-
diately run down to the bottom of the
silo leaving parts of the silage dry
which would heat and mold.
1t is rather impracticable, therefore.
on the average farm to use water in
the quantity needed to make dry corn
stalks into a satisfactory silage. If
you have a waterworks system of your
own, however, you could undertake to
make silage from corn slower with q
reasonable degree of satisfaction. You
will find that the cattle will eat 1T in
this form more completely than when
fed in the dry form.
SOWING ALFALFA IN 1917.
l.. w, LavOnia, Ca, writes. 1 have four
acres of cotton land that l want to SOW in
alfalfa in the fall of 1917. Will il be adj
visable to sow IL in wheat this fall and fol-
low with cOwpeas merit summer? Ii is san
dy gray laud. How much lime should put
on and when should the lime be applied?
VIII it need any other fertilizer?
One desiring to plant alfalfa should
take a year in which to get the ground
in good condition. 1t will be good prac-
tlce therefore, to SOW wheat this fall in
open burrows between the cotton rows.
Chop the cotton stalks down early in
the spring and then as soon as the wheat
81 70, Pnfnrn
breaking the ground for cowpeas, we
would advise the application of at least
two tons of the finely ground lime rock.
After the cowpeas have been plowed
under apply two tons more. Work the
lime well into tho surface soil with a