St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-06-03
FARMERS DEPARTMENT Edited ec B. 1<x,,

vat, as you recommend or wish to do.
and that vat should be built AZ fol-
lows: Take same pattern as regu.
lar cattle dipping vat and make the
top ten feet long and seven feet long
at the bottom. Make it one foot
wide at bottom and two feet wide at
top. Let the entrance be perpen-
dicular and the exit be on an in
cline with cleats upon which the hogs
can get out with ease. The vat
should be deep enough in order that
the biggest hog can go completely
under the solution. think fOul
and one-half feet will be plenty
Cresol or Kreso Dip can be used fol
the solution. and mix with water in
the proportion of ! to 40. The hogs
should be dipped every twenty days
through the summer and fall, start
ing again in the spring.
J.H., Florenville: wish to plant
some Spanish peanuts. Is this date
too late to plant? How should they
be planted for the best results? l
am told that they do not keep we'll
after ripening; that they sprout and
come up and IL hogs are turned In on
them the crop will be lost. Is this
true?
Spanish peanuts can be planted
any time from May 1st to July 18th.
They will do better planted In June,
however, than any other time. They
produce all their nuts close around
the base Of the vine never spreading
out like the Virginia runner. The
land should be nat broken and har-
rowed and rows laid OF 3 feet apart
with Z inch corn shovel. Two hun
dred pounds Of bone meal should be
put in this furrow per acre and COW
cred with cultivator or small sweep.
,, This ridge can be opened and seed
planted in this furrow and left on the
level. Just AZ plants are showing
above ground run side harrow or cul-
tivator over and cover plants, grass
weeds and all. This will save much
hoeing afterwards. The Virginia
growers use this plan most altogether
and have success growing the crop.
The nuts will sprout when ripe In
rainy weather. Hogs should be turn
ed to avoid loss.
A. H., Vaudeville: I see so much
about using lime on sour soil and for
special truck crops. Why could we
not crush shells into powder and use
this dust as q source OF lime In this
parish?
l sent two samples Of shells to
the state chemist for analysis and to
my surprise the samples went around
"a per cent calcium carbonate. which
is higher than the so-called agricul-
tural lime. l do not know, how
ever, Just how much Of this - per
cent would be Immediately available.
/ do not know Of any test where re-
ports have been made upon this pro-
duct. but l am going to send In {
hundred poundss and have , them
crushed and try q small experiment
myself and see what they will do. 1t
is one thing for an article to contain
plant food and quite another for tina
plant food to be in, such condition for
plants to use it. This question Is
we'll worth looking into further as
st. Tammany parish has plenty of
shells.
H. F.. Madisonville: am troubl
ed very much in my garden with nut
grass. Is there any remedy or way
to get rid of this pest?
Coco or nut grass does not do the
land much harm but it certainly
does put q lot of extra work on the
fellow to keep It from taking the
growing crops entirely. BY losing
the use of your land for one full sea-
SON you can kill the grass by spray
ing with strong salt solution. Dis
solve as much common salt in water
as the water will hold and spray
ground every time grass gets up big
enough. The brine will kill the tot
and finally late In the fall the nuts
sour and rot from lack Of food dur
ing the season. Another way to kill
it il to plant peas or velvet beans on
the land in summer and keep ground
we'll shaded. Oats or clover can De
grown in winter. Keep something
growing to shade the ground In win
ter and summer II salt method Is not
used.
w. H., OWL: I am interested i
Lespedeza. When should this crop
be planted and what is considered {
fair yield per acre. Is it cut In fall
or summer, and in what Stage must
the plants be when cut?
Lespedeza il considered the alfalfa
of the South and ranks with alfalfa
hay in feed nutrition. One cutting
is all that can be cut ordinarily in
season. The best way to grow 1t
is to plant oats in October on land
where you wish to grow Lespedeza
and in late February or March SOW
Lespedeza seed broadcast in oats.
They will not need any covering q
the first shower Of rain will sprout
the seed. The oats can be cut when
ready and later in summer the Les
pedeza makes its growth. 1t can be |
cut any time in October and as we
seldom have much rain in this month !
no trouble will be experienced In
saving the hay. have seen 1t cut
down in the morning and hauled In
IN the afternoon. 1t cures quickly
md is easily handled. From one to
T.