Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-10-09
GROWING WHEAT IN THE SOUTH
EASTERN STATES.

EASTERN STATES.
Bread is the staff of life" and never
was the need of it more marked than
at the present time when we are en-
gagged I'm the greatest war the world
has ever known 1t is currently re
ported that over fifty million men have
been taken out Of productive industries,
largely agricultural. by the progress or
the war during the past three years.
Under such conditions it is certainly
not surprising that the supplies OF food,
and particularly wheat, should be run
ming low throughout the world. An UNI
favorable season last year resulted IN
cutting down the supplies available ma
teria1ly. For instance. in the United
States one of the smallest crops raised
in several years was harvested, and this
at a time when our allies and the peo-
pies of foreign countries are looking
too US as the one great granary of the
world from which they could secure
a sufficient amount of wheat to feed
their people. Another reason for the
decreased supply is due to the large
area of fine ,wheat-producing area over
run by invading and contesting armies.
Great sections of the country have be-
come little less than a barren waste
of labor 70 till the idle acres. The
problem of the United States, therefore,
is acute in so far as the production or
wheat is concerned. We must have an
abundance OF this essential cereal for
the nourishment of our own people, and
IL the war is to be prolonged and
brought to a successful issue in so FAR
as our country is concerned, we must
be in position to send vast quantities
of wheat across the water to England,
France and Italy.
In this connection every land owner
should remember the famous axiom or
Napoleon, who said that an army
crawls on its belly. With this motto
before us, let us remember that IL is
the patriotic duty and privilege of ev-
cry southern farmer to raise an area
of wheat this year sufficient to feed HIS
own family and provide an equai
amount for use in other sections of the
country or for shipment abroad. This
is not difficult task. because wheat or
good quality which makes a fair yield
and therefore can be raised at a profit
at $500 a bushel can be grown on vast
areas Of southern land with success.
We have depended on the west so long
for our bread supplies that we have
become rather Indifferent with refer
we are to meet the requirements of the
existing situation. we must at least
double the area of this cereal in the
south. To do this would not require
the planting of more than a few acres
on every farm, and as we now have a
long time in which to prepare the land
and seed the wheat crop. let us remem-
Der to set aside the land needed. get IL
ready in good time, fertilize and plant
with the utmost care, and so demon
strate to the nation as a whole our oe-
sire to serve acceptably in the pres
ent emergency.
There are some soils, of course, which
are not well adapted for the cultivation
of wheat, and in those sections farmers
should not undertake it's growth on an
extensive scale. Wherever the Decatur
clay loan, the Hagterstown loan and
the Conasauga silt loan occurs wheat
can be grown at profit. In the great
Piedmont area of the southeastern
states or the red clay belt, wheat can
be grown successfully. 1t can also be
raised on the sandy loamy soils of the
northern part of the coastal plains area.
There is an abundance of soil of good
quality, therefore, available on which 70
cultivate wheat to advantage. Every
one knows that after the wheat is har-
vested the land may be devoted to a
second crop of hay from legumes. Even
corn or cotton can be planted after
wheat in some sections. OF course, cot
ton could only be used in those areas
which the weevil has not yet invaded.
In cultivating wheat the use of fer
tilizers will be found advisable. There
are certain elements essential to ne
proper development of this crop and in
which practically all the soils in the
southeastern states are more or less de-
ficient One of these which can be OBJ
tanned I'm reasonable quantities and at
a cost which will justify its use, IS
acid phosphate. We advise the general
application of $50 to 400 pounds per
acre of this material. 1t should be put
down at the time the wheat is seeded.
1t should be we'll mixed with the sol and
not broadcasted on top of the land. At
the time of planting the wheat 1t is gen
orally advisable to use some nitrogen.
We suggest from 100 to 200 pounds Of
cotton seed meal, 100 pounds of nitrate
of soda or IS to 100 pounds of sulphate
of ammonia. One-half of these amounts
NAV be put on with the acid phosphate
i'm the fall and the balance applied in
the spring The early application of
nitrogenous fertilizers in the spring
seems to give the best results according
TO our experience and observation We
would say that in the southern half of
the territory in question the nitrogen
should be put on from the 18th OF Feb
ruary to the 1st of March; and in the
northern part from the LIST to the 10Th
of March.
In growing wheat 1t is generally de-
sirabIe to enrich the land with as much
humus as possible. If the crop can
be grown after cowpeas or velvet beans
or where supplies of green or yard
manures have been turned under, 1t will
be an advantage. In the growth OF
wheat it appears that two tons of the
crushed raw lime rock applied, once say
in three or four years will be found
helpful on many soils. AS to the rota-
ton of crops to practice, much depends
on circumstances and conditions. Ordi-
narily wheat may be sown after cot
ton. This will be advantageous practice
to follow in many parts of the south
eastern states where the weevil has
proven destructive, thereby necessitat-
ing the early blowing under of the cot
ton stalks. After the wheat has been
harvested. cowpeas or soy beans, as al
ready indicated may be grown either
for grain or cut for hay. The third
wear corn and velvet beans can be plant
ed on the land and then back to coec~H.
AS a matter of fact, some rotation OF
this kind will be essential in the south
now for several reasons. First of all,