Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-10-14

beautiful sod Of Lespedeza hut the land
is rough and bumpy. SO wish TO piow
it and smooth it down. If turn 1t now,
will it come again next spring?
AS you doubtless know, lespedeza
is an annual, making it's principal
growth between the occurrence of
frost in the spring and the fall
We would suggest. therefore, that
you wait to work this land until
frost occurs. If it is a very roll
ing, broken piece of land and like
ly to wash badly during the winter
we doubt the wisdom of disturbing
the sod. We would suggest, in any
event, light blowing for this land,
and then the use of a smoothing
harrow followed by leveler Any
spots of earth which are p scraped
bare should, of course, be plowed
and enriched with yard manure or
any other litter which will tend
to mellow the land and supply it
with quickly available humus. On
such spots we would scatter some
additional lespedeza seed at the
rate of about ten pounds per acre.
The seeding should not be done I'M
til the weather is settled in the
spring. We would, of course, work
the ground as soon as seasonal
conditions are at all favorable. We
think that by working and hand
ling in the manner indicated you
can level the ground to a consid-
cradle extent without endangering
the loss of most of the lespedeza
you now have. IF the land were
plowed too deeply, of course, and
the seed buried to good depth, it
might fail to terminate and cause
Of HI IF nf
the stand you now have.
The Best Time to Plant Alfalfa
E. NJ. H., Martin, Ga, writes Is it
too late to plant alfalfa? | want to
plant an acre and can get it ready to
plant in five or six days. If it is not
too late please tell me how to proceed
to get the land in shape and what fer
tilzer to use.
1t is not too late to plant alfalfa
i'll Stephens county provided you
can arrange to sow it very soon.
We should think that in your loca-
ton i. would be desirable to have
this crop planted by the 18th of
October. Remember that alfalfa
likes a very rich, friable soil which
is well drained. 1t will do well on
red clay uplands when good
stand is secured It does not like
wet feet, however, so land from
which the water does not readily
find escape is not very we'll adapted
for alfalfa.
In planting alfalfa one should
SOW about 20 pounds per acre on a
seed bed which has been prepared
with as much skill and care as
one would put on a garden plot
Scatter the alfalfa over the ground
and cover with a weeder, or you
may SOW with a barrow seeder
and cover with a Weeder. Deep
covering is not desirable. One should
certainly inoculate the alfalfa seed
before planting. This may be done
through the purchase and use of
an artificial culture. These Gull
lures are now manufactured and
Tut on the market by a considerable
number of firms, and you will find
their products reliable. Possibly
you can secure cultures for a linn
tied amount of land by writing to
the L. S. Department of Agriculture,
and [ am Of the opinion that the
State Department of Agriculture
manufactures cultures Of this char
acter.
After the alfalfa is planted do
not allow the land to be tramped
over or do not allow any grazing
during the fall and winter. We have
never h d success with planting al
falfa in the spring as yet. and
therefore we cannot advise that you
undertake this practice as we are
disposed to think you would find it
unsatisfactory.
1t is important that the land
devoted to alfalfa be we'll fortified
and we suggest therefore that you
use at the time of seeding a min
imum of 500 pounds of material
containin 3 to 3.5 PEI cent of nj
trogen to 8 per cent of phospho
ric acid, and preferably to per
cent of potash. If you cannot Sc
cure the potash at a reasonable price
you can of course, leave it out of
the mixture By all means use two
tons of crushed raw lime rock over
this land putting it on Immediately. |
Scatter it uniformly over the sur
face of the ground and harrow it |
in
The Find of Lime TO Use Under
Peanuts
Il. C. r.. IIephzibah. Ga. writes: l |
wish information to the kind Of lime
- best adapted to the raising of peanuts, |
the amount per acre required and the
method Of application. How often should |
it be applied?
One could, of course, use several |
grades of lime To aDDlv to land in |