Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1924-06-19

! is very likely to be thrown on the
manure heap, thus resulting in the
contamination of the whole pile. If
you use yard manure under your
matermelons this year, be certain to
see that it is not contaminated. In
| the event 1t is, you must, or course,
rely entirely on the use of chemical
| fertilizers.
1t is important that you treat
| your watermelon seed before il is
planted. To this end, immerse it in
IL 900 solution of mercuric chlor-
| ide. The treatment should be con-
| tinued for five minutes. Then the
exterior of the seed should be washed
off in running water. If you treat
the seed too long, YOU NAV iniure
| its terminating quality. Mercuric
chloride is extremely poisonous, and
should, therefore, be handled with
| care and discretion.
Grasses Suited to South Georgia
Conditions
c. b, Manchester, Ga, writes:
L wish to make a new pasture
and would like to know the best
grasses to plant. I have two
acres of good, well-drained bot
age grade of hillside land
Possibly the best pasture crops for
you to plant in your section of Geor-
Gia would be Dallis or Carpet grass.
Carpet grass likes a rich, fertile sol!
and does best on moist, bottom lands.
1t has a creeping stem and forms
complete sod, but it has no under
ground stems, therefore, it will not
become a pest. This grass will drive
out Bermuda grass on land to which
1t Is well adapted. From five to ten
pounds of seed are sufficient to en-
able one to obtain a, good stand in
single season. Seeding should be
done early in the spring. The seed
is scarce and hard to obtain and,
therefore, high in price. One inter
ested in this grass can often find
Il small area of it and save the seed.
This grass is not quite as nutri-
tious as Bermuda grass, but it has a
great carrying capacity on land to
which it is well adapted. No grass
which you can afford to plant will
prove more satisfactory in your Sec
ton than Dallis grass. 1t endures
great extremes of drouth and cold.
It needs fertile soil, however. Dali
lis grass seed is exceedingly difficult
attacked by a fungus. Close graz
ing obviates this difficulty and where
this is done, a better grade of seed
can be obtained. Dallis grass seed
terminate very slowly. The best
method of establishing it is to plant
in burrows to 7 feet apart. Scatter
the seed in these burrows and leave
them uncovered.
A good mixture of gra sses for you
to use on the clay hillsides of south
Georgia would be Carpet grass four
pounds, Lespedeza ten pounds; on
the moist bottom lands of south
Georgia, Lespedeza ten pounds, Red
Top three pounds, and Carpet grass
three pounds. We think it better to
plant Carpet grass and Dallis grass
On separate acres Of land.
Growing Peanuts After Peanuts
Is Inadvisable
j. A. B., Buford, Ga, writes: I
have some land [ planted to pea
nuts last year that I would like
to plant to peanuts again, but
l have heard that you can not
raise peanuts on the same land
two years in succession. Is there
anything 70 this contention?
1T IS best to rotate the peanut
crop There is an impression that
because it belongs to the family Of
]egumes that it does not exhaust the
plant food from the soil, but rather
tends to build it up. The peanut,
under conditions, can aSSin1ilate at.
mospheric nitrogen, and so the land
on which it grows may show an in
crease in the content of this element.
On the other hand, if the peanut
vines are cat and cured as hay and
the nuts harvested and removed from
the land, it is a crop which tends to
depreciate the fertility Of the soil
unless it is grown in IL rotation and
liberal amounts of fertilizer applied
We are of the opinion of course
that you can grow two crops of pea
nuts on the same land in succession
provided you take proper steps to
that end. First of all, we would
suggest that you apply a minimum
OF 10000 pounds Of crushed raw
limestone rock per acre. We would
prefer to see you use a ton. The
finely ground material is the most
desirable. You can obtain crushed,
raw lime rock rather cheaply from
Gainesville. We would then advise
you to use the following fertilizer
formula: Three hundred pounds of
acid phosphate, 100 pounds of cot
tonseed meal, and 100 pounds of ma
nure salts. Mix these ingredients to-
gether and pat down under the drill
row at the time the peanuts are
planted. You may use some other
carrier of nitrogen and potash, if
you prefer. The idea is to supply
the relative amounts of available
plant food these ingredients would
contain.