The times dispatch. [volume], August 18, 1913, Page 7, Image 7

About The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
WITH THE_FARMERS*
By Prof. W. F. MASSEY
Apple Tree* De
terloratlnft.
From Culpepor
County "l am the
man v/ho clcanod
his garden of wire
Brass with a raz- j
puis *t>)uot(K .Jil^l*
1 still think It the 1
hi'Mt and quickest
... X1 way. I see that a
u. r. MUltri m;l|1 has n(jkC(1
>ou in The Times-Dispatch about
lil.ink for blind ditches. ['lank or poles
will do very -veil where there is al
ways water in the ditches, but where
<lry part of the year they will rot out In 1
?i lew years. Ono of my nclKhoors put
oown old Held pine poles with a green
null slab on top. and in ditches where
water ran all the time they lasted forty
> ears, but where the water dried out
In summer they rotted in five years.
Now. tell me something. Several years
ago I planted soma York Imperial ap
ple trees. At first these trees bore ap
ples of the usual size, but for several
years the apples have been no larger
than black walnuts and have no taste
at all, and I find that the trees in my
neighbors' on hards uro In the name fix.
'.an > <>u explain this or suKuest a
'ernedy .Sot knowing what sort of
tf< jitment the trees have had. I cannot
explain the failure to develop ^ood
fruit. I know that with most of our
apples tfie first fruiting Is usually
larger In size <?f fruit* than when the
trees get older and are allowed to over
bear. i ijo many apples on a tree will
make them :Vialler, and too little food
:n the soil, too, will tend to make a de
terioration in tho fruit. If you use the
orchard for apples only, and do not try
to make It a hay field or a pasture, you
will pet bettor apples. Then feed the
trees liberally. Experiments made by
the Pennsylvania Experiment Station
showed tho most wonderful difference
between the trees that wore liberally
fertilized and those that were not. I
should say that from your account of
the trees, the failure Is due to soli pov
erty. an?l that the tre?-s need a liberal
fertilization. The trees cannot make
apples unless they can got plenty of
phosphoric ncid and potash from the
soil and the growth cannot be made
if tho leaves are blighted or rusted.
Healthy leaves are esi-entlal, and spray
ing In these days Is essential to the
keeping of the foliage healthy. Keep
the foliage nood and feed the roots with
what they need, and you will have good
fruit, l.ut with starved roots and blight
ed leaves. th?r?. cannot be good fiuit.
A I fnlfn on I rrck Hot torn.
"Would It do to try to raise alfalfa
on creek bottom? Land Is subject to
overflow whenever a freshet occurs,
which is almost every year, and often
keeps the land under water for ten
hours " Under such conditions it would
be a waste of labor and money to try
to grow alfalfa. Even If It did sur
vive the overflow, the red. muddy water
w<>.il l ruin It for hay. Hut It is very
probable that the overflow would do
stioy it Alslke clover will thrive un
der such conditions better than any
other legume crop I know of
Mending n Stand of Dover.
I sowed sapling clover with wheat
last fall. There are some spots with
I ni Iv any stand, Could 1 not plow
these places and sow oats and crimson
clover and nave the crop come on with
the sapling clover for hay?" You could
patch the field in this way. hut the
crimson clover will bo ready to cut. and
>hould be cut. an soon as It blooms,
wltnout rtgnrd to tho condition of the
"iits and sapling clover. Then, as vou
s.v.- you want to put the land In wheat
again I:. *.he fall. I would cut the crim
son clover, and then when the sapling
clover Is ready, cut that, and then
break rhe land well and add 300 pounds
of acid phosphate an acre and sow to
cowpeas. and g* t another hay crop.
Then, after cutting the peas you caii
prepare the stubble for wheat by disk
ing It as fine as practicable, and adding
more acid phosphate, and should be
able to make a good wheat crop Hut
do not replow the land deeply after the
peas, but let the summer pjowlng re
main settled and simply disk the sur
face e\s fine as possible, and you will
make better wheat than hv late deep
plowing.
firasM for Pnnturc.
In Bedford County: "Please publish
a grass mixture for pasture. Top soil,
gray and sandy."
In your section I think that the
mixture I have used in Virginia will
be good. Ten pounds of orchard grass,
ten pounds of tall meadow Feecue, and
ten pounds of tall meadow oats grass.
Then keep stock off till the grass gets
strong, pnd keep the sod good by an
nual topdressing and mowing off the
weeds, and the Virginia native blue
grass. Poa comprcssa. will come in.
Trucking Questions.
From Fluvanna. "Please let me know
how to pack lettuce to keep it fresh,
and to whom should I ship to get fair
treatment? is there a market for
orris root and tho flowers?"
Our growers pull the lettuce so as to
remove the r?.ots from the soil, and
then cut oit the roots, dip In water and
pack root up In half-barrel baskets
with covers. It travels all right In
thl6 way. Where I live, all truck is
sold either to buyers at the sta
tions or shipped in car loads by the
Produce Exchange to orders gotten by
their traveling agents. No shipping
to commission merchants here at all.
Hence I cannot advise you as to the
commission merchants in Washington
or Baltimore, and the best way Is to
go to the cities and find out about the
men on tho spot, l.y getting their rating
from the ltradstreet Agency. Men that
have a good financial rating are gen
erally reliable. Orris, the root of Iris
fiorentlnu, is imported from Italy in the
dried shape and (s used to soino extent
In perfumery. But the demand is pretty
well supplied, and I would not advise
planting it In this country. There is
r.o demand for the flowers, and if there
was, you could not ship them safely
from Fluvanna except In refrigerators.
More <<"nrden ((ueNtlonn.
Fluvanna again: "I havo been read
ing your columns in The Times-Dis
patch with great interest. All farmers
could be benefited by reading them,
but, of course, there are some who
know it all, and cannot be taught. They
are always the poorest farmers. Please
answer the following In the paper:
1. What causes watermelons to rot
when small? 2. What time of the moon
should watermelons bo planted, or do
you not believe the theory? 3. Do you
think It n good Idea to got the grass our
of the garden after vegetables havo
matured? Don't you think it should
stay and ho turned under In tho
spring?" Two othor questions are of
no practical importance.
1. Tho rotting of the watermelons,
liko tho rotting of any fruit. Is caused
by fungus disease that can be pre
vented by spraying with Bordeaux mix
ture. 2. T never cultivated tho moon
and nevef- asked her permission about
planting nnything. The time to plant
watermelons is when you have dono
your part In preparing the land and
manuring.tho hlllb, and tho weather is
warm enough. The moon has nothing
on earth to do with the crop. 3. There
should not he any grass in the garden.
I keep my garden at work summer and
winter, and have crops on it at all
times, and havo no room for grass.
You lot the garden gel. Branny and you
will bo breeding cutworm In the fall
for damaging your plants In spring. If
you run your garden properly and fol
low up early cropa with later ones, and
these with winter crops, you will not j
be bothered with grass. Grow grass
out on the farm, but never allow any
grass to get a start In the garden, and .
you will not have to debate about j
leaving It or cleaning it out. I keep
my garden too busy growing vege
tableo and flowers to have grass in It.
Coualng Btnu?.
A Fluvanna woman writes that she
cans snap beans and would like to tell
the one who asked about canning them, j
She says boll them, as usual, and put j
In hot cans, with hot tops and close
at once. She cans corn In same way,
taking nine cups of corn, one cup of
salt and one cup of sugar and one cup
of water and boll till well done, and
i then seal in hot cans.
Marl.
From Amherst: "Do you know any
thing about the lime marl sold at
j Koanoke? Is it better than gioun<i
? limestone? How late ran I sow crimson
clover in tills county? Is It possible
to get pure Nova Scytia plaster.' If
iso, why do you not recommend it? What
I Is the difference chemically between
the Nova Scotia plaster and the Vlr
I Kinia? Please answer in The Times
Dispatch."
j I do not know anything about the
particular marl you mention. A good
article of shell marl is as good as
I ground lime rock. That Is if it Is
| thu pure decomposed shells. Both will
be lime carbonate In Amherst it will
I be best to sow crimson clover In Au
; gust, but you can sow It early in feep
I tember. Plaster, whether from Nova
Scotia or from Southwest \ lrKinia
sulphate of calcium, and thero Is no
dirferonco in the two if the samples are
free from lime carbonate. Plaster has
: some effect In releasing Insoluble
potash in the soil, but carbonate of
lime will do it better. Plaster is good
to keep manure from losing ammonia,
but acid phosphate Is better. J; me
carbonate sweetens an acid soil. Mine
sulphate or plaster does not. I f?rmer
lv used plaster in the stables to be car
rled out mixed In the manure, but I
have found that a'Md phosphate is
more efficient and supplements the ma
nure. almost trebling the efficiency of
the manure. Hence I do not think
! that we need plaster.
A Clover Sod ami Its Treatment.
??Where you already have a closer
?od. and expect to let the same land
! i r main In clover another year. Is. t bet
1 tor to plow in that clover sod in the
I fall or winter, or is it better to 1
the land remain without plowingr n
I other wotds. can you eat a cake and
keep it. too. If you plow under the
I clover this fall, you will certainly not
i have It next year. Therefore 1 cannot
understand what you mean. <^f course,
you can keep the clover over next sum
mer and if vou are going to put the
land in corn the following year you can
turn the clover sod down In thei fal
and sow a winter cover crop of r>e or
i crimson clover to turn in the
and bring the rotten clover sod back
: whore It will be of most use to the
Cr?P .
Tomntoen Djinc.
"What makes my tomato plants die.
Thcv scorn to bo doing wo 11,^but sud
denly wilt and die In a day. Doubt
less vou have the" Southern bacterial
| blight. There is no known cure or
preventive. I hart supposed this dis
ease had not Invaded the upper Pie -
mont section, though common In le
l< wer and warmer parts. The onj\
thing to do is to avoid infected soil,
perhaps something might be done b>
aking seed from plants that reman
hcaHhV where others die. and in this
I way breed up a resistant strain
' Sweet Potatoes !n t'pper Piedinont.
| -Some of our farmers are figuring on
growing sweet potatoes for ir-iirkot
?,r>\ we thought that you could gUe us
some information In regard to the
! crop " You are right up near the Blue
Kidce, and so far as my experience In
similar locality is concerned theie Is
little land well suited to sweet pota
toes as a market crop. I had some bot
tom land in Albemarle, where the floods
had covered sand over the level bottom.
'.muI there I could grow sweet potatoes.
Put as a rule the uplands in your sec
' Hon are not suited to large culture of
the sweet potato. The Northern mar
kets demand a dry and mealy sweet
potato, and these arc best grown on
: he warm and level sandy soils of the
Tidewater section Doubtless you can
find spots in your section that will grow
fairly pood sweet potatoes, and might
grow some for home use. hut I reall>
think that local conditions are against
the production of the crop on a com
. mercial scale You could not poss< > >
! compote either in crop or quality . It.
: the Eastern Shore counties. If >ou
grow them for Northern shipment you
i must grow the kinds the Northern lpeo
ple buy. The Big Stem Jersey arid the
Gold Skin and Nanscriond are the
they want, and not the yam sorts that
i they do not know how to cook. Better
ro slow with sweet potatoes in your
; section.
Fertilizer Exhaustion.
"How lone does it take a growing
crop to exhaust an application of fer
tili/.er?" That will depend on the
amount applied and the kind of fer
tilizer used. Nitrate of soda vwll ho
speedily exhausted, and if not used by
? plants will soon leaoh from the soil.
' Acid phosphate and potash will remain
in the soil till used, and if there Is
imore than the Immediate crop will use
there will bo some Influence from them
on the soil for three years or more.
An application of raw pulverized io<-\
phosphate will make little show in ho
crop the first year, but more In the
1 second, and still more in the third
' voar. A verv light application may be
all used up by the growing crop, and
the plants encouraged by it will bo
drawing on the natural store In the
soil, and In this way the fertilizer will
have diminished the fertility of the
! soil, as it has done 1.000 times all over
the South.
Mixing a Fertilizer.
"I have 16 per cent acid phosphate,
nitrate of soda, dried blood and mu
! rlate of potash. I want to make for
winter truck crops a fertilizer that
j will have 7 per cent nitrogen, S per
cent phosphoric acid and 10 per cent
i potash. How much of these materials
1 shall I use?" To make 8 per cent phos
! phoric acid you want lt'?0 pounds, and
i you can get this in 1,000 pounds of
1 the 10 per cent article. Ten per cent
i potash means 200 pounds, and to get
(this you take 400 pounds of the r.o
! per cent muriate of potash. This will
i leave you GOO pounds of material to
1 get 140 pounds or 7 per cent of nitro
gen, and 1 do not know any material
that will give that in 600 pounds. In
fact, I do not think that with the ma
terials you have you can make any
such mixture. You enn, of course,
make 7' per cent of nitrogen, hut will
have to- decrease tlio percentages of
phosphoric acid and potash to get it.
i liut. In fact, I. cannot see the need of
7 per cent nitrogen In a fertilizer,
though I have used an article that has
7 per cent of ammonia, but that Is
not 7 per cent nitrogen by a good
deal. You can make 3 per cent nitro
gen with the percentages you want
of the other things and that is enough.
It is odd that farmers and truckers
puzzle over percentages, not realizing
that per cent in a fertilizer simply
means so many pounds In 100.
Occupants of Car Cut and
I Bruised Annual Farmers'
Picnic Next Saturday.
-tSpoclaltu The Times-Dispatch l
Cult)..per. Va.. August 17.?While r?.
turning from Culpeper to their home
7-zx ;r
Culpvper National ll? k v?,h"h|f
son and daughter. who wore in the a,?.*
tomoblle with him. had a v,ry narrow
escape from death. when two runaway
Which" <ha8"?U ,M,? th" nmch.no In
i which they wer? riding. The accident
grounds' ?a f hiU. nCAI' lhe horm' "how
a n?r#v f^ur hors?! wagon, <ontuln
refiirnlnJ / y"u"K P?opl* who were
w?. m"1 il lnoo">lf?'ht hay ride,
wa? ceecem.Jng tho hill when the
hlU.r rroort from th0 wagon,
became frightened and raced madly
?r?nH. ha "?wh,ch u,e F?rbes
| occupants?" thle car"^werr "rut' anM
|muUtlTatedn(1 ?nC ?f lh? h?r8CS fearful"
th??i:j:5"tnKndl.B? thfi aPPe?rance of
the dread chestnut blight in several
? places, all Indications in upper Cul
peper and Madison Counties are that
[the ronitng chestnut crop will be very
! this?K.u>Vio8n y*'ir the y,e,d tl,roughout
this B.-ction was unusually larg? and
| banner ,rIces prevailed on account of
the scarcity of the nuts further north.
The remarkable price of fir. a bushel
! Jf the JeMo"aUln,0re " ,he he?"?"n?
| Charles Williams, of "Kairvlew." for
I nearl> seventy years, died at the Wll
1 ams homi' this week after a brief
ni,p?Arf duri"* whl'-h he wan tenderlv
Tl v, ^ members of the family
w hom he had served for so Ion*. This
for lJtRn' uh,? ha'1 ,)e'?n deaf and dumb
, for the whole of his long life of seven
< ty-four years, was born on the estato
1 of Thomas Robertson, "Locust Grove,"
i J} ?i,a"Ka County. After the death of
i.VR?l?crt,,on ?vod for some years
with hi8 daughter, Mrs. Daniels, of
I Culpeper. and for the past twenty years
i with ..Irs. Daniels's daughter. Mrs.
Charle? Williams. During the Civil
r he remained entirely faithful to
his owners and was often intrusted bv
them with articles of value which they
wished hidden from the enemy. His
! ;v;as h<'M from the colored
Baptist Church In Culpeper, and was
i largely attended by both white and
! colored.
.Sheriff Bond, of Orange, was In Cul
peper this week with five prisoners
whom he brought to the Culpeper Jail
for safer keeping than the Orange Jail
serried to guarantee. They will "be
here until the next term of court.
The event in this county yesterday
was the annual Held day of the Jcf
fersonton Athletic Club held on the
athletic grounds at that place, large
crowds from various parts of the coun
| ty, ns well as from Fauquier and Rap
J pahannock, attending. Among tho
events of Interest were baseball games,
relay and foot racing, and fungo bat
ting. A bond of music was also in at
tendance, and dancing was continuous
I throughout the day. Lunches and other
refreshments were served in the
grounds. J. \\. Thayer, the secretary
of the club, was in charge of arrange
ments.
A copy of a Culpeper newspaper of
the year 1530. wh*-n Culpeper was
known as "Fairfax." was found re
? certly behind the mirror of an old
bureau orlglnaly owned by Mrs. Kath
<>rlno Lewis, of Madison Courthouse,
and is now In possession of R. M Ep
person, of Culpeper. a grandson of Mrs.
Lewis. Among the interesting items
j in this time-worn paper was the fol
, lowing unique advertisement on the
| flrst page: "One c*nt reward.?Ran
away from the subscriber, near Wood -
ville, on the 25th instant, William H.
Mozingo, a white boy about eleven
years old, intended to learn the farm
ing business. The above reward will
be given for bringing him home, hut
j no thanks or charges. Nathaniel Mll
l? C?ip,per County, Va., August 7.
News was received here this week
rtcath ,n Alexandria of Colonel
\N illiain IS. Reppert, who was for many
years superintendent of the Culpeper
?National Cemetery before going last
year to Alexandria, where he had a
similar position. MY. Dow, the aged
j Union veteran, who now holds this po
i Juion here, is a descendant of the
famous Alonzo Dow, of New England.
The annual "farmers' picnic," always
| one of the even'" nf the year, will he
held on next Saturday, near Mitchells
Station, this county, and W. H. Brown,
field agent of the department of farm
| improvement for the Southern Railroad
Company, has arranged an Interesting
(Pr-igrain Among tho speakers will be
Dr. \\ illiarn Hart Dexter and Dr. Ilel
m-r Rabild. of the Department of .Ag
riculture, and representatives from he
Mate college at Hlaoksburg. Con
veyances will meet trains at Mitchells
and Winston, as the picnlo grounds are
about halfway between the two sta
^,,,1nn(1 a lareo crowd Is expected.
\\ llllain Long, the son of Mr. and
Mrs. C IL Long, of Culpeper. has been
appointed to the prlnclpnlship of tho
High School at Clsmont for the corn
I lng session. Mr. Long was a student
at Randolph-Macon In Ashland last
> ear and won several medals there for
scholarship. In addition to the Mldyelte
medal for debating.
A reunion of the Irvine family is be
ing held at "Hill Crest." the home of
Mi. and Mrs. John Irvine, near Cul
peper, and among tho*,: present are tho
two Presbyterian divines of the
family?Rev. J. K. Irvine and wife, of
Altoona, Pa., ami Rev. S. L. Irvine, wife
and two sons, of Street, Md?Miss Nan
nie Irvine, of Baltimore, Is also spend
ing several weeks at "HiU Crest."
Mrs. T T. Shadrack has recently sold
her lino farm and residence on tin Mad
son Road, three miles from Culpeper,
''?y'; Chapman, bf Jamaica. L I., who
will tnke possession of his new pur
chase in the early fall.
CIRCUIT COURT ADJOIJRXS.
Number of Decrees lOntcrnl?llaptlst
Assoc jut Ion
f.Special to The Times-Dispatch.]
Amheidt. Va., August 17.?The \n
gust term of the Amherst Circuit Court
adjourned Friday afternoon and JuTe
Gordon went to his home at Lo " ?
?lon. A large number of chancerv
dcciees were entered and somo crlm
i inal matters disposed of.
rhe annual session of th*? ,
i Haptlst Association was held this week
it Rose Union Church. In Nelson Coun
ty. A number of Amherst people at
tended Reports read at the assocla
lion showed a decided firrowth in the
various departments, and were verv
encouraging. 't,>
The association will meet next vear
at Lmanuel IMptist Church. In Am
herst County. Rev. E H RohV.riu^
will preach the opening MrmoJ w h
UTh.C:?r^e ? aTter0n"'teW th
Tho inlns of last week were of crienf
heneftt to corn and tobacco, which wis
not seriously injured by the hail
Htorms that have occurred ro fro
fluently this summer in different sec
tions of the county. Pastures which
were almost dry enough to burn l ave
also gotten green again. Fruit l<.
,!' .r l Plentiful on the market here
but Is being sold at a high price.
Oruiaron cry
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