1128 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
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WORKING SOD LAND IN MISSOURI. 
II. It. M., Broicninyton, Mo .—I have 
seven acres of old Timothy sod, which I 
wish to break up and put in oats, this 
Spring. Which is the better, to plow it or 
c ut it up with a Cutaway disk harrow, go¬ 
ing over it two or three times with a half 
lap, or double cutting it each time, and 
how deep should I work the ground for a 
rood seed bed? I want to plant corn on 
(be ground, following the oats next year. 
I do not wish to plant corn in it now, and 
would like to put it in oats if it will do 
at all. The soil is a clay soil with a red 
clay subsoil; it is on a limestone hillside; 
it has been in cultivation about 25 years, 
and was originally Post oak and hazel 
brush land. 
I never attempt to make a seed bed 
out of Timothy sod. I don’t think a 
satisfactory job can be done, either by 
plowing or disking, especially for oats, 
which must be sown very early in this 
latitude. My rule is to plow sod in the 
Autumn and let the Winter freezing dis¬ 
integrate it. Spring disking will then 
make an ideal seed bed. I suggest that 
your correspondent plow his sod, get 
it in as good order as possible by June 
1 and drill cow peas. I think the yield 
of cow pea hay will give a better re¬ 
turn than oats, anyway; besides the peas 
will add the nitrogen which, together 
with the humus from the Timothy sod, 
will produce the best possible condi¬ 
tions for the following corn crop. Run¬ 
ning a disk once each way across an 
old sod-bound Timothy field will re¬ 
juvenate it and increase the cut sur¬ 
prisingly, but it would take forever and 
a day to make a seed bed out of it. The 
disking should be followed by rolling. 
Missouri. falicon. 
If the locality is in north three or 
four tiers of counties, treatment should 
he as follows: The idea of oats on sod 
ground should be abandoned. Com 
should be put in plot this season. In 
that section, if on the prairies and not 
thin hilly sections, such a good Timothy 
sod will give 65 to 80 bushels per acre 
without fertilizer, if good corn growing 
service is given the ground, strictly first- 
class plowing with stirring plow; after 
turning the Timothy it should be thor¬ 
oughly disked, well harrowed. The 
planting should be done very early or 
very late, for the reason of cutworms 
and grubs that give a great deal of 
trouble in Spring-plowed sod. This 
danger and pest would have been elimi¬ 
nated if it had been Fall-plowed and left 
rough, and then disked this Spring. 
But. taking it as it is, I would prefer to 
plant it just a little earlier than is 
generally the custom of planting corn in 
that section. Timothy sod is warmer 
soil when worked up in the Spring than 
soil in active tilth that is heavier. In 
case corn planting time is generally 
dated May 10 in that section, would 
advise planting May 1. If usual time 
is May 1 would advise April 25. The 
usual custom of best corn growers js 
to plant with check row three grains in 
bill. I advise to set planter plates to 
plant four to five grains in a hill, al¬ 
lowing extra stand for loss by pests 
that are sure to bother some in Tim¬ 
othy sod. To give the corn best send- 
off start the harrow immediately after 
planting, go over it about three times. 
By time it is up and after it is up har¬ 
row twice; that is, give it five harrow- 
ings before it is left to get large enough 
lo plow. The usual number of plowings 
given is three times but I find it pays to 
plow' corn six times, just double the 
customary amount. Last times plow 
it shallow and just as late as possible 
to keep the Summer weed growth down, 
until the July shade of corn can shade 
down weed growth. 
In case anything happens to seed stand 
by planting early you can have time to 
replant. To avoid grubs and cut- 
worms and their depredations many 
plant very late, near the Junebug period 
in this section. May 1 to June 10. There 
is less trouble with the pests in sod af¬ 
ter and during that period. But unless 
there are unusually late and favorable 
corn conditions I do not like it so 
well where all the corn one plants is 
in one plot. If one has a large area to 
put in I favor planting two-thirds of 
it early and one-third late, as a few 
seasons at times,especially droughty ones 
often are favorable to late-planted 
corn; the late rains after Summer 
drought give the last crop advantage of 
sufficient moisture. But most of corn 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
February 5, 
growing work should be done in season 
and chances should be taken. 
Disking sod for corn is not, according 
to our conditions, at all practicable. In 
fact here it would but stimulate a better 
growth to sod and increase the yield of 
Timothy. It would not turn under seed 
Mown upon the ground by Winter 
winds and drifting snows, and it would 
be foul and seedy. The turning under 
is entirely necessary and make a clean 
nice seed bed if disked up after turn¬ 
ing; filled wth roots and humus and 
plant food would be just right for 65 to 
80 bushels of corn. Oats should follow 
the corn next year. The reason oats 
will not do on sod is because the soil is 
too strong; it will all go to straw and 
lodge long before ripe. If the soil is 
some of the higher ridge and oak lands 
in the State farther south the treatment 
might be different; in that case a fer¬ 
tilizer might be used, but on old and 
established sod lands the fertilizer would 
not be advised at all. It should be 
placed on some other part of lands, as 
meadows, in the form of good cow and 
horse manure. In my immediate sec¬ 
tion the corn stubble fields are exten¬ 
sively disked in late March and early 
April in seeding small grain. In case 
sod grounds have been turned they use 
the disk on it extensively, and also some 
on Spring plowing for corn. Disks are 
used on sod-bound pastures and meadows, 
and the surface cut up and fresh seed- 
mgs of clover made on them; this is 
followed with a harrow and it reno¬ 
vates and renews pastures and meadows, 
lets in the water and earlier rains bet¬ 
ter, and the grasses are much im¬ 
proved by such application of the im¬ 
plement. W. M. BOMBERGER. 
Iowa. 
Green Bone for Fertilizer; Alfalfa Inoculation. 
• W. II. B., Marlborourjh, N. T.—1. How 
can I make a fertilizer from green cut bone 
and meat so as to have it in dry state to 
handle in the Spring? I am using it for 
my fowls, but have more tiian I need for 
that purpose. 2. Would Alfalfa planted last 
August be all right to furnish soil to inocu¬ 
late with? It made a nice growth last Fall. 
Ans. —You can mix land plaster with 
the cut bone and dry it into hard chunks. 
If stored in a dry, sheltered place, it will 
v eep till Spring, when you can mix it 
with acid phosphate and potash, or 
you can save the dry meat alone. We 
should mix it at the rate of two pounds 
of cut meat and bone and one pound 
acid phosphate and four ounces of 
potash. 2. The only way to tell about 
the Alfalfa is to pull up some plants 
and examine the roots. If you find the 
little warts or nodules growing on these 
roots you may feel sure the bacteria are 
in the soil. The growth above ground 
is no sure sign that the soil is fit for 
inoculation. 
Seeds, Plants, Roses, 
Bulbs, Tines, Shrubs, etc. 
Hundreds of car lots of 
i FRUIT and ORNAMEN¬ 
TAL TREKS, 1200 acres, 
50 in hardy Roses, none bet- 
| ter grown. 44 greenhouses 
of Palms, Ferns, Ficus, 
Geraniums and other 
things too numerous to men- 
- - tion. Seeds,Plants,Bulbs, 
Loses, Small Trees, etc., by mail postpaid, 
lafe arrival and satisfaction guaranteed. Im- 
nense stock of SUPERB CANNAS, the queen 
if bedding plants. 50 choice collections cheap 
n Seeds. Plants, Roses, etc.. Elegant 168-page 
Catalogue FREE. Send for it today and see 
vhat values we give for your money. Direct deal 
vill insure you the best at first cost. 56 years. 
THE STORRS & HARRISON CO. 
Box 219 0 PA1NESVILLE, OHIO ID 
■h 
Wood’s Trade Mark 
Grass and 
Clover Seeds 
are best qualities obtainable, of 
tested germination and free from 
objectionable weed seeds. 
Wood’s Seed Book for 1910 
gives the fullest information a- 
boutall Farm and Garden Seeds, 
especially about Grasses and Clov¬ 
ers, the kinds to sow and the best 
way to bow them for successful 
stands and crops. 
WOOD’S SEEDS have been 
sown for more than thirty years in 
ever increasing quantities, by the 
best and most successful farmers. 
Wood’s Seed Book mailed free 
on request. Write for it, 
T. W. WOOD & SONS, 
Vrv SEEDSMEN, 
Y_rd Richmond, * Virginia. 
DO YOU WANT 
STRAWBERRY PLANTS? 
W E have 60 acres of strong, vigor¬ 
ous, well-rooted plants in all the 
best standard sorts—millions of them. 
Write today for our 1910 Illustrated 
Catalog. Our booklets, “How to Grow 
Fruit” and “Howto Plant About the 
Country Home,” contain just what you 
want to know—price 25c. each—but 
free to any reader of The Rural New- 
Yorker who will plant anything the 
coming Spring. 
HARRISON’S NURSERIES 
Box 421, Berlin, Md. 
Great Bargains 
IN 
CHERRIES. GRAPES, 
VINES, SHRUBS. ETC. 
We offer New Vork Stale Grown 
Trees, Ornamental Shrubs and 
Small Fruits, and prepay freight on all 
orders over $25. 
Dead Directly with the Nursery 
11 will save you money and insure you 
the best stock. 
Write at once for our 1910 illustrated 
catalogue. Free. 
ALLEN L. WOOD. 
^ Rochester, N. Y. 
Trees Direct From the Grower 
PLUM 
At $6.48 for 100 
CHERRY 
Our trees and plants are the best because the 
planter gets them fresh dug, true to name, free 
from scale, and personal attention given every 
order. You run no risk with poorly kept 
storage trees. Send us a list of your wants for 
wholesale prices, freight paid. Everybody 
write for free illustrated catalogue. 2 apple trees, 
1 McIntosh and 1 Banana for 25 cents postpaid. 
Maloney Bros. 0 Wells, Box 16 Dansville, N. Y. 
CONSULT DR. FARMER 
Just as easy for you to plant the very 
best seeds—the money making kind—as 
tile ordinary kind. My new 1910 seed 
catalogue is a directory of the kinds 
that pay in results, both to the private 
gardener and the man who plan ts for prof¬ 
it. No guess work—the varieties have ail 
been tried out. They command the high¬ 
est prices and my catalogue shows photo¬ 
graphs of what they produced—what you 
can raise yourself. 
Write to-day for Stokes 
Special Seed Catalogue—Free. If 
i Oc you send me 10 cents in 
stamps or silver, and men- 
u,rer tion The Rurai New- 
Yorker, I will send the cat¬ 
alogue and a 10-cent packet each of my 
" bonny Best” Early Tomato and 
"Stokes’ Standard ” Sweet Peas. 
Walter P. Stokes 
Secure the VERY BEST grown. 
Send for our FREE Catalog. 
The Rochester Nurseries,Rochester.N.Y. 
Vi 
Money 
Early Tomatoes 
One of my customers sold 
$102.35 worth of big, red to¬ 
matoes from 100 plants In his 
back yard. Another from 14 plants in 
her flower garden, sold 312 lbs. during 
' July and August lor $16.70. It’s all In 
the knowing how and In using the right 
seed. They U 60 d my new tomato— 
Field's Early June 
Earlier than Earliana, as handsome asStone. as 
solid asPoDderosa, and a greater yielder than 
any of them. The greatest new tomato in 25 
years. Small pkt., 20c; 3 for 50c; 14 oz.. $1. 
(This for specially selected seed, saved 
early.) My Garden Manual and Seed 
Catalog will give lots of pointersand 
good advice about gardening It’s 
well worth reading. Get it and Bee. 
Henry Field, Pres. 
HENRY FIELD SEED CO. 
Box 26 Shenandoah, la. 
TRIM YOUR TREES FROM THE GROUND 
By using the New Ideal (drawcut) Pruning Sawwlih extension 
handle T> and 12 ft. NO CLIMBING. Great labor saver. Lead¬ 
ing on-har«Iist8 use tliem,H8 double the work can be ib nc and 
produce better shaped trees. Wade of the best saw steel cuts 
like a razor, weight only 2 lbs. Price complete $1.50, without 
handle $1.2.1 prepaid. Money back if not satiotled. Order to¬ 
day. Circulars free Address 
THE IDEAL PRUNING SAW CO., Dept. D, Webster, X.Y- 
APPLE TREES-“«. 
rooted 
fine straight, 
stocky, we 11 
trees. Leading 
Early Oziarlt, 
thebest early strawberry I have ever fruited, early 
as Michel, large as Sample, productive as Glen 
31 ary.—L. J. FARMER. 
If you had measles or scarlet fever and was real 
sick, would you go to a young physician who had 
justgot his “Diplomy?” No, you would send for the 
old family doctor who has had years of experience. 
There are doctors of medicine and other doctors. 
FAR31 UK is a Strawberry Doctor. You are sick 
of going without good strawberries and you want 
to know just how to grow them the best way. Send 
him your symptoms, he will help you. Get a per¬ 
sonal letter from the “Doctor,” 27 years of practice. 
Consultation free by mail. .Medal and Diploma for 
largest and finest exhibit of strawberries at World s 
Fair, Chicago, 1893. Introducer of Early Ozark and 
Norwood strawberries, Plum Farmer, Idaho and 
Koval Purple raspberries, etc. Immense stock of 
Berry Plants, all varieties. Catalog free. Address, 
L. J. FARMER, Box 20, PULASKI, N. Y. 
varieties for Ohio, W. Va., Penn., New York Slate. 
Brices reasonable. SALESMEN WANTED. 
Outfit free. Address 
W. T. MITCHELL 8 SON, -.- BEVERLY, OHIO. 
PEACH TREES 
-Fourand tbe cents—Elberta, 
TREES 
CATALOG FREE. 
— 150 ACBKS. Genesee 
Valley grown. “Not the 
cheapest, but the best.” 
Never have had San Jose 
Scale. Established 1869. 
GEO. A. SWEET NURSERY CO. 
20 Maple St., Dansville, N. Y. 
You Can Get 
A Price List of Call’s Nurseries, 
Perry, O., for the asking. They make a 
specialty of dealing direct with their cus¬ 
tomers, and send out the finest Fruit Trees 
that can be grown. 
our free catalogue. WOODBINE NURSERIES 
W. A. Allen & Sons, Geneva, Ohio. 
IS IT WORTH A CENT? 
Send a postal for Crawford’s Catalog and see. 
Information concerning some new strawberries 
— Francis and Americus which sold at 40 cents a 
quart at wholesale last season. King Edward 
which is to be offered this spring for the first time, 
and others. Also a new blackberry, the \\ att, 
which continues in bearing until October. 
M. CRAWFORD COMPANY (D 
Box 706 Cuyahoga Falls* Ohio 
rn II IT Send for new catalog of Fruit and Orna- 
rnU I I mental Trees, Perry Plants, Asparagus. 
Tnrr . etc. Get our prices before ordering 
I nr rX elsewhere. Stock fresh dug, direct to 
I IILLU planters at low prices. We grow the o d 
fashioned, hardy WHITE SWEET (IIERR\ . 
L'AMOREAUX NURSERY COMPANY, Schoharie, N. Y 
THE BATAVIA NURSERIES 
offer a choice assortment of extra size Fruit and Orsa 
mental Trues, Evergreens, Shrubs, Roses and Habut 
Plants. Fruit trees grown from buds carefully selected 
from bearing trees. Can you afford to plant any others : 
Write for catalogue. Dwarf Apple trees a Specialty. 
Agents Wanted. NELSON BOGLE, Batavia, New York 
TAKE A TRIP TO CUBA 
this winter and stop at Canet: 400 feet above the 
sea; healthy location; good land, good water and 
good accommodations for visitors: 24 miles from 
Nuevitas. This ad. will not appear again. C A NET 
BOARD OF TRADE, E. W. Locke, Sec., Minas, 
Camaguey Province, Cuba. 
General Assortment. 
pfRUiT TREES 
® ® ® ® ™ Readers are familiar with the 
values we have offered through this paper for neariy 25 years. Benutiful 2-year Cherry, 3 to 4 ft., 
<£7 , )er too. Our free catalogue will interest you. H.S. WILEY &SON,I)rawer5,Cayriga,N.i. 
QTRAW 
BERRY 
PLANTS 
MILLIONS 
OF THEM 
Excelsior, Bubach, 
Klondyke, 
Lady Thompson, 
Aroma, Gandy, 
and all the best 
Commercial 
Varieties. 
Lusty, healthy, mountain-grown stock at bargain prices 
CHATTANOOGA NURSERIES 
62 Mission Ridge CHATTANOOGA. TENN 
