January 11, 190S 



HORTICULTURE 



53 



MAINTAINING SOIL FERTILITY. 



In the first lecture of the series be- 

 fore the Worcester County Horticul- 

 tural Society, on January 2, Dr. L. A. 

 Clinton, director of Storrs' Agricultur- 

 al Experiment Station, Connecticut, 

 said that ''the abandoned farms of 

 New England show progress in New 

 England agi-iculture. It speaks well 

 for the New England farmer. These 

 farms are not being abandoned because 

 of lack of fertility of the soil, but sim- 

 ply because the cost of producing crops 

 on these farms at the present time is 

 too great and the farmers have discov- 

 ered the> can grow crops cheaper on 

 other farms. AVhen New England be- 

 comes densely populated somebody 

 will grow crops on these fields that 

 will surprise us. 



"Whal is fertility:' What is the 

 measure of fertility? If we have a 

 field that is I'ertile, what character 

 does it possess that makes it fertile? 

 If not fertile, what does it lack? What 

 can we do to make it fertile? If we 

 have good soil, how are we going to 

 keep it fertile, so that it will be fertile 

 for the next man and the next man? 

 "The problem of fertility and the 

 measure of fertility is. crop-producing 

 power. 



"Half of the successes in life do not 

 come of the work you can do, but of 

 the work you can have others do for 

 you. Every farmer, gardener, or fruit 

 grower has friends in the bacteria in 

 the manure pile. As a matter of fact, 

 not half the farmers think about these 

 friends, the 



Bacteria of the Soil. 

 who would like to do work for him if 

 they would be let. Bacteria in the soil 

 is something new. Ten years ago there 

 was talk about bacteria in the milk, 

 but nothing of bacteria in the soil." 



Dr. Clinton then told about people 

 who send samples of soil to experi- 

 ment stations, asking them to analyze 

 it and tell them what the soil needs. 

 He explained that it isn't the farmer 

 who has toiled 40 years that asks this 

 qitestion, but the city man who has 

 gone to farming and who has read lit- 

 erature such as Harw-ood's "Wonders 

 of Luther Burbank." He said a farm- 

 er would know that the experiment sta- 

 tion can't tell them what their farm 

 needs. 



Dr. Clinton said he believes in un- 

 der-draining a field if necessary and 

 that he would take chances of a dry 

 summer better with the field under- 

 drained than not tmderdrained. 



"The soil does not lose its fertility 

 because of the plant =oil which is re- 

 moved wi:h the crop we take from the 

 soil," said Dr. Clinton. "All actual 

 plant food could he returnefl at the ex- 

 pense of a few dollars in fertiliser." 

 Dr. Clinton told the farmers, so far as 

 possible tc keep every foot of the farm 

 covered with growing plants, all the 

 time. 



"When you take your corn off," said 

 he, "have something else put right on 

 there so it will be a growing plant and 

 a coverin.g on the ground all winter. 

 beside the snow, to keep the soluble 

 plant food and prevent its bein.g 

 drained off by the winter rain." He 

 explained the great dama.ge done by 

 leaving a field e.xpo.=ed to winter rains. 



HAS MADE SPRAYING EASY ^rR^ESF^ 



The N. Y. Herald, November 17, '07, says; ' The chances are about a hundred 

 toone that you have the San Jose Scale on your place and do not know it." and 

 advises the use of '* SCALECUJE." This is good advice. " SCALECIDE " has 

 been tested and tried, and found thorouehly effective. The same yesterday, 

 to-day, and all the time. One gallon makes 15 to 20. ready to use, by simply 

 addm^ water. 



Prices: leal., $1.00; 5 gal., $3.25: 10 gal., 6.00; 50 gal. bbl., $25.00, F.O.B. 

 our ia ctory. Order to-day. Write for booklet Wand free sample. 

 B. G. PB*TT CO.. Mfe. Chemists. ^ 

 11 Broadway. New York City. 



when a covering of rye or any growing 

 plant, even weeds, would protect it, 

 and can be ploughed under and im- 

 prove the soil. 



Continuing, he siiid: "Now we all 

 know the value of clover. Some peo- 

 ple think clover can be grown in any 

 field to bring it back, but that is not 

 so. Clover grows well on fields that 

 have gooci soil, and if clover grows in 

 a field, you can be sure that that field 

 is in good condition." Dr. Clinton ex- 

 plained that one of the best field cov- 

 erings is lye. 



"Suppose we find out that we have 

 done all we can, and still something 

 is needed. Then I say use fertilizers, 

 but use them intelligently. In buying 

 plant food I buy three things, nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid and potash, and mix it 

 in any quantity 1 want it. I don't let 

 somebody mix it for me. In fertiliz- 

 ing my fields I bear in mind the croj) 

 I intend to grow." 



Regarding the use of lime. Dr. Clin- 

 ton said: "It is good under three con- 

 dition.s: First, if the field is deficient 

 in lime, which isn't =o often, as not 

 one field in 10,(100 is deficient in the 

 lime necessary; secondly, if the ground 

 is acid, an application of lime would 

 change that; third, if the soil is clayey, 

 then lime will remedy that." 



The Late Everett B. Clark 



A fire in the boiler-house of the 

 greenhouses of Marcus L. Tirrell, 

 Randolph, Mass., caused a damage to 

 the building of about $50. No esti- 

 mate is given on the damage to the 

 plants and flowers from smoke, water, 

 cold and broken glass. Mr. Tirrell 

 carried no insurance. 



Obituary 



W. H. Brown, florist, of Pittsburg, 

 Pa., died on December 22, aged 66. 



Levi Parsons, an employe in the Wil- 

 cox greenhouses, Omaha, Neb., dropped 

 dead on December 19. 



George C. Butz, a member of the hor- 

 ticultural staff of the Pennsylvania 

 State College, died on December 14 at 

 the age of 44. 



B. F. Barton, for many years a suc- 

 cessful salesman for Chase Bros., nur- 

 serymen, died on December 30 at West 

 Windsor, Me., aged 81. 



Mrs. Louise S., wife of Dr. Charles 

 F. Millspaugh, curator of the botany 

 department of the Field Columbian 

 Museum, Chicago, died at her home on 

 December 24, after a brief illness. 



Alfred Plant, president of the Plant 

 Seed Company of St. Louis, died on 

 December 28 after an illness of eight 

 months, at the age of 87. Mr. Plant 

 was born in Lancaster (now Clinton), 

 Mass., graduated with honors from 

 Yale in 1847, entered the employ of 

 Plant & Co. in 1.S56. where he was 

 prominent in building up the business 

 of which he ultimately became the 

 head. 



P^rancis Quinlan, of Lynn, Mass., 

 whose death was recorded in our obit- 

 uary columns last week, was possessed 

 of a strong vein of humor, and many 

 stories are told of his fertility as a 

 ioker. 



The story is told that one summer's 

 day he had been on an Elks' outing to 

 Nahant and the party was on the way 

 back to Lynn in a "barge." The 

 weather was hot, and the barge was 

 altogether too crowded for comfort. 

 Suddenly Quinlan fell to the floor of 

 the barge, apparently unconscious. 

 The others lifted him onto the seat 

 tenderly. Some one produced a bottla 

 of whiskey and persuaded him to drink 

 a portion. Others got Water and 

 bathed his forehead and wrists, and 

 during the rest of the journey to Lynn 

 he was given one entire side of the 

 barge seat to lie on, while several kept 

 him cool by fanning. When the barge 

 reached I>ynn they helped Quinlan out. 

 No sooner did he touch the ground 

 than he broke away and dashed up the 

 street, leaving an amazed and angry 

 crowd of Elks behind. 



Quinlan was a florist in Lynn for 

 man\- years and left considerable prop- 

 erty. 



