1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



189 



most entirely. Crimson clover was sown with them 

 here last April, and was all smothered out except 

 around the edges. 



I was surprised that cows would eat them readily 

 when green, for. as a rule, cattle do not care for 

 any thing- in the bean line; and no doubt if they do, 

 sheep would be very fond of them, and perhaps they 

 could be fed to horses. 



They are very rich in muscle-forming substance, 

 and the quantity that can be grown on an acre Is very 

 large. The yield of ten tons per acre, green, was 

 made botl) by the green and yellow soja bean on the 

 Station ground last summer. 



The green, being the earliest, comes nearer ripen- 

 ing tlie bean than does the yellow, which is very 

 late. 



The value of these beans for plowing under has 

 not been determined yet, but no doubt is very great 



Tliese are some of the good points, and now for 

 the bad ones: 



It is extremely doubtful whether the seed can be 

 ripened in this climate; so if we have to send south 

 for it, it will malie it expensive. 



The crop being so heavy and full of water, it will 

 make it hard to handle, and h;ird to cure and store 

 when dry. No doubt there are other good points 

 and drawbacks that will be found out where the 

 bean is grown. Edwin C. Green. 



Wooster, O. 



RESTORING A WORN-OUT FARM. 



Friend Root:— On page 119 a West Virginia cor- 

 respondent asks for information in regard to the 

 restoration of a worn-out farm. Having just spent 

 two years at that kind of work on a somewhat sim- 

 ilar soil, 1 feel that I could be of service if I had the 

 party at hand. In the first place, his farm having 

 been in pasture must ha^ e .some humus— mine had 

 none. The presence ol redlop would seem to in- 

 dicate excess of moisture; but the man wants to 

 vea.[ize sometliing on his investment this season. If 

 the case were mine I should not hesitate to plant 

 some of the best portions with early potatoes If his 

 market would guarantee 40 or 50 cts. i)er bushel. 

 He will find a subsoil plow an excellent tool on that 

 farm, as I did. 



Reg irding chemicals, it seems to me rather late 

 in the day for a man, however intelligent, to say in 

 effect that certain substances are plant-food in one 

 section and not plant-food in another. We are us- 

 ing about 35 to 40 tons of high-grade fertilizers year- 

 ly, and I grew a paying crop of potatoes and onions 

 on ground so poor that it produced only 13 bushels 

 of wheat per acre, 1.500 lbs. per acre to potatoes, 2000 

 for onions It is a fact that fertilizers require a 

 greater amount of moisture to dissolve them, and 

 growing crops do not so readily assimilate the nu- 

 triment contained in them as from thurouultly rotted 

 stable manure. 



It is also a fact that the presence of humus, or de- 

 composed vegetable matter in the soil, is a great as- 

 sistance in making availalale the plant-food contain- 

 ed in fertilizers by its well-known ability to retain 

 large quantities of soil moisture. Should your cor- 

 respondent have a season unusually dry next sum- 

 mer, he will probably obtain but little benefit from 

 fertilizers, and probably less still from unfermented 

 stable manure. I have found three instances where 

 fertilizers utterly failed to give returns: One was 

 when we had no rain from start to finish: another 

 was when there was a total lack of vegetable matter 

 in the soil, coupled with no rain; and the third was 

 that of a party who claimed that stable manure al- 

 ways helped his crops, but fertilizers never. Five 

 cents' worth of litmus paper revealed the fact that 

 his soil contained an excess of acid, that to a certain 

 extent was neutralized by the alkali of the manure. 



But after all, your West Virginia friend will find 

 that cow peas, acid phosphate, and nitrate of pot- 

 ash, will be the combination that ultimately re- 

 stores the wasted fertility of his farm in the most 

 economical manner. 



I find I can get as good results from cow peas in 

 one year as from clover in two; besides, there are 

 no failures to seed, clover for us frequently burning 

 off; and last year, a fairly good growth one year old 

 burned to the earth, and died, while cow peas 

 (sown right throvsgh the center for comparison) 

 were growing. With cow peas at fl.25 per busliel, 

 1'4 bushels per acre, the use of acid phosphate, say 

 $15 per ton delivered; nitrate of potash, $45.00 per 

 ton delivered; 400 lbs. phosphate, 2(K) lbs. of potash, 

 makes a fair dressing. It will pay to use twice this 



much, as the peas will convert it all into elaborate 

 material for next season's crop. M. Garrahan. 

 Kingston, Pa., Feb. 6. 



I am very glad indeed to be corrected in what 

 I said about chemical fertilizers, friend G.; at 

 least, I am glad to know that you have suc- 

 ceeded with them. Our Ohio, Experiment Sta- 

 tion admits that they do good; but still they 

 claim that, at the present prices ordinary farm 

 products are bringing, chemical manures will 

 cost more than the extra product will bring. I 

 am very glad Indeed to know that you in your 

 locality have been able to make them pay; and 

 if they help to bring a farm up to a productive 

 condition I should not mind it, even if they did 

 not always pay; and I am very glad to bear 

 your good report in regard to the cow pea :i^ a 

 soil -fertilizer. If I am correct, I have sm en 

 them advertised in some of the agricultural 

 papers for only *1.00 per bushel for seed. 



Special Notices in the Line of Gardening, Etc. 



By A. I. Root. 



Bless the Lorrl, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine iniquities; 

 who healeth all thy diseases.— Psalm 103:3. 



ALSIKE AND OTHER CLOVER SEED. 



Now is the time to sow it if you want to be sure 

 of a good stand. See directions on page l.")4 of our 

 last issue. We have a fine lot of nice new seed, at 

 the very lowest prices. We are also ready to give 

 you directions in regard to sowing and care of any 

 of the clovers now before the bee-keeping and farm- 

 ing public. ■ ^ 



NEW AND^VALUABLE VARIETIES OF SEED POTATOES. 



When this reaches you we shall be prepared to 

 ship at our risk to any locality that lies south of 

 our owTi : tlial is. wheie parties, for special reasons, 

 want their potatoes rigid awdfi for extra early plants 

 ing, in tlie greenhouse or outdoois. Remember, we 

 have pretty much all the be.st varieties before the 

 potato-growing public, and our prices run all the 

 waj' from 25 cenfs a bushel up to $25.00 a barrel. We 

 shall lie glad to send you our latest revised price list 

 of potatoes. 



PLEASANT SURPRISES. 



This one came along in line with a pleasant 

 glimpse of human nature. A f arijier, a few miles 

 away, wrote me he had some Carman potatoes No. 1, 

 and I agreed to give him 80 cts. a bushel for them. 

 He said he brought me ten bushels; but when we 

 came to put them into Terry bushel boxes, there 

 was a good plump twelve bushels. He explained it 

 by saying he heaped up the basket in the same way 

 the hucksters in the Cleveland market insisted on 

 his heaping it up. I asked him why he did not put 

 them on the scales and give them an even 60 lbs. 

 He said they refused to buj' them that way. He 

 gave me the .-ame bushel he had been giving them; 

 and I really enjoyed giving him $1.60 more than he 

 expected, and, in fact, more than he asked. This is 

 a refreshing experience on the other side of what I 

 said a few months ago about giving scant mea- 

 sure when you are selling potatoes. By the way, I 

 wonder if the hucksters in other markets are guilty 

 of tricks like the above Our potato-growers are 

 having hard times enough this season of low prices, 

 without being swindled by making them give mo)r 

 than legal measure. 



A NEW KIND OF POTATO-BUO. 



I am not sure, after all, that there is any new 

 kind; but a quotation from friend Swinson's circu- 

 lar on second-crop potatoes, which appears on page 

 154 of our last issue, would rather look as if there 

 were a kind of bug down south that deposit their 

 eggs in the potatoes. 1 remember that, when I read it, 

 it seemed rather strange to me, but something call- 

 ed my attention, and it was allowed to go into print. 

 I presume friend Swinson means that his seed pota- 

 toes were raised on ground not infested at any sea- 

 son with potato-bugs. Of course, they deposit their 

 eggs on the leaves of the potato-plant— that is, the 

 regular Colorado bug does; and I think I have 



