PRIZE PICKINGS 293 



Making Plants Live. — If the season is a dry one, it 

 is a good plan to insert near the newly-set plant an old 

 fruit can with several small holes punched in the 

 bottom, and keep it full of water. — W. McDermott, 

 New York. 



Points on Potash. — Last season I did not know 

 exactly how to use ashes, and proceeded to experiment 

 with various garden crops on a sandy soil, clay bottom, 

 southeast slope. On one strip I spread broadcast 

 unleached hardwood ashes at the rate of about five 

 pecks per square rod, or some two hundred bushels 

 per acre, and on another strip half that amount. Above 

 and below these strips I put none at all. In this field 

 in rows north and south and crosswise the strips, I 

 planted potatoes, sw^eet corn, sugar beets, watermelons, 

 muskmelons, tomatoes and sunflowers. Each strip 

 was treated in exactly the same way in every respect 

 except for the ashes, which were put on early in May. 



The corn, potatoes and melons were all much 

 better where the ashes were applied, but not much dif- 

 ference was noted between results of the large and the 

 small amounts. The sugar beets grew the same size 

 on both strips of ashes, but where none was put on the 

 beets w^ere only half as large, although richer in sugar. 



With tomatoes best results were obtained on the 

 strip where the smaller amount of ashes was applied. 

 Too much was worse than none, as it caused an exces- 

 sive growth of vine and a vast number of worthless 

 small tomatoes. I should now use two pecks to the 

 rod. The sunflowers did not show a clear enough dif- 

 ference to report, but I think the ashes helped them. 

 In another place I had a patch of onions and these were 

 very much improved by one hundred bushels ashes per 

 acre, the difference being at the rate of about three to 

 two in favor of the ashe§. 



