1890.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 55 



Mr. Paul of Dighton. I have experimented a little with 

 nitrate of soda upon strawberries. I used it two years, and 

 I am satisfied that upon strawberries on my land it did no 

 good. A neighbor of mine is raising spinach to some ex- 

 tent. He has used various applications, and finds nothing 

 that gives such results in proportion to the expenditure as 

 nitrate of soda applied in the spring of the year for an early 

 growth. 



Secretary Sessions. Is not that true, Mr. Paul, of dan- 

 delions also ? 



Mr. Paul. I am not certain whether he has tried it upon 

 dandelions, or not ; I presume it may be so. 



Mr. . If you will allow me a moment, I would like 



to say, as one who has had more than ten years' experience 

 in the manufacture of fertilizers, that the success or failure 

 of any particular fertilizer depends materially upon the 

 previous methods of cropping, as Mr. Hersey has told us, 

 to whose opinions we all listen with great respect, and also 

 on the previous methods of fertilizing the soil. I think we 

 can profitably spend a few moments in listening to the views 

 of the lecturer on the selection and use of fertilizers. 



Mr. Henderson. We have had very little to do with 

 commercial fertilizers. Our whole operations in Hudson 

 County have been on land for which we pay a hundred 

 dollars an acre per annum ; consequently, every foot is 

 tilled, and we find that the necessity comes for stable man- 

 ure. We try if possible to get a mixture of cow and horse 

 manure. Since we have been using this peat moss we have 

 gone around to the livery stables from which we get our 

 manure, and made the stable men sprinkle over the bedding 

 each day just about as much bone-dust as you would put of 

 sawdust on a floor, and in that way we get it in a condition 

 suitable for the plants to take up when we get it on the 

 soil. The longer my experience in gardening matters has 

 been, the more I am satisfied that the great object is to get 

 the commercial fertilizers, such as bone-dust, in a condition 

 to be taken up by the roots of plants. Now, I am an exten- 

 sive grower of roses. We used to think that we could take 

 bone-dust and sow it over our beds or bunches of roses, and 

 get good results. We find that practically it gives hardly 



