238 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tilizer being washed away, as the roots of the plant are there to catch it as it falls, 

 whereas in the fall there are no roots or anything to hold it, and much of it is 

 washed away and lost to the purpose for which it wa-5 intended. 



We therefore adopted the following mode of applying fertilizer to wheat. It 

 has worked well wherever it has been tried, and we recommend it to all our 

 patrons : « 



After tlie ground has been prepared and ready for the seed, we sow or drill 

 about one hundred pounds of fertilizer with the grain in the fall, about the 15th 

 or 20th of October, and as soon as the frost is out, and the ground settled in the 

 spring, we go over the wheat lot with a seeder and sow from one hundred and 

 fifty to two hundred pounds of fertilizer to the acre, and then go over the whole 

 field with a light harrow and break up the hard crust formed by the beating winter 

 rains, and the result is, shorter straw, a great deal more wheat, and an earlier 

 matured crop. Those who have tried this plan are highly pleased with it, and we 

 earnestly recommend it as the true way of applying fertilizer to make wheat grow. 



The same rule applies to corn. We find it best to .soak the seed corn in a tub 

 of water over night and just before planting put the fertilizer into a suitable sized 

 box, put the soaked corn into it also, mix the two thoroughly together and plant. 

 The fertilizer that adheres to the kernel of corn is suflicient for the present. Moles 

 and crows don't like it and do not seem to bother it much, and when the corn is 

 worked for the last time, that is when it is " laid by," put a good sized handful of 

 fertilizer around each hill of corn in a circle of not less than a foot in diameter, 

 or sow broadcast 250 lbs. to the acre. The reason for doing so is this: If too much 

 fertilizer is put in with the grain at the time of planting, much of it will wash or 

 leach away before the plant is ready for it, and what remains will shoot the stalk 

 ahead to a great size, and when the time for earing comes, the same trouble arises 

 that was cited with the wheat; therefore, if the stalks be not so very large, if the 

 proper nourishment can be supplied at the time the sap begins to flow to the ear, 

 the ear will grow large instead of the stalk, for then is the time to force the plant ; 

 but if the stalk be too large it will consume too much food for its own use at the 

 expense of the new member, the ear, ju;t setting. The reason for putting the fer- 

 tilizer around the hill instead of into it is to make the roots spread out in quest of 

 food, which they will not do if the food is put into the hill. The reason for want- 

 ing the I'oots to spread is that the plant will stand much firmer, will endure a 

 drouth much better, and have a greater area to draw nourishment from. 



The results of all our experiments and observations point to the fact that it is 

 far better to apply the fertilizer in smaller doses and at shorter intervals to all 

 growing crops. Judgment must of course be used in this matter, as it is quite im- 

 possible to lay down and adopt an iron-clad rule for all crops and conditions. 



Raw bone sown over a pasture or lawn before freezing up in the fall, and the 

 sod loosened up with a good harrow iu the spring, gives excellent results. Fruit 

 trees while iu blossom, and vines and shrubs, all should receive liberal doses of 

 bone dust around the roots, worked into the ground with shovel, hoe or pick. 



For a meadow we recommend the use of ammoniated phosphates. Sow 200 

 pounds to the acre as soon as the frost is out and the ground settled enough to bear 



