1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



443 



little trees grow three feet high the first sea- 

 son. We take them up from our plant-beds, 

 from under the trees, or wherever we can find 

 them, and set them out as we do cabbage- 

 plants, putting them about four inches apart 

 each way. Of course, where they are put so 

 close as this they should be planted further 

 apart the second year; but we sell a great 

 many of them, one foot and under, to be 

 shipped by mail. 



FARMING WITH GREEN MANURE. 



I notice that more than usual attention is 

 being given of late to bringing up the soil by 

 turning under crops, especially since cow 

 peas, soja beans, crimson clover, etc., have 

 been used for this purpose. Some years ago 

 we purchased great quantities of manure at 

 our livery stables; but it made our potatoes so 

 scabby that I have of late been getting the 

 ground in condition by turning under clover, 

 both crimson and red; also rye, and this 

 spring, even wheat. I have for many years 

 back noticed the advertisement of a book en- 

 titled " Farming with Green Manures." Aft- 

 er sending for the book I was surprised to 

 notice that it was first published in 1876. 

 Well, some of its statements are most astound- 

 ing. It discusses, of course, turning under 

 various crops to improve the land. In regard 

 to rye, we find that it is rated, ton for ton, at 

 neaily the value of barnyard manure. Now, 

 fifteen tons of green rye per acre is not a large 

 crop, and it is estimated that barnyard manure 

 can not be drawn and spread for less than 

 $1.50 per ton. But the author figures that 

 barnyard manure will cost moie than twelve 

 ti))ies as much as the rye. I do not know but 

 I should call a ton of green clover, counting 

 roots and all, worth as much as a ton of barn- 

 yard manure ; but I am sure it is a mistake to 

 figure rye anywhere near the equal of clover. 

 Rye can be grown in eight months, or a little 

 more; crimson clover in nine or ten months; 

 red clover takes a year or more. Well, even 

 if this book is old it has interested me "ex- 

 ceeding!}-." In the preface for 1893 I find 

 the following: 



Thirty yeirs ago, before the bugs came, I raised over 

 nine hundred bushels of potatoes to the acre under 

 straw about fifteen inches deep. But I can not do it 

 now. This year I tried it. The battle with the bugs 

 almost destroyed the crop. 



In the last chapter of the book the author 

 shows that, where potatoes are grown under 

 straw, the straw must not be tramped, as it 

 damages the roots of the potatoes ; and the 

 modern Colorado beetle necessitates tramping 

 through the field. 



Well, we have more than an acre of orchard 

 that contains the biggest growth of dandelions 

 and timothy that I ever saw on any ground. 

 We formerly grew, b tween the apple-trees, 

 market-gardening stuff, therefore the ground is 

 very rich. Well I wanted to get rid of those 

 dandelions, but I did not care to put a plow 

 into the orchard, as the trees are so large. 

 Almost in the middle of the orchard is a big 

 strawstack, left over from our wheat crop last 

 year. After I found that some of our neigh- 

 bors had seen potatoes grown under straw, 

 when they were simply laid on grassy sod, I 



decided to try the experiment. I stretced a 

 line and dropped the pota'.oes right in among 

 the dandelions, after first rolling them down 

 flat. Then we piled on straw all through the 

 orchard until not a dandelion was visible; 

 and I mean to keep on straw enough to keep 

 them invisible. L do not fear the bugs very 

 much. As we killed them so thoroughly last 

 year I do not believe thev will trouble us; and 

 at pn sent writing. May 18, we have potatoes 

 a foot high, and almost not a bug. 



Since getting the straw in place I begin to 

 see why people do not practice growing pota- 

 toes on straw more than they do. In our lo- 

 cality the straw is worth something; and when 

 you get at it you will find it is quite a bit more 

 work to plant an acre under straw than it is to 

 get them in with a good team in the ordin; ry 

 way. I think I shall not worry about the ex- 

 pense of digging until I find out we have got 

 some to dig; but if I can convert that great 

 mass of dandelions into manure — roots, tops, 

 and blossoms — there certainly will be material 

 for a good crop of potatoes — at least accord- 

 ing to Harlan, the author of the book that has 

 been more interesting to me than was even 

 Robinson Crusoe when I was a boy — I mean 

 the book called " Farming with Green Ma- 

 nures," by the O. Judd Co. 



NITRATE OF SODA FOR RHUBARB, ASPARA- 

 GUS, ETC. 



Friend Root: — I am a gardener on a small scale : lut, 

 as in bet -keeping, I experiment a good deal. Within 

 a few years I "got on " to the effect nitrale of soda 

 has on certain kinds of vegetables, such as asparagus 

 and rhubarb. We set about a dozen roots of rhut arb; 

 but, though it was heavily manured, it did not put 

 forth that heavy growth and the lnrge stalks that I 

 wanted to see One morning, while it was raining 

 quite hard I put about two quarts of nitrate about the 

 roots, scattering it over the ground In about two 

 weeks the rhubarb took on a rapid growth, and I 

 never saw any thing like it. We now have all the 

 rhubarb-plants we need. 



Like the rhubarb-plants, our asparagus was set and 

 very heavily manured. It came up and did very well 

 for a few years; but, though it was well taken care of, 

 the weeds kept down, and manure applied each year, 

 the shoots gradually grew less, and in some places no 

 shoots came up at all. Last spring I said, " Let us try 

 nitrate of s da." We did so, and inside of two weeks 

 there was a visible improvement New shoots came 

 up in all the rows, and in some places the stalks came 

 forth where it seemed to me there had been none for 

 two seasons. Why, as late as in September the new 

 shoots continued to put out. When fall came we had 

 the best and thickest set asparagus-bed hereabout. 



I notice that nitrate of soda works just as well on 

 raspberries and blackberries; but on stra\» berry - 

 plants I do not see quite as good results — in fact, no 

 results at all. I shall use nitrate of soda largelv on all 

 the above plants in future, and shall be glad to hear 

 through Gleanings your experience on the above. 



Weuham, Mass , April 10. Henry Alley. 



Friend A., I have failed so much with ni- 

 trate of soda I had about given up making ex- 

 periments ; but I will try it at once on our 

 rhubarb. But is not two quarts to twelve 

 plants rather expensive fertilizing ? With a 

 good market it might pay, and I shall be 

 greatly pleased if even that amount will make 

 even a perceptible difference with our rhubarb. 



COTTON-SEED MEAL AS A REMEDY FOR PO- 

 TATO BUGS. 



A friend, who is strictlv reliable and careful, tells 

 me he has been using, the past two yeats, cotton- sted 



