1878"] 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



iiection witli luiniidity, may cause a rui)ture 

 of the skills of £rva]i('S and otlu'V fruit. 



Tlif only loL'ical conclusiou to be deduced 

 fi'oin ((// the evidence availal>le, pro and con, 

 is that no kind of hive or dntnestlcated bees 

 attack Of despoil sound fruit of any kind. If 

 they did one year, they would every year. If 

 Itiiliaii bees destroy sound grapes in" Lancas- 

 ter county, they siu'ely would the jirapes of 

 our lake rci^inn, where tliey attain such per- 

 fection, and also the more su^rary varieties of 

 France and Italy, else we muxt admit tliat 

 tlieir instincts chanpe. A kind Providence 

 has fjiven to man the honey bee, and furnished 

 its natin'al food «'»;"//.< in «(»», x'l'.ssela. Hut 

 when we liiid her indoniilable industry 

 l)roinptinL; hi-r to save what she finds vfoins to 

 loss, we oufiht to coniniend. not. censure. We 

 shall ask, then, as tlie verdict of your readers, 

 tliat the defendant, Italian bees, "i\o( Guil- 

 fy, " and that they be discharged from the 

 odium heaped upon them; tliat when the 

 circling year sh.all usher in the fjlad spring 

 time, witli its beauty and its bloom, she may 

 jjo forth on her mission of love, i>rovidin2 a 

 bouutil'ul harvest of sweetness for herself, for 

 her friends and her foes, — W. J. Davis, 

 Youngsvilh', Fa. , Dec. 1.S77. 



For Thk t.ANCA6TER FARMER. 



CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS. 



Dear Sir. — It gives rae pleasure in ac- 

 cordance with your cxprcsaecl wish, to .state 

 the results of my experience in the chemical 

 fertilization of wheat. 



I began in the fall of 1870 the application 

 of chemicals to the soil, with view of increas- 

 ing its fertility. I had perceived beiiellts, 

 more or less marked, arising from the appli- 

 cation of various patented an<l compounded 

 mixtures, passing under the name of Raw 

 Bone, Excelsior, Magnum Bonura, Super- 

 phosphate, etc.; but of their com|)onent parts 

 I could form no ide.a, save at the hi-avy ex- 

 pense of a chemical analysis. It came at the 

 .same time to my observation, that these com- 

 pounders, without exception, had grown 

 wealthy in a short time, and it seemed a fair 

 deduction, lliat if it would jiay the farmer to 

 use them saddled with such heavy [irolits, 

 that tlie use of chemicals, to which they owed 

 their entire value, at a very much less cost, 

 must prove remunerative. Chemistry, through 

 analysis, had estat>lislied the food of jdants, 

 and_it only remained for iiractical experiment 

 to determine the proportions. There was no 

 mysterious secret tiiat coulil embrace the 

 "value of a ton of such compounds from ten to 

 thirty dollars a ton over the cost of ingre- 

 dients, and the manipulations of the chemi- 

 cals were so simiile as could be done by any 

 man of average intelligence. Ex]ii rience has 

 demonstrated that the manure of cattle, pro- 

 perly fermented and rotted, is a universal 

 manure ; or to speak more plainly, it contains 

 all the elements lliat are necessary to ))lant life. 

 Taking this as a basis, I prepared a formula, 

 comprising all its organic and inorganit ma- 

 terial, and in as near the same proiiortion as 

 analysis had establishc-d it. Jly phosiihoric 

 acid was derived from burnt bone ; ammonia 

 from sulphate of ammonia ; potassa from 

 muriate of ])otash — 87 ' ; niagnesia from crude 

 sulphate. When formula! ed the mixture 

 showed 10 per cent, of suljibate and pho.s- 

 lihoric acid, 4 per cent, of ammonia and 

 liotassa, 1^ per cent ammonia and potassa, 1.4 

 per cent, of magnesia, etc. The cost of mix- 

 ture w-as forty dollars per ton. and I applied 

 it to my wheat at the rate of 3.")0 jionnds per 

 acre, drilling with seed, with the following re- 

 sults : The Hrst field contained iii) acres, hilly, 

 of light sandy soil, and from which, prior to 

 drilling, I had removed over two hundred 

 loads of quartz stones. This Held had been 

 cropped four successive years, anil eaiOi time 

 was seeded to clovir withoui any result. In 

 rye in '73 it yielded 12 bushels. The crop of 

 wheat for '74. '7") and '76 were resjiectively 

 12. 8 and 41 bushels to an acre. The land 

 .seemed a fair speeiiuen of utter exhaustion, 

 and thus peculiarly adapted for exiieviment. 

 To demonstrate beyond doubt the eflects of 



the chemicals, I left a belt of land, running 

 the entire length of the held, tlirough its 

 middle, wliieh, though unfertilized, received 

 the same culture and seeding. The heavy 

 equinoctial storm tlrat prevailed shortly after 

 seedini;, washed and indicted very considera- 

 ble damage. The fertilized portion showed 

 its siqieriority from its lir.st appearance above 

 ground, and at the time of harvest the lield 

 liresented the appearance as if a land had 

 been cradled through it. The wheat on the 

 unferlilized belt was not over 12 inches high, 

 and the most scrutinizing examination failed 

 to detect a single clover plant ; its iirodiict in 

 wheat was nil. The firtilized portion showed 

 a heavy stand of straw and good head, W('ll 

 lilled, and when harvested, the average of the 

 entire lield was 2bA bushels — thresher's meas- 

 ure, weighing 02| liounds to the bushel. 

 The stand of clover was sjilendid, more lux- 

 uriant than 1 had ever before seen. 



The second tield contained 20 acres, but of 

 land in mueli better order. It had yielded 

 thirty-live bushels of corn, followed Ijy a crop 

 of oats — twenty-seven bushels. The soil was 

 medium heavy and micaceous ; the surface 

 rocks of quartz and sandstone, and with a 

 northern exposure. The same culture and 

 quantity of fertilizer was applied, and seeded 

 to timothy at the time of drilling. The 

 growth of grain was continuous from its lirst 

 appearance above ground, and a short time 

 before harvest was pronounced the lincst show 

 in our county ; it was estimated from 40 10 45 

 bushels. A violent storm, however, pros- 

 trated nearly one half of it, and compelled 

 the use of scythes to secure it. The heads of 

 prostrate wlieat did not mature, aud in many 

 cases not half tilled. Tlie portion uninjured 

 was very fine, but the yield was not kejit 

 separate. The average of the entire tield was 

 30^ bushels, weighing 63 pounds to the 

 bushel. The timothy was most luxuriant — 

 over 18 inches in height. 



Tile third experiment was ou 20 acres in 

 two iilots, one of 22 acres was in corn, of a 

 light soil and micacecms, with a surface rock 

 of quartz and limestone, and southern hill- 

 side. The yield of corn was 25 bushels to an 

 acre, and owing to its removal, the wheat was 

 not drilled till October 2d. The other plot of 

 8 acres was a strong tenacious clay, with 

 limestone surface rocks, and which was in a 

 tough blue grass sod. It had been in wheat 7 

 years prior, ami liad then produced 14 bushels 

 of wheat without manure. The .same applica- 

 tion was made as before, and seeded to clover. 

 Being of southern exposure, it escaped the 

 siorm ; the growth of straw was very heavy. 

 The i>roduct of both patches was threshed 

 together, and the yield was 32J bushels per 

 acre, weighing 64 pounds to the bushel. The 

 stand of clover on corn land was very indif- 

 ferent, and upon the clay sod the natural 

 grasses choked it out entire, so I plowed u)) 

 both pieces and reset with wheat. In order 

 to ascertain if increased quantity of anv one 

 of ingredients in fertilizer were needed liy the 

 land, I top-dre.sscd in March, each field with 

 each ingredient separate. There was no re- 

 sponse save in the, two fields of clay, heavier 

 soils, where the potash showed the straw full 



inches higher, and a perceptible larger and 

 heavier he:id of wheat. Tliis leads me to tlie 

 concdusion that a heavier administration of 

 potash would be beneficial, and possibly a 

 diminution of ammonia and phosphoric acid 

 might not injure the yield. The wheat .seeded 

 was the Fultz, and was of superior quality. 

 These results have satisfied me that a crop 

 could be produced, and tlie next question was, 

 would it jiay V I am satisfied from a know- 

 ledge of my lands, of tlie.se past average pro- 

 ductions of wheat, that 1 liad an exce.«s of 

 wheat over what I should have had without 

 the apidication of chemicals, of lUOO bushels. 

 This surplus lirought me .?1. .500: the cost of 

 chemical aiiiiiieation was St20, and allowing 

 S80 for extra threshing and lalxir would leave 

 SIOOO as a profit ou an investment of .*420 for 

 twelve month.s — and besides, in this e.stimate, 



1 have charged the entire manure to this one 

 crop. Jfor have I included the increased 



value of 40 acres set in grass, one iialf of 

 which I could in no event have succeeded in 

 setting; nor liave I included the increased 

 weight of straw, whieli if sold, would have 

 yielded near one half cost of fertilizer. 



Tlie season was a most propitious one for 

 wlii-al, and may liave added very considerable 

 to the yield, but there is still a very large 

 margin of prolil after any such deductions. 

 I can but believe in very heavy benefits yet 

 to accrue to soil where ajiplied such clover 

 and timothy never before stood on my farm. 

 1 have seeded this year lOil acres to wheat, 

 and have ai>plied the formula (with some 

 variations lor experiment) to all of it. 



I al.so experimented upon three half-acre 

 plots of jiotatoes, apjilying a formula which 

 lepresenled the ash. and adding 5 per cent, of 

 anifuonia. The soil in each were entiiely dif- 

 ferent, one sod, one clay, one sandy. The 

 results were at the rate of 2t)5, 255 and 210 

 bushels to an acre. The heaviest yield I had 

 ever before olitained by the most lavish appli- 

 cation of manure, was 85 bushels. The results 

 in my vi getable garden were even more, 

 marked. The application of muriatic potash 

 85"^, one ta\jlespoonful rii hill, produced Early 

 York cabbage, one of which measured in cir- 

 cmnference, around the outer extremities of 

 leaves 14 feet U incdies. Its effect ou sweet 

 potatoes was also great. 



The exhaustion of lands must soon form a 

 serious question in the older .States, the steady 

 decreasing yields pi)int in one direction, either 

 bankruptcy or eiiiigiation. The fertile lands 

 of tlie West are hastiiiiiig its solution. They 

 are our competitors, and cheap freights have 

 brought them to our doors. We must pro- 

 duce more at le.ss cost — it must become a 

 struggle for life, in which, as Darwin says, 

 the "fittest will survive." The old routine 

 will be superseded, and those who do not fol- 

 low will go under. I^urope has already solved 

 and met the question. The fertility of the 

 land must be restored, in returning that which 

 has been abstracted — there is no other road 

 save through chemicals. Prussia, Germany 

 and France havd so decided and acted. In 

 Prussia alone, there are sixty experimental 

 stations where the farmer can have his chem- 

 icals analyzed at the expense of the (iovern- 

 inent, (and no one farm is without them). 

 Connecticut has already profited by Prussia's 

 experience, and estalilished a station, which 

 last year saved to its farmers over ^200,000 in 

 the manures they purchased for the tobacco 

 and other crops. We are making an effort in 

 the .same direction. Our iKu>r, worn out lands 

 have invited the enemy to our doors. Your 

 State, with its rich lands, is undergoing ini- . 

 poverislinient. In another generation, you 

 will iirobably mark on the thermometer of 

 luoduction, as low a degree as ounselves. Wc 

 have only antedated you in squandering the 

 organic wealth of oin- land. — Yours truly, J. 

 I. W.. (MkojaviUe, MiL, Dec. 24. 1877. 



I'ov The Lancastkr Farmer. 

 SPECIALTIES IN FARMING. 



The tendency of fanning and kindred occu- 

 pations seems to lean towards specialties. 

 Like in trades, I siqijiose greater proficiency 

 is thus acquired by the individual, but unlike 

 in trades, any tmtoward circumstances are 

 accoiiipanied with many times more disastrous 

 results; as commonly all the ca|)ital pos.sessed, 

 and perhaiis a great deal borrowed, is em- 

 barked in the enterprise. 



Many sharp men engage in these specialties 

 with the purpose to make money when the 

 lidi' is rising, but quit as soon as there is any 

 sign of ebbing, but in most ca.ses there is no 

 sign of this ebbing any more than there is a 

 sign of a coming financial crash — there is a 

 sudden downfall in prices fhrough over-pro- 

 duction or other causes, and the iiroduet that 

 had liefore jiaid well on the investment, is now 

 the cause of far greater loss than the gains of 

 previous years. And to make bad worse, 

 tiiese very men, when such an event hap]>ens, 

 instead of getting out of the business as best 

 they can. reason thus : "'Xow this is a pretty 

 mes.'>, but there is tlie consolation that I have 



