44 FRUIT CULTURE. 



amount given about equals, in nutritive value, 

 eight cords of stable manure of average quality. 

 The average cost of stable manure, in the vicin- 

 ity of large cities, is $8 per cord delivered on 

 the farm. In some sections it is higher, and in 

 others it cannot be purchased. But in the case 

 supposed the cost per acre will be $64, in com- 

 parison with $ 33 for the bone and potash. That 

 the latter preparation is better adapted to fruits, 

 especially to peaches, grapes, and plums, there is 

 little doubt. In the case of strawberries the 

 mechanical effect of stable manure in retaining 

 moisture is to be considered. 



It is also to be remembered that the effect of 

 stable manure is more lasting than that of chem- 

 icals, the land being benefited for two or three 

 years after the application. On the other hand, 

 chemicals are free from the seeds of weeds ; they 

 are easily procured and applied as needed, and 

 the potash has an undoubted tendency to check 

 the white grub and perhaps other insects. The 

 various brands of superphosphates are, as a mat- 

 ter of course, sold at a profit to the dealers, and 

 it is difficult to make an estimate of their rela- 

 tive value. The analysis of the state inspector 

 ought to be a guide, and if one is willing to pay 

 liberally for the process of manipulating and 

 mixing, he will buy the manufactured article 



