MAXUEES. 41 



dry, it is one of the best materials to use to mix with 

 other manures as an absorbent. It can be used to great; 

 advantage if dug out in winter and piled up in narrow 

 ridges, so that it can be partly dried and "sweetened" 

 in summer. Thus dried, if mixed with stable manure, or, 

 better yet, thrown in layers of three or four inches thick in 

 the cattle or hog yard, where it can be trodden down and 

 incorporated with the manure, the value of the manure 

 thus treated will be nearly doubled. 



In reply to questions that I receive by the hundred 

 each season, asking whether or not it is worth while to 

 use the so-called special fertilizers claimed to be suited to 

 the wants of particular plants, such as the " Potato Fer- 

 tilizer," " Cabbage Fertilizer," " Strawberry Fertilizer," 

 " Eose Fertilizer," etc., I can^nly give this general an- 

 swer, that while these manures may suit the plants they 

 are claimed to be " special " for, I have little doubt that 

 either one would suit equally well for the others, or if all 

 were mixed together, the mixture would be found to an- 

 swer the purpose for each kind of crop just as well as if 

 kept separate and applied to the crop it was named for. 

 These hair-splitting distinctions are not recognized to be 

 of any value by one practical farmer or gardener in a hun- 

 dred; for a little experience soon shows that pure bone dust 

 or well-rotted stable manure answers for all crops nearly 

 alike, no matter what they are. These- special fertilizers 

 for special crops are gradually increasing in number, so 

 that some dealers now offer fifty kinds, different brands 

 being offered for plants belonging to the same family. 

 There is an ignorant assumption in this, and any culti- 

 vator of ordinary intelligence cannot fail to see that the 

 motive in so doing is to strike as broad a swath as possi- 

 ble, so that a larger number of customers may be reached 

 and a higher price obtained. 



One of my neighbors called the other day and informed 

 me that his Lettuce crop, in his greenhouse, was failing. 



