proceedings of the farmers* club. 23 



Sorgo Bagasse as Manure. 



Mr. Jolm Willctt, West Cosco, Michig'.in, says tliut lie put sori^o baj^asse 

 upon wet land, cniployiiig^ a boy to pitch it in the I'uiruw as lie plowed, and 

 it did not prove deleteiious, but on the contrary lie had a good crt)p of 

 corn. 



Mr. Win. Hliss, Davenport, Illinois, says that he has used bagasse with 

 stKccss, as follows: "After pruning niy grape vines in the fall, 1 lay them 

 down and cover them with it. This covering is hift on the ground as mulch 

 The quantity is so great that it prevents the growth of weeds, rendering 

 lioeing unnecessary. Late in the fall I cover my strawberry beds with it; 

 in the spring remove it to the currant bushes and other shrubbery, and lay 

 it (juile thick on the ground. The pith very soon decays, the other part 

 mostly within a year, leaving the surface of the ground very loose and 

 mellow. You need not be afraid of any acid about it being detrimental to 

 vegetation. People who are not able or willing to pave their walks from 

 dwelling to out-houses can put the crushed cane on, and thus by having a 

 cleanly walk save the women folks an innnensc amount of labor. The earth 

 among my currant bushes is as loose as though it had been spaded; and 

 under this treatment it was astonishing to see how the}^ are laden with 

 fruit. I left a Diana, Kebecca and two or three Catawbas on the trellis 

 exposed to the climate, and they do not appear to be injured." 



Gas Lime — Its Value as a Manure. 



^fr. Solon Robinson. — We have frequently had this question before the CI ub : 

 "What is the value of gas lime as a fertiliser?" The question has never been 

 di'finitely anwered. Here is what is tliought of it in Scotland. An Edinburgh 

 gas maker says: "I believe that waste gas lime is equal in efficiency to fresh 

 lime for most of the purposes aimed at in its use in farm lands. I sold all 

 the lime thus produced at a gas work in Forfarshire for sixteen years to 

 several farmers, who uniforndy expressed their satisfaction therewith. 

 One very usual application of it was its mixture with the ' wrack,' viz: 

 the large piles of weeds and tangled roots of grass cleared oil" the fields 

 annually. On being composted in this way the lime gradually killed all 

 the vitality of these weeds, and returned them to the land in the way of 

 manure. It also served the purpose of opening up stiff clay soil, being lirst 

 spread over the surface and then plowed down. But the chief and most 

 beneficial use of gas lime is found in its admixture with farm yard manure 

 at the time it is applie<l to the fields. This is explained by the fact that 

 the lime from gas works, while retaining all its original properties as a 

 hydrate of lime, has acquired, in addition, a large amount of sulphur, much 

 of which \n/ree, and when openly exposed is taken up readily by the oxygen 

 of the atmtisphcre. This sulphur, so readily parting from the lime, enters 

 into combination with the volatile ammcjniacal elements of the fresh man- 

 ure, retaining them in the form of sulphate of ammonia, to be afterwanl 

 taken up gradually by the crop to which it has thus been applied. It is 

 in the first and last mentioned application that gas lime has proved most 

 beneficial in those cases coniing within my own knowledge. It is not equal 

 to newly burned lime shells for breaking up^stiff clays." 



