22 THE RURAL LIBRARY. 



manure, I recognize the great value of fertilizers and would feel -os 

 ■without them."- 



" Do you grow double crops ? " 



"Yes, and treble. For example, I set a young apple orchard last 

 spring. Later in the season, I set in cabbage, and later still, sowea 

 turnips all over the field. So there are trees, cabbage and turnips all 

 growing in the field and doing well. Of course we used fertilizers on 

 the cabbage and turnips as it would have been impossible to work 

 manure into the ground. I could cut out the cabbage, plow in the 

 turnips and add fertilizer and have a perfect substitute for stable 

 manure— there is no doubt of that." 



" Then you think a green crop plowed under and fertilizers added 

 to it would give you a manure substitute ? " 



" There is no doubt of it. If I had more land so that I could seed 

 to clover and thus let the soil ' rest ' long enough to make a good sod 

 and fill up with good, strong roots, I could use much less manure, 

 because the sod would provide much of the vegetable matter that my 

 soil needs and which'the manure supplies. But my area is limited, and 

 I need it all for crops, so it pays me better to buy the manure and not 

 lose the use of my land by growing green crops or sod to plow under. 

 My experience goes to show that with the proper use of fertilizers and 

 green crops,. I would obtain the needed wood growth on young plants. 

 In other words, while we use manure largely to produce this young 

 growth, it is not because manure alone will do it, but because manure, 

 counting in its fertilizing value, gives us our cheapest material for 

 mulch and humus. " 



" Is the use of fertilizers increasing ? " 



"No doubt of it, and not only that, but farmers realize more and 

 more the folly of using cheap, low-grade goods. When a dairyman 

 buys grain, he doesn't see any advantage in buying 500 pounds of saw- 

 dust with every l,500pounds of corn meal or bran, even though he only 

 pay for the actual grain. It is about that way with cheap fertilizers, 

 and it is a hopeful sign that farmers recognize the fact more and more^ 

 Any farmer who knows his business will pay more for horse manure 

 from car stables where plenty of grain is fed than from stables where 

 idle ' boarders ' are fed mostly on hay. That is the same principle as 

 paying more for a high grade fertilizer with a high analysis anrl 

 making money by doing so." 



Change of Food for an Apple Orchard. 



One of the most noted apple orchards along the Hudson is that 

 owned by Mr. W. H. Hart of Poughkeepsie. The problem of feeding 



