20 THE EURAL LIBEAB*. 



" What else do you raise besides fruit ? " 



"Our own potatoes and some vegetables. I used to raise prime 

 egg plants for sale, but the Southern product has about destroyed my 

 market for this, though I still grow some. We buy all our hay and 

 grain." 



" How much help ? " 



" We have five men for six months, two men for eight months and 

 one man through the winter." 



" What Tyere your sales for 1893 ? " 



" Of grapes, about 35 tons. They were mostly Concords, Delaware, 

 Worden and Pocklington. Of course we test all the promising new 

 sorts. We also sold about 14,000 quarts of strawberries, 2i tons of 

 currants and 150 baskets of peaches." 



" Do you follow the double system of cropping ? " 



" We have a few currants among the grapes, but in most of the 

 vineyards the vines are alone." 



" What are your main reasons for advocating the use of fertilizers?" 



" Besides what I have already said, I may add that the fertilizers 

 are easier to handle and apply. There is less labor involved in their 

 handling. They are also far better suited for some fruits, like grapes 

 and peaches. They give higher color and flavor and firmer texture and 

 also promote maturity. As a matter of cost, at present prices they are 

 cheaper than stable manure. The fair way to test the two is to put the 

 same value into each and use them side by side. Buy $50 worth of 

 manure and $50 worth of good fertilizer and put them on equal sized 

 fields. On such a test the fertilizer will win every time at the prices 

 we are called upon to pay. 



" Do you think fertilizers will pay on any kind of soil ? " 



" I see no reason why not. Of course, in using fertilizer, it is neces- 

 sary to have the soil in a fine mechanical condition. It must be well 

 worked and fined. No use to expect fertilizers to do their best in a 

 poorly prepared and rough soil. On many heavy lands, there is no 

 doubt that vegetable matter in the form of manure or a green crop is 

 needed to loosen or lighten the soil. How much of this effect may be 

 produced by thorough working, I am not prepared to say, as I do not 

 know." 



The Feeding of Nursery Stock. 



At Cornwall, N. Y., Mr. T. J. Dwyer conducts a nursery business 

 with much skill and success. Mr. D. is a very careful student of the 

 problems of plant feeding, and his aim is to produce thrifty and well- 

 grown plants, vines and trees. Bear in mind that his chief desire is to 



