8 THE RURAL LIBRARY. 



effect of manure and fertilizers not only on his own farm, but also on 

 many places from which, he bought fruit, makes his observation aE 

 the more valuable. 



Mr. W. has 46 acres and raises gooseberries, currants, grapes, 

 apples, peaches and pears. He has about an acre of gooseberries, 

 12,000 grape vines, 6,000 currant bushes among the vines, 3,000 peach 

 trees and a few pear trees (too young to bear) among the peaches. The 

 gooseberry patch is four years old— not yet in full bearing. The third 

 year they bear a small crop and increase after that. To set out goose- 

 berries Mr. "W. said he plowed in the fall and furrowed in the spring, 

 and set the plants 3 x4i feet. 



"Do you use stable manure on gooseberries ? " 



"Yes, when I have it; but I would not buy it for that special pur- 

 pose. I would use it only when the plants were young, to promote 

 wood growth and to provide a mulch. I can raise the best of goose- 

 berries without any stable manure. Tou can't possibly hurt goose- 

 berries by using chemical fertilizers." 



" How much fertilizer would you use ? " 



"When setting out I would use half a ton or more per acre, with 

 extra bone meal added. After that at least half a ton every year. I 

 use the Fruit and Vine manure, which is lower in nitrogen and higher 

 in potash and phosphoric acid than the mixtures for potatoes or vege- 

 tables. On currants I use half a ton each year." 



"Why do you prefer fertilizers, and are they cheaper than manure ? " 



"I prefer fertilizers on gooseberries because there are fewer weeds 

 than when manure is used. Many a patch is seeded to weeds by the 

 use of manure, and that makes a lot of extra work in a crop like 

 gooseberries or raspberries. Stable manure costs, at the dock, $2 a 

 ton, and teaming costs 75 cents. Compare the analyses and prices of 

 manure and fertilizers and you will see that the manure is a costly 

 form of fertility as compared with the latter— to say nothing of the 

 extra work it gives both in handling and in killing the weeds it brings 

 on your farm." 



" You don't seem to have much use for stable manure ! " 



" Very little, I can tell you. I know it is excellent to force wood 

 on young plants. I use about all I have on young vineyards. On 

 gooseberries I can get good crops and healthy plants by the use of 

 fertilizers alone. If the bushes seem to require extra growth a little 

 nitrate of soda extra will answer just as well and act quicker than 

 stable manure. Of course I use stable manure on strawberries— but 

 only as a winter covering, and this because it is the handiest thing I 

 can get for this purpose. For the food of the crop I use a ton of fer- 

 tilizer to the acre." 



