FEETILIZEES AND PE0IT. 3 



"What stock do you keep and what grain and other crops are 

 grown ? " 



" We have three horses, two cows and about 125 hens. We raised 

 three loads of hay and two acres of fodder corn. We did sow some 

 oats, but plowed them in for green manuring. We have seldom grown 

 any grain. We buy each year about 40 bales of hay, 300 bushels of oats 

 and three tons of bran and middlings. We aim to keep stock enough 

 to provide work, milk and butter. 



" How large is your working force ? " 



"We employ three men regularly, about 25 pickers during the pick- 

 ing season, and during the fall and spring work from 10 to 13 hands 

 extra." 



" Is this farm an old one ? " 



"The house is nearly 125 years old. The farm has been put through 

 all the changes of farming that have taken place in this section — 

 grain growing, dairying, potatoes, etc. When we came here, some 

 25 years ago, the land was pretty well run out. At that time there 

 were about 1,000 grape vines, not in good condition, on the place. We 

 have since convinced ourselves that fruit is the only profitable crop to 

 grow on these hills. Our farm is well situated for fruit, with a high 

 hill at the west to shelter us from the cold winds and a long slope to 

 the east." 



" What do you bay to feed your 40 acres of fruits ? " 



"We make at home and buy in nearby markets about 50 tons of 

 stable manure. We also buy 25 tons of New York stable manure. This 

 costs us $2.25 a ton. The hauling costs us about $4 for nine tons, or 

 about 45 cents a ton, which makes the total cost $2.70 a ton delivered. 

 We also use about six tons of fertilizers each year. We prepare a 

 ' home mixture ' by using the hen manure with coal ashes. We burn 

 some 20 tons of coal. The ashes are put where all the house slops can 

 be thrown over them and then thoroughly mixed with the hen manure. 

 This makes a fine mixture to put around currant bushes." 



"Could you get along without buying any stable manure ? " 



"In answer to that I will say ' yes,' if we could get a cheap material 

 for mulching. I have no doubt that fertilizers and well-rotted straw 

 would give us a complete substitute for manure, but we can buy the 

 manure cheaper than we can the straw. Our chief reason for buying 

 manure is to obtain a good mulching material and vegetable matter to 

 lighten and loosen up the soil. Ours is a very dry location, and on 

 sucb fruits as raspberries, currants, etc., we feel that a mulch is neces- 

 sary. When it comes to the question of the price per pound of nitrogen, 

 potash and phosphoric acid, there is no doubt that fertilizers are 



