332 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
f September, 
lbs. of nitrate of potash, 270 lbs. nitrate of soda, 
and 360 lbs. of sulphate of lime, per acre, when 
more lime, potash, or phosphoric acid was added, 
the yield was not affected, but when the nitrogen 
was increased, the yield rose with it. From such 
experiments as these, Ville infers that nitrogen is 
the dominant ingredient for wheat and the sugar- 
beet, and consequently he puts a large proportion 
of it in his formulas for these crops. He insists, 
furthermore, that the form of combination is im¬ 
portant, and uses sulphate of ammonia for wheat, 
nitrate of soda for sugar-beets, and so on. For 
clover, beans, peas, etc., he recommends little or 
no nitrogen, because these plants are found to get 
very little if any good from nitrogenous manures. 
He explains this by assuming that such plants get 
all their nitrogen from the air, and do not need it 
• in fertilizers. Of the theory once held by many, 
that plants assimilate the free nitrogen of the air, 
Ville is now almost the only prominent defender. 
He claims that clover gathers all its nitrogen from 
the air ; that barley and rye get 80 %, wheat, 50 %, 
and sugar-beet, 60 °/o, 
from the air, and the rest 
from the soil. This as¬ 
sumption, I think, has 
very little of experi¬ 
mental proof to rest 
upon. Much more in¬ 
vestigation is needed 
to settle the question. 
Concerning the mineral 
ingredients, phosphoric 
acid, potash, and lime, 
Ville’s rule is to restore 
all that the crops remove, 
and a little more to make 
up for what is reached 
away by the water in 
the soil below and beyond 
the reach of the roots 
of plants. In this, he 
veiy strangely ignores 
the resupply which every 
soil keeps up from 
the decomposition of 
the materials it contains. 
Ville proposes “com¬ 
plete manures ” for all 
crops, but at the same 
time recommends farm¬ 
ers to test their soils by 
experiments, in order to find whetherthese already 
contain and can supply any of the ingredients, and 
if so, omit them from the fertilizer. He lays a 
great deal of stress upon these experiments, and 
gives very full directions for making them. Where 
chemical fertilizers are to be used as auxiliaries to 
farm manure, he recommends to use the dominant 
ingredient for the crop; thus,for wheat he would add 
6ulphate of ammonia or nitrate of soda; for corn, 
or turnips, superphosphate, etc. Ville claims that 
Chemical Fertilizers are Superior to Farm 
Manure 
for several reasons : (1) They bring larger crops. 
In proof of this he cites several hundred experi¬ 
ments made by agricultural schools, societies, and 
private individuals, on wheat, oats, rye, barley, 
maize, potatoes, sugar-beets, sugar-cane, etc., in 
France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, and other coun¬ 
tries. In 51 experiments with wheat, in which 
chemical and farm manures were compared, the 
chemicals brought larger crops in 47, less in 3, and 
the same in one case. In 92 experiments with 
6Ugar-beets the artificial fertilizers brought the 
best results in 67 cases, the dung in 20 cases, and 
both the same in 5 cases. In 32 experiments with 
potatoes, the chemical manures brought more than 
horse-manure in 25, less in 6, and the same in 1.— 
(2.) The chemical fertilizers are cheaper. To sub¬ 
stantiate this, he makes extended comparisons be¬ 
tween the cost in France of farm manure and the 
corresponding chemical materials, and calculates 
that the manure is the dearer by some six per 
cent.—(3.) Chemicals are always at command, and 
in just such kinds and quantities as arc needed, 
the only limit being the amount of capital to be in¬ 
vested.—(4.) The ingredients of chemical manures 
are ready for use at once, while in yard-manure 
they are slowly available.—(5.) Chemical manures 
are more easily and cheaply transported, handled, 
and applied.—(6.) Chemical manures can be divided 
60 as to use for each crop its predominant regulat¬ 
ing ingredient, and in each case only what is 
needed. Thus, in a rotation, nitrogen can be used 
for wheat or oats, phosphates for corn or turnips, 
and potash for clover. Or, if the soil supplies 
enough of any one ingredient for any crop, it can 
be omitted from the fertilizer and its cost saved. 
Continuous Use of Chemical Manures. 
. To the question whether chemical manures alone 
can be depended on and used with profit year after 
year, Ville replies, “Yes, under two conditions; 
1st. Give the land in fertilizers more phosphate of 
lime, more lime, and more potash than the crop 
takes from it.—2d. Give it about 50% of the nitro¬ 
gen of the harvest.” W. O. Atwater, 
Wesleyan University , Middletown , Conn. 
A Flemish Milk Wagon. 
A correspondent now travelling in Europe, sends a 
photograph of the milk cart common in the streets 
of Antwerp, Belgium, which we reproduce in the 
engraving presented above. For a dog to draw a cart 
is a curious thing for many readers, as also is the 
peddling of the milk from door to door by a woman, 
but is an ordinary sight in that country. The cans 
are of the ordinary sort, from which the milk is 
drawn by means of the dippers,^he long handles of 
which are seen sticking above the sides of the cart. 
Oleomargarine. 
What it is—What it is Used for—Its Effects. 
Though much has been published in the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist on Oleomargarine, we give the 
following summary for the benefit of the large 
class of readers who show by their letters that they 
are not already familiar with the subject. Oleo¬ 
margarine is made from the caul-fat of beef ani¬ 
mals, by a process and machinery, which separates 
the fat from the tissues. So far it is clean, and, of 
itself, as clear suet, is unobjectionable ; but some 
claim that dirty grease, and even refuse hog-fat 
are also used in the process. Manufacturers claim 
that it is identical with butter, because both are 
fat, and come from the same animal, and are 
similar in composition. A comparison will show 
the fallacy of this assertion. Oleomargarine con¬ 
sists exclusively of the three fatty compounds— 
stearin, olein, and margarine. All animal fats, of 
which butter and suet are chief representatives, are 
made up mainly of these three substances, though 
in varying proportions, and often with additions. 
Butter is composed of stearin, olein, margarine, 
butin, myristin, caprin, caproin, caprylin, and 
butyrin —six extra ingredients which are not con¬ 
tained in oleomargarine ; and these extra six consti¬ 
tute something like ten per cent of the butter, and 
the aromatic flavor and other peculiar characteris¬ 
tics of the butter are mainly due to their presence. 
It is claimed that the absence of some of the 
components of butter make the oleomargarine 
superior in keeping quality to butter. Be this is as 
it may, it does not make butter of oleomargarine. 
Butter is a product peculiar to the udder of the 
cow, and is obtained by separating from the milk, 
by churning, the fats which compose it. Oleomar¬ 
garine is formed in other tissues of the animal, is 
composed of different ingredients, and is separated 
by heat and processes which produce a different 
result. Though chalk and marble have nearly 
the same constituents, yet chalk is not marble, 
nor is marble chalk ; even so oleomargarine is not 
butter. Oleomargarine is 
then essentially tallow, 
or other fat prepared by 
churning it with a little 
real butter to form a pro¬ 
duct which has been often 
sold for butter—now, for¬ 
tunately, prohibited by 
law in some States. Oleo¬ 
margarine quite closely 
resembles butter in ap¬ 
pearance ; but it has a 
peculiar, strong taste— 
unmistakable after it is 
once tried—and leaves a 
sticky disagreeable sensa¬ 
tion in the mouth, similar 
to that caused by greasy 
soup ; this bad flavor can 
be tasted for hours after 
eating it. For cooking 
purposes it may serve as 
a substitute for poor but¬ 
ter, and may even be used 
upon the table by 7 those 
who are not particular in 
such matters. It makes a 
pastry, which, though 
good enough while hot,is 
very tough when cold. A 
very large amount issold in the markets of the coun¬ 
try, for use in cooking and for table use in cheap 
restaurants, and by the poorer classes. The usual 
price for this “ butter ” is 15 cts. per pound. Much 
is also used in cheese factories to take the place of 
the cream used for butter-making. The product 
is sold as whole milk cheese, when not prevented 
by law or the honesty of dealers ; and large quan¬ 
tities are shipped abroad as American cheese. 
The effects of such a product in the market are 
great and manifold, as often pointed out in the 
American Agriculturist: Its low price seriously 
affects all the lower grades of butter and cheese ; 
it imposes on the public a sham for a reality; it 
endangers our foreign markets for good dairy pro¬ 
ducts ; and all of these will in turn have other and 
deleterious effects, which any one can trace. The 
remedy is simple : let every State, that has not 
done so, by law compel its sale under its own name, 
and let dairymen combat it in the market, by not 
making either butter or cheese which can be com 
pared to it, but produce only superior articles, 
and get the better price they are 6ure to bring. 
Been, Bee Keeper's, and Honey. — The 
annual convention of the National Bee-Keepers’ 
Association will meet in the Cooper Union, N. Y. 
City, on the 8tli of October, at 12 noon, and a show 
of b?es and their products will be held at the 
American Institute Fair on and after September 
20th....As to shipping honey, a prominent dealer 
informs us that the supply of honey now in mar¬ 
ket, and on its way thither, is so great as to prac¬ 
tically overstock the market, which fact should 
induce farmers to hold their stock for a while. 
