142 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April. 
foot projections. The roof is of 18-inch clear, 
butt pine shingles. Total cost, including 
foundation and two coats of paint, $175. The 
front elevation of the bam is shown in fig. 1; 
plan of the floor and stalls is given in fig. 2. 
Standard, or Tree and Pillar Roses. 
By Standard, or Tree Roses, is meant a 
rose, usually a Remontant, budded at the top 
of a Brier 4 to 8 feet high. They seem to be 
very attractive to our amateurs, large num¬ 
bers being imported every year, and sold at 
auction at very high prices. It is probably 
their unusual appearance that makes them 
popular with those who do not know that 
they are almost as unsuited to our climate as 
are bananas and pine apples, for it is very 
rarely that they give a second bloom. The 
climate of England is much better suited to 
them than ours, but even there they are fast 
falling into disfavor. The best rosarians 
write of them as “ a bouquet upon a broom¬ 
stick,” and some of the journals have given 
engravings intended to bring them into ridi¬ 
cule. The great trouble with Standard Roses 
in this climate is the effect of our hot suns 
upon the long naked stem of the stock, which 
checks its growth and starves the top ; this, 
joined to the effects of a severe winter upon 
the poorly nourished top, soon puts an end to 
the whole. The best success we ever saw 
with such roses was on the Centennial 
grounds, where a large bed of them was cal¬ 
culated to give a wrong impression. Of the 
many thousands who admired them very 
few noticed that the tall and otherwise naked 
stem of each was surrounded by a coating of 
moss neatly bound on ; nor did they see that 
every evening this moss had a drenching 
with water. As a whole, these Standard, or 
Tree Roses, may be regarded as utterly un¬ 
suited to our climate. If those who buy 
them at the sales this spring wifi be satisfied 
with one yeaf*s bloom as a return for the 
price, very well—for they can expect in or¬ 
dinary culture but little more. But why try 
Xo cultivate these Tree Roses, when Pillar 
Roses are readily grown and—to persons who 
do not seek for the odd and unusual—vastly 
more beautiful. Any vigorous rose, even the 
climbers, such as Queen of the Prairie, may 
be grown in this form,' with vigorous .prun¬ 
ing, but usually the Remontants (Hybrid Per- 
petuals, so called), are selected. The stake, 
one of durable wood, or of iron, being set 
in the ground, the rose is planted close to it. 
For its subsequent training one must have 
some knowledge of the principles of pruning; 
the upward growth must be encouraged, but 
not allowed to interfere with the formation 
of side branches. The engraving shows a 
Pillar Rose complete, and the whole ^pruning 
and training must be with a view to furnish 
the plant with flowering branches from the 
ground upwards. Another form of the 
pyramid rose is, to set a strong stake in the 
center and train four or six roses, planted in 
a circle around it, to wires leading from 
strong pegs set in the ground to the top of 
the stake. Either of these methods is pos¬ 
sible in our climate, and gives results more 
beautiful and satisfactory than the Tree Roses. 
Important to Every Farmer. 
The American Agriculturist Farm Experiments 
to be Continued. 
If a farmer must invest $19 to get $20 worth 
of increase from a grain field, his farming 
can not be profitable, but if he gets $20 from 
an investment of $5 or $10, that will pay. 
Will it Pay to Buy Commercial Fertilizers? 
The fact is well established that while it 
will pay the farmer to buy the fertilizers his 
soil needs, it is a waste of money to buy and 
a t ply constituents of which it already has 
enough. It is to help farmers to answer the 
questions: “What does my soil need?”— 
“ What fertilizer can I buy that will be prof¬ 
itable?” that the American Agriculturist Ex¬ 
periments were instituted. These experi¬ 
ments were begun in 1878, and have been 
continued in 1879 and 1880. The results were 
set forth in the tables last month, and this 
month, on page 139, we give an array of facts 
which must convince the most skeptical that 
the right fertilizers in the right places are 
profitable. The experience of three years 
leads us to recommend the same plans for 
this season. That is to say, we suggest 
Two Sets of Experimental Fertilizers. 
To wit: the Acre Set, costing $8, and the 
Half-acre Set, costing $5. Each set will con¬ 
sist of eight bags, numbered A, B, C, D, E, F, 
G, H, which are to be used on eight plots of 
land, two plots being left unmanured. Bag 
A supplies Nitrogen; bag B Phosphoric Acid, 
and bag C Potash; bags D, E, and F, furnish 
the same materials in twos ; bag G all three 
together, as a “ complete fertilizer,” while bag 
H contains Plaster. Each bag of the Acre 
Set contains material for one-tenth of an 
acre. The contents will be as below : 
ACRE SET. 
Valuable 
lnoredients. 
, Nitrogen. 
Phos. Acid. 
Potash, 
i Nitrogen. 
1 Phos. Acid. 
( Nitrogen. 
1 Potash, 
j Phos. Acid, 
j Potash, 
i Nitrogen. 
•< Phos. Acid. 
( Potash. 
The Half-acre Set is the same except that 
Kind. 
Amount. 
Nitrate of Soda. 
Superphosphate. 
Muriate of Potash. 
.20 “ 
! Nitrate of Soda. 
.15 1 “ 
Superphosphate. 
.30 f “ 
Nitrate of Soda . 
.15 1 “ 
Muriate of Potash. 
.20 f “ 
Superphosphate. 
Muriate of Potash. 
fO 05 
O O 
Nitrate of Soda. 
.. .. 15) “ 
.30 y “ • 
Muriate of'Potash. 
.20 j “ 
Plaster. 
......20 “ 
the quantities are only half as large, each bag 
being intended for onfe-twentieth of an acre. 
The Manner of Conducting the Experiments, 
is very simple. A plot of an acre, or half an. 
acre, of uniform, nearly level, worn-out land, 
is laid out in ten parallel strips, the first and 
last left unmanured, while the contents of 
one of the eight bags is applied to each of the 
intervening eight plots. The whole is then 
planted with potatoes, corn, or other crop, as 
is convenient, cultivated with care, and the 
produce on each plot noted. Full explana¬ 
tions of the experiments and directions for 
making them, are given in pamphlets which 
go with each set of fertilizers. 
What may be Expected from the Experiment 
First—By watching the growth, and mea¬ 
suring the gathered crop, it will be easy to 
to see how the crop on that soil is affected 
by each material and mixture. 
Second—A comparison of each lot with the 
no fertilizer plots, 0, 00, will show which fer¬ 
tilizer pays the greatest profit. 
Third—Such experiments stimulate thought,, 
and lead to more extended investigations. 
Fourth—It will be a good step towards- 
helping each experimenter to decide for him¬ 
self, and for his neighbors, what fertilizers, if 
any, they can use more largely in the future. 
Fifth—Experiments like these will awaken 
interest in the minds of boys, and serve as 
an excellent school for them. 
It is recommended that other fertilizers 
than those in the sets be used on parallel 
plots of the same size. 
A majority of the experimenters selected 
Com and Potatoes, probably because they 
are easy to manage, but more trials made 
with Grain, Grass, Sorghum, and Roots, and 
in the Southern States, Cotton, Sugar Cane, 
and Cow Peas, are particularly desirable- 
We urge upon the experimenters of previ¬ 
ous seasons the importance of repeating the 
trials through a serious of years, and trust 
many will continue the good work, and re¬ 
port their results. 
The parties who furnish the sets are (placed 
alphabetically): 
Henry J. Baker & Bro., 215 Pearl Street- 
New York. 
Boirker Fertilizer Co., 43 Chatham Street- 
Boston, and 3 Park Place, New York. 
Geo. B. Forrester, 188 Pearl Street, New York, 
liapes’ Formula and. Peruvian Guano 
Co., 158 Front Street, New York. 
These houses will each put up precisely 
the same articles, subject to analyses by Prof. 
Atwater. Our readers may send their orders- 
(accompanied by the cash) to any one of 
them. If any prefer to send their orders to 
this office, we will hand them to the dealers. 
Let each farmer study carefully the direc¬ 
tions and the Pamphlet accompanying each 
set, that a clear idea may be gained' of what, 
he is expected to do in order to make his ex¬ 
periments useful to himself, and to others. 
Puddling the roots of transplanted trees 
is a simple operation, but is so useful that it 
should always be done with trees that are to 
be long out of the ground, and it is also ad¬ 
visable to treat cabbage and other vegetable- 
plants in the same manner. Dig a hole where 
the soil is loamy, and pour in water, mixing 
the soil and water to form a. thin mud. In 
this mud, which should be about as thick as. 
cream, dip the roots of the trees and plants 
and work them about so that all, even the 
smallest fibres, will be well coated. If the- 
