1882.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
95 
and think a ‘ complete fertilizer ’ is the most profit¬ 
able for me.”—That is, one containing Nitrogen, 
Potash, and Phosphoric Acid. 
”... .As to the outcome of my experiments with 
Nitrogen, that depends upon soil and crops... .In 
my experience thus far, Nitrogen in small quan¬ 
tities has generally proved profitable. Bone and 
Potash give a moderate yield of corn and oats on 
very poor land, but I like a good, handsome crop, 
and 24 lbs. of Nitrogen added, has more than repaid 
the cost in increased yield of corn and oats. That 
is, mixtures containing ‘ one-third-ration ’ of Nitro¬ 
gen have been uniformly more profitable than 
‘ Mixed Minerals ’ alone, or than mixed minerals 
with a two-thirds or a full ration of Nitrogen ; and 
this is my experience on a larger scale.” 
“Yet in anumber of cases Potash Salts with Bone, I 
and also with Superphosphate, bring excellent 
crops without Nitrogen, and the addition of Nitro¬ 
gen would be unprofitable.” 
“My neighbor, Mr. Williams, had a very fine piece 
of corn this year, with only 200 lbs. per acre of 
Bone Dust, and 150 lbs. of Muriate of Potash, the 
two costing $7 per acre. I have noted quite a num¬ 
ber of similar cases in this district. But my land 
was very badly run out when I took hold of it, and 
seemed to demand a little Nitrogen. So far as I 
have observed, soils that have been well manured, 
seeded down, kept in grass awhile, and then plowed 
again, do well with Potash and Phosphoric Acid, 
without artificial supply of Nitrogen. My corn in 
last year’s Nitrogen experiments, rose with the 
amount of Nitrogen added, but the increase was 
not enough to pay the cost of the 72 lbs., or even 
of 48 lbs., though it did pay for the 24 lbs. And 
with the oats on the same plots the past sea¬ 
son the yield rose with increase of Nitrogen, 
but the smallest quantity was the most profitable, 
as you can see by comparing Plot No. 7 with Nos. 
8 and 9, and No. 10 with 11 and 12.” 
“ But the potatoes gave a better response to the 
Nitrogen than the oats. With them the two-thirds 
ration, 48 lbs. per acre, was the most profitable, and 
the value of the increase exceeds the cost of the fer¬ 
tilizer ; with 48 lbs. of Nitrogen, the gain was $57 to 
$65, while with either 72 lbs. or 24 lbs. it runs from 
$40 to $59. I notice also as a result o< my experi¬ 
ments that the potatoes seem to respond to the Pot¬ 
ash much more readily than either oats or corn.” 
Mr. Fairchild’s Formulas. 
To my question, “Have you arrived at any for¬ 
mulas as most suitable for fertilizers for your 
crops ? ” Mr. Fairchild answered as follows : 
“ Yes and no. That is, I have made up my mind 
what will probably do well on my land and under 
iny conditions for some of my crops. But I can 
not say what would be most advantageous else¬ 
where, nor do I yet know exactly what will prove 
best for me years hence, or with crops I have not 
tested. For my corn next year I expect to use 250 
lbs. of fine Ground Bone, 150 lbs. Muriate of Potash 
(containing 50 per cent actual Potash), and 24 
lbs. of Nitrogen in the cheapest form I can get 
it. So far as my experiments go, they indicate 
that Sulphate of Ammonia and Nitrate of Soda do 
rather better than Dried Blood. Nitrate of Soda 
is cheap now, and I rather expect to use that.” 
“ With potatoes and oats I have not experimented 
so much. Judging from the past season’s experi¬ 
ence, it seems probable that the above quantities of 
Bone and Potash Salt, and about double the Nitro¬ 
gen will make a good mixture. For oats I am in¬ 
clined to make use of the same proportions as for 
corn, but I think smaller total quantities would 
do upon these crops. According to analysis an oat 
crop takes less from the soil than one of corn.” 
Tile Hungarian Rrome-Grass,—“M. Y. 
M.,” Orange Co., N. Y.—We have seen the accounts 
in the French agricultural journals to which you 
refer, and should we live long enough expect to 
see many others. There are several grasses, of 
which this is one, that every now and then come 
into notice on a small wave of praise, and then dis¬ 
appear to come to the surface again a decade or so 
after. This “ Hungarian Brome-Grass,” or “ Brome 
de Hongrie,” is Bromits inermis, the “Unarmed,” 
or “ Awnless-Bromus,” is a native of Germany and 
other European countries, and though it has been 
occasionally tried, it has never gained a position as 
a meadow or pasture grass. Sinclair said of his 
trials with it half a century ago, that they “ offer no 
grounds on which to commend it to the notice of 
the agriculturist.” The roots, orrather root-stocks, 
of this are barely inferior to the Quack or Couch 
Grass in their far-spreading reach and their aggres¬ 
sive character. This enables the grass to endure 
severe drouths, but its herbage is coarse, and like 
that of other species of Brome-Grass, not espe¬ 
cially nutritious. Like the wonderful “ Brome de 
Schrade,” that some 15 years ago was to renovate 
French agriculture, it is likely to amount to little. 
Farmer’s Hot-Bed—Boxes, 
“ L. A. G.” asks us : “ Will a hot-bed pay a farmer 
with a small garden ? ” If he has had experience 
in the management of one, and will give the needed 
time to the care of it, and can find a sale for the 
plants he does not wish to use himself, he can no 
doubt make it a source of moderate profit. But 
if the care of a liot-bed will take time that can be 
better employed otherwise, it is not worth while 
for him to make one for the sole purpose of sup¬ 
plying his own garden with plants. It is better to 
buy the few needed plants, or better still, raise 
them in window-boxes. We have often referred to 
these, but their utility does not seem to be gener¬ 
ally appreciated. They allow one to provide all the 
plants of early cabbages, cauliflowers, tomatoes, or 
whatever would be sown in a hot-bed, which are 
needed in an ordinary garden, at no expense in 
money and very little time or care in labor. Boxes 
are readily procured at any country store; as the 
window-box need be only three inches deep, an or¬ 
dinary box may usually be sawed in two, using the 
top for the bottom of the upper half. These are 
to be nearly filled with light, rich soil, in which the 
seeds are to be sown, and kept in a sunny kitchen 
window. When the plants show the rough leaves, 
i . e., the leaves that follow the seed-leaves, they 
are to be transplanted to other boxes and given 
more room. Some manage by the use of old tomato 
and oyster cans to raise a supply of plants. It is 
an easy matter, if there is some one in the family 
who will give the needed attention, to thus have 
an abundance of plants for the family garden. 
Oil-Cake and Linseed Meal. 
Several inquiries show that many suppose these 
articles to be the same. Linseed Meal is properly 
the Flax-seed or Linseed merely ground, and con¬ 
tains all the oil of the seeds. It is rarely, if ever, 
employed as cattle food, but is sold in the drug¬ 
stores as a material for making poultices. Oil-eakc 
is the residue left after Linseed has been subjected 
to a hydraulic press, for the purpose of removing 
the oil, so largely used in painting. The seeds con¬ 
tain about 83 per cent of their weight of oil, but 
the presses do not remove all this, and there re¬ 
mains from 10 to 13 per cent of oil in the residue, 
or Oil-cake. The Oil-cake, as it comes from the 
press, is very solid and difficult to break up ; in 
England hand mills are made for grinding it, but in 
this country it is often sold in the ground state. 
The proper name for this ground product is Oil¬ 
cake Meal, to distinguish it from Linseed Meal, 
the ground unpressed seed. A correspondent in 
Guernsey Co., Ohio (his address not being legible, 
we cannot answer some of his questions), asks 
how Oil-cake Meal compares with corn for feeding- 
stock. The two are fed for such opposite reasons 
that a comparison can not be readily made. Corn 
abounds in carbohydrates (starch, etc.), containing 
an average of 75 to 80 per cent, and only 8 to 15 
per cent of Protein (nitrogenous matters). Oil¬ 
cake, on the other hand, has over 30 per cent of 
Protein, and only about 37 per cent of carbo¬ 
hydrates (exclusive of the oil). Oil-cake is re¬ 
garded as a very rich food, and is used to mix with 
coarse fodder to increase its nutritious quality, and 
to make it equal to good hay, and is often used 
to feed to fattening and to milk-giving animals. 
183 House Plans—Prize Plans. 
In December Nine Prizes (three each of $50, $25, 
and $15), were offered for best plans for Farm 
Houses, in three classes : I, those costing $400 to 
$1,000 ; II, those costing $1,000 to $2,000; III, those 
costing $2,000 to $4,000, reference being had to 
economy in construction, comfort, facilitating work 
and saving steps, closets, fair outward appearance, 
etc., as noted. To our surpriso and gratification, 
no less than 183 different plans were offered, each 
so completely concealed by the nom de plume, that 
no guess could be made as to the personality or 
locality of the contributors. The accompanying 
sealed envelopes were locked up, and the plans and 
descriptions—almost a wagon load—were given to 
two competent Judges, who devoted much time 
during the month of January to a careful examina¬ 
tion. After sorting each class down to half, then 
to a quarter, and finally to the onc-twelftli of the 
whole, esteemed the best, a third Judge devoted 
several days more, calling in an expert to examine 
some of the details ®f estimated cost, when neces¬ 
sary. It was difficult to decide upon the final 
awards, as there were certain points of excellence 
and of defects in each. The whole Committee 
finally came together, and after weighing all points 
made their decision as below. (It will be seen that 
in one ease the same competitor is successful in 
two classes. The Judges were quite surprised at 
this result, as the apparent name, and the penman¬ 
ship were different in several cases where the same 
persons competed in more than one class. They 
were amused to find “Prairie Farmer,” and “Da¬ 
kotan” turn out to he two “Canadians,” or 
one (?) when the envelopes were opened after the 
prizes were awarded. The Awards were : 
CLASS I.— Cost, $400 to $1,000. 
First Prize to “West,”— (D. S. Hopkins, Grand 
Rapids, Mich.) 
Second Prize to “Poor Man’s Dwelling.” — (A. C. 
Swartz, Girard, Kansas). 
Third Prize to “Prairie Farmer.”—(John Dunlop, 
South Zorra, Ontario). 
Plans next to the above, and in some points superior ; 
“Sunny Home” (Mrs. L. J. Woodhead, Chattanooga, 
Tenn.) ; “Jackson” (Edward Pratt, Hanover, Mich.); 
“Ohio Farmer Boy” (D. A. Allen, Ellsworth, Ohio). 
CLASS II.— Cost, $1,000 to $2,000. 
First Pnze to “House-keeper'sDelight,” (A. C. Swartz, 
Girard, Kansas). 
Second Pnze to “ Circle,” (C.R. Crabb, Coxeackie, N.Y.) 
Third Prize “ Anchor ” (H. Fisher, Storm Lake, Iowa). 
Plans next to the above, and in some points preferable, 
“White Pin Place” (L. K. King, Knoxville, Pa.); 
“Mount Union,” (A. F. Hilley, Mt. Vernon, Ohio); 
“Buckeye,” (Charles Warren, Jefferson, Ohio). 
CLASS IBI.—Cost, $2,000 to $4,000. 
First Prize to “ Farmer’s Wife,” (Mrs. Wm. II. Burr, 
Redding Ridge, Conn.). 
Second Prize to “Jackson,” (Edward Pratt, Hanover, 
Mich.). 
Third Prize to “Dakotan,” (James Dunlop, South 
Zorra, Ontario). 
Almost equal to No. 3, and in some points preferable, 
is one from “ Anchor,” (Henry Fisher, Storm Lake,Iowa). 
The Committee exercised their best judgment, 
taking into account all points. No doubt each com¬ 
petitor will differ somewhat in opinion, but that 
could not be avoided. There were so many good 
suggestions, finely executed plans, etc., that the 
Judges would gladly have awarded fifty prizes. 
A good many of the plans will appear in the 
American Agriculturist, as space will allow. None 
of the real names of the competitors are yet known, 
except those given above, as the addresses are still 
sealed and under lock and key. 
The Editors and Publishers desire to here return 
their earnest thanks, to each aud all of the One 
Hundred and Eighty-tliree contributors, who have 
done their best to aid in improving the Farm Homes 
of the country. Their work will not be lost or with¬ 
out future influence. It may yet be practicable 
to present in book or pamphlet form, a much larger 
number of the drawings and descriptions, than it 
will be possible to find room for in the pages of the 
American Agriculturist in a long time. 
