AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
•409 
1876.] 
seeds are good they germinate promptly and make 
nice little trees by autumn. There are many tree 
seeds that may be sown in the fall, but there is so 
much risk of loss by mice and from other causes 
that it is generally preferred to keep them until 
spring. Much depends upon the manuer of keep¬ 
ing through the winter. All the Hickories, the 
Black Walnut and the Butternut are best kept in 
heaps made upon the ground and covered first with 
sods, and then a few inches of earth, or in the ab¬ 
sence of sods a layer of bog-hay or straw may be 
placed over the nuts, and the earth heaped over 
that. Nearly all other seeds, including thin-shelled 
nuts, like chestnuts and acorns, are best preserved 
in sand. The sand should not be wet, uor should 
it be perfectly dry ; it should feel slightly damp 
when handled ; sand as it is thrown out of the bank 
in dry weather is often in a proper condition of 
moisture. The object is to prevent the nuts from 
drying, and to so separate them that there will be 
no danger of heating ; if the sand is too moist the 
seeds will rot. The seeds should usually be mixed 
with twice their bulk of sand and be well distribu¬ 
ted through it. For small quantities of seeds in 
sand we have found flower-pots with the holes 
plugged up, very convenient. The seeds of many 
trees will germinate freely if kept dry like garden 
seeds until spring, but the use of sand is safer. 
They should be kept in a cool place through the 
winter, and with some very hard-shelled seeds it is 
well to let them freeze and thaw a few times. The 
seeds of evergreens are best kept if allowed to 
remain in their cones, though if fresh, they gen¬ 
erally keep well when removed. Much of the 
failure with these is due to sowing too late. 
Cuttings of Willows, Cottonwoods and other 
trees raised in this manner, should he a foot or so 
long, and about half an inch in diameter. These 
are best cut in the fall or early winter, tied secure¬ 
ly in bundles, and stored in sand in the cellar, or 
buried in well drained sandy soil. 
Wonderful Adulteration of Seeds.—The 
Germans Possibly Ahead of Connecticut. 
We have long heard of the “ wooden nutmegs,” 
“ basswood hams,” “ shoe-peg oats,” etc., of Con¬ 
necticut, but the Germans beat this. Mr. E. H. 
Jenkins, formerly in the Yale Scientific School, who 
has recently spent some time in the German Ex¬ 
periment Stations, and is now Associate Director 
and Chemist in the Conn. Agricultural Experiment 
Station at Middletown, brought over some samples 
of seed adulterations largely practiced in Germany, 
which can be seen at the Station by any one inter¬ 
ested. The process consists in grinding up quartz- 
rock, carefully sifting out the particles of proper 
size, and dying them to the color of the seeds to 
be adulterated. Here are artificial specimens of va¬ 
rious clover seeds, for example, so perfect, that only 
a practiced eye would detect from one-fifth to one- 
third of the adulterated seeds mixed with the genu¬ 
ine product. These artificial imitations of clover 
seed are supplied at 1 to 3 cents per lb., to be mixed 
with seeds worth 15 to 20 cents per lb. Mr. Jen¬ 
kins and Mr. Warneeke, who also brought over 
several samples of the adulterations in grass seeds, 
are now investigating the seeds of this country, not 
only to see how far such adulterations are intro¬ 
duced here, but also to test the percentage of vi¬ 
tality in those sold in our markets. It is well 
known by the initiated, that some unscrupulous 
dealers buy up and mix old lifeless seeds, carried 
over from year to year, with the new crop, sell¬ 
ing all as fresh seeds. This is an additional im¬ 
portant work carried on by the Conn. Agl. Experi¬ 
ment Station, which will be decidedly useful, not 
only to Connecticut, but to the whole country. Mr. 
Warneeke, now chemist at the Conn. Station, has 
had much experience in the German Stations, with 
Prof. Stohmann, in Leipsic, with Prof. Knop, of 
Tharandt, etc. We are well aware that our leading 
seedsmen take every precaution to have their seeds 
of the best quality, and such will be as much inter¬ 
ested as any in the exposure of frauds in imported 
and other seeds. 
Science Applied to Farming— XXIII. 
BY PROF. W. O. ATWATER. 
Fertilizer Mixtures. 
Mr. J. F., of Maine, has a piece of old land from 
which he wishes to raise a crop of wheat with chemi¬ 
cal fertilizers. The soil is “ pretty well run out,” 
and he thinks it will be necessary to supply just 
about as much plant-food as the crop will need. 
He wants to know what materials will be required, 
and how he can best procure them. 
Table 31, in the June number of the American 
Agriculturist , shows the average composition of a 
number of different kinds of crops and fertilizers. 
As explained in the May and June articles, besides 
the water which we do not need to take into ac¬ 
count here, the materials which the crops remove 
from the soil are the nitrogen of the organic mat¬ 
ter and the mineral matter or ash. Here are the 
amounts of these in 1,000 lbs. each of wheat grain 
and straw, as given in the Table referred to. 
Table 33. 
1,000 LBS. CONTAIN 
Nitrogen in Or¬ 
ganic Matter. 
INGREDIENTS OF 
ASH. 
1 
§ 
e 
Magnesia. 
Phosphoric 
Acid. 
Sulphuric 
Acid. 
Silica. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
lbs. 
fts. 
Ibs. 
as. 
Wheat, erain. 
20.8 
5.3 
0.4 
0.6 
2.0 
7,9 
0.1 
0.4 
Wheat, straw. 
8.2. 6.3 
0.6 
2.7 
1.1 
2.2 
1.1 31.2 
As has been explained in previous articles, we 
need not restore all of these materials in manuring. 
Soda and silica are required only in minute quanti¬ 
ties, if at all, for plant-food, and are furnished in 
abundance by every ordinary soil. Most soils supply 
enough magnesia for wheat,and indeed for nearly all 
ordinary crops. Lime and sulphuric acid are prob¬ 
ably more often lacking. The ingredients most apt 
to be deficient are nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and 
potash. The phosphates which are used as ferti¬ 
lizers to supply phosphoric acid, furnish lime also, 
and the superphosphates contain sulphuric acid in 
addition, so that if we use superphosphates to feed 
our wheat crop, we shall supply it not only with 
phosphoric acid, but also with sulphuric acid and 
lime. Mr. F.’s question then resolves itself prac¬ 
tically into this : How much nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid, and potash, will be needed by a wheat crop, 
and what fertilizers will furnish these in the best 
and cheapest form ? 
Wliat Materials does the Wheat Crop take 
from, the Soil i 
Suppose that a crop of thirty bushels of wheat is 
to be provided for. At 60 lbs. to the bushel, the 
weight of the grain would be (60 x 30) 1,800 lbs. 
Suppose, further, that we have 2i lbs. of straw 
(including chaff) to each lb. of wheat. Our crop of 
30 bushels will consist of 1,800 lbs. of grain and 
4,500 lbs. of straw. By the Table, 1,000 lbs. of 
wheat grain will contain 20.8 lbs. of nitrogen, and 
1,800 lbs. would contain 1.8 times as much, or 37.4 
lbs. In like manner the 1,000 lbs. of straw would 
contain 3.2 lbs. of nitrogen, and 4,500 lbs. would 
require 14.4 lbs. By similar calculations we should 
have : 
Table 34. 
WHEAT CROP. 
Nitrogen . 
CONTAINS 
Phosphoric 
Acid. 
Potash. 
IbS. 
Ibs. 
fts. 
Grain, 80 bus. (1,800 lbs.).. 
37.4 
14.2 
9.5 
Straw, 4,500 lbs. 
14.4 
9.9 
28.3 
Total Crop..... 
51.8 
24.1 
37.8 
Mr. F. says that his object is not to permanently 
enrich his land, but simply to get a crop with the 
least practicable outlay for fertilizers. For this 
purpose he must apply materials that will be im¬ 
mediately taken up by the crop. That is to say, 
the nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, must be 
m readily available forms, so as to act at once. 
Assuming now that the crop will be of the size and 
composition of that in the Table, and that it will 
require and use, if they are supplied in fertilizers, 
just the amounts of food ingredients there stated, 
Mr. F. will want about 52 lbs. of nitrogen, 24 lbs. 
of phosphoric acid, and 38 lbs. of potash. The 
next question to be answered, then, will be: 
YYllat Commercial Fertilizers will furnish 
tile Nitrogen, Phosphoric Acid, and Pot- 
ash in the best Form and at the lowest 
Cost per Pound 1 
Among the commercial fertilizers which contain 
nitrogen in readily available forms, are sulphate of 
ammonia, nitrate of soda, dried blood, and meat 
scrap. Phosphoric acid is contained in the soluble 
form in superphosphates. Potash will generally be 
best obtained in German Potash Salts. Nitrogen 
and phosphoric acid together are furnished in bone, 
ammoniated superphosphates, fish manures, and 
Peruvian guano. They are in very readily available 
and concentrated condition in Peruvian guano, less 
so in the others—their action being generally slow¬ 
est in bone. Peruvian guano and a few of the 
common ammoniated superphosphates contain 
small quantities of potash. Which of these articles 
it will be most economical for Mr. F., will depend 
on various circumstances, particularly their cost In 
the place where he can most conveniently make his 
purchases. In the larger cities of the Atlantic Sea¬ 
board, like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
Baltimore, he will be able to obtain any of them of 
trustworthy dealers. The pri >es will vary with the 
place of purchase and amount and time of payment. 
Suppose he uses sulphate of ammonia with 20 per 
cent of nitrogen, which can be bought for about 
§5.00 cash per 100 lbs., superphosphate with 14 per 
cent soluble phosphoric acid at $2.00 per 100 lbs., 
and chloride of potassium with 50 per cent of pot¬ 
ash at $3 00 per 100 lbs. If the sulphate of am¬ 
monia contains 20 per cent of nitrogen, ^r 20 lbs. in 
100, a simple calculation Dy the rule of three will 
show that 260 lbs. would furnish the 52 lbs. 
named above. At $5.00 per 100, the 260 lbs. of 
sulphate of ammonia, with 52 lbs. of nitrogen, 
would cost $13.00. In the same way we can calcu¬ 
late the proportions and cost of a mixture of ferti¬ 
lizers for 30 bushels of wheat, as follows : 
kind of fertilizer, lbs. furnishing per cent. lbs. Cost. 
Sulphate oi Ammonia..' 60 Nitrogen. 20 — 52 113010 
Superphosphate.171 Plios. acid soluble 14 = 24 S.42 
Chloride of Potassium. 76 Potash 50 — 88 2.28 
$18.70 
There are of course a good many other ferti¬ 
lizers from which such mixtures as the above might 
be prepared, some of which would furnish the valu¬ 
able ingredients more economically. The 52 lbs. of 
nitrogen in the sulphate of ammonia cost, by the 
above figures, $13.00, which brings the nitrogen at 
about 25 cts. per lb. The soluble phosphoric acid 
in the superphosphate would, in like manner, (if no 
insoluble phosphoric acid were present), cost a little 
over 14 cts. per lb. Peruvian guano, which fur¬ 
nishes these materials in forms in which they are 
very readily available and most excellent for grain 
crops, is now offered at prices which bring nitrogen 
at about 21 cts., and soluble phosphoric acid at 10 
cts. per lb. To give an at all complete and satis¬ 
factory answer to the inquiries of Mr. F. and several 
others about this topic, will require a detailed 
statement of the composition and cost of a number 
of the fertilizers obtainable in our markets, which, 
for want of space here, I shall have to defer until 
another time. 
I have selected these inquiries as a text for the 
present article, because they were concisely and 
squarely put, and cover some very important 
ground. It would be wrong to dismiss them, how¬ 
ever, without noting several facts which very ma¬ 
terially affect the subject. We have been assuming 
that Mr. F.’s wheat crop would contain the propor¬ 
tions of food ingredients given in tables 31 and 33. 
But it must be borne in mind that these figures 
represent only general averages, and those of 
European analyses, and that individual crops will 
vary more or less from these proportions. We 
have assumed also that the crop would derive 
these materials entirely from the soil. This is true 
for the mineral matters, but many plants gather 
part of their nitrogen front the air, though in the 
case of grain crops the amount thus obtained would 
probably be extremely small. But a more serious 
error implied in our calculations above, rests in the 
assumption that the crop would, in the course of 
its growth, take from the soil just as much food- 
1 materials, and no more or less, than we supply in 
