86 
THE  RURAL  NEW-YORKER. 
February  6 
SUBTITUTES  FOB  UnLKACHED  ASHES. — 
Very  considerable  quantities  of  ashes  are 
annually  brought  into  the  States  from 
Canada.  In  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
quality  of  the  Canada  ashes  sold  in  Con¬ 
necticut  has  deteriorated  of  late,  it  is 
worth  considering  whether  a  substitute 
as  serviceable  and  considerably  cheaper 
may  not  be  found.  A  ton  of  unleached 
Canada  ashes  of  good  quality  contains,  as 
Prof.  S.  W.  Johnson,  Director  of  the  Con¬ 
necticut  Experiment  Station,  says  in  Bul¬ 
letin  No.  110 : 
Founds. 
Sand,  earth  and  coal .  260 
Water .  240 
Oxide  of  Iron,  alumina,  carbonate  of  soda,  etc.  181 
Actual  potash .  110 
Phosphoric  acid .  39 
Carbonate  with  some  hydrate  of  lime  and  mag¬ 
nesia .  1220 
Total .  2000 
The  agricultural  value  of  ashes  consists 
largely  in  the  finely  divided  carbonate 
of  lime  which  they  contain,  which  is  of 
great  account  in  many  cases  as  an  amend¬ 
ment  and  in  promoting  the  processes  of 
decay  and  nitrification  with  the  soil. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  carbonates  and 
phosphates  of  potash,  magnesia  and  lime 
constitute  the  entire  agricultural  value 
of  ashes.  Can  we  provide  110  pounds  of 
potash,  39  of  phosphoric  acid,  and  1,220 
of  carbonate  of  lime  in  fine  condition  in 
some  other  form  cheaper  than  ashes  ? 
An  application  in  the  late  fall  of  20 
bushels  of  burned  oyster-shell  lime  (40 
pounds  to  the  bushel),  at  12  cents  per 
bushel,  would  supply  as  much  lime  as  a 
ton  of  ashes  at  a  cost  of  $2.40  ;  500  pounds 
of  cotton-hull  ashes  in  addition  would 
cost  $8.75  and  supply  as  much  as  or  more 
potash  than  a  ton  of  Canada  ashes  and 
very  considerably  more  phosphoric  acid. 
The  weight  of  these  two  things  would  be 
1,300  pounds,  as  against  2,000  pounds  of 
Canada  ashes  which  involves  a  saving  in 
cartage — the  cost  $11.15,  a  little  less  than 
Canada  ashes  cost  on  the  average. 
The  comparison  is  here  made  with  ashes 
of  excellent  quality.  With  ashes  of  lower 
grade  which  are  more  common  in  our 
markets  to-day,  the  showing  for  the  sub¬ 
stitute  would  be  much  more  favorable. 
Or  if  cotton-hull  ashes  are  not  available, 
for  them  may  be  used  220  pounds  of  high- 
grade  sulphate  of  potash  and  150  pounds 
of  some  cheap  steamed  bone  like  Peter 
Cooper’s  Bone,  and  800  pounds  of  oyster- 
shell  lime,  the  three  costing  $11.10. 
The  above-named  mixtures  would  be 
close  imitations  of  superior  wood  ashes 
not  only  as  respects  the  kinds  and  pro¬ 
portions  of  fertilizing  elements,  but  also 
as  to  the  forms  or  combinations  of  those 
elements.  Still  cheaper,  and  in  most 
cases  probably  no  less  effective,  would  be 
a  mixture  of  800  pounds  (20  bushels)  of 
burned  oyster  shell  lime  with  150  pounds 
of  Peter  Cooper’s  Bone  and  220  pounds  of 
muriate  of  potash— the  total  weighing 
1,170  pounds  and  costing  $9.45. 
The  oyster-shell  lime  being  caustic, 
should  be  put  on  in  the  late  fall  or  early 
spring,  and,  being  fine  and  pulverulent, 
it  will  soon  be  converted  into  carbonate. 
Stone  lime  could  be  used  instead  of 
oyster-shell  lime,  but,  being  in  hard 
lumps,  would  require  slaking  before  be¬ 
ing  sown.  The  sulphate  or  muriate  of 
potash  and  bone  are  best  applied  in 
spring. 
It  is  hoped  that  our  farmers  may  make 
a  thorough  trial  of  these  substitutes  which 
are  considerably  cheaper  than  the  aver¬ 
age  of  Canada  ashes,  quality  as  well  as 
price  taken  account  of. 
Piths  and  Reminders. 
It  is  about  10  years  ago  that  The  R. 
N.-Y.  saw  a  blue  gladiolus  exhibited  in 
this  city — that  is,  it  was  a  light  or  laven¬ 
der-blue.  It  was  a  feeble  strain,  how¬ 
ever,  and  all  endeavors  to  increase  the 
corms  failed.  Now  we  hear  of  another 
blue  strain  that  may  be  introduced  one 
day.  A  vigorous  blue  gladiolus  would  be 
an  acquisition  certainly — but  a  faded 
lilac-blue  perishable  as  to  flower  and 
sickly  as  to  corm  is  not  worth  talking 
about . 
B.  F.  Aebaugh  takes  the  sensible  view 
that  a  perfect  apple  should  be  of  medium 
size — not  large.  A  large  apple  is  usually 
more  than  a  child  or  even  an  adult  cares 
to  eat  at  one  time . 
Prof.  F.  B.  Webster  remarks  that 
the  tree  cricket  (CEcanthus  niveus)  which 
lays  its  eggs  in  raspberry  canes,  also  lives 
upon  the  larvae  of  harmful  beetles — 
among  which  the  potato  beetle  may  be 
mentioned.  It  may  further  be  said,  too, 
that  the  young  insects  which  hatch  dur¬ 
ing  midsummer  feed  more  or  less  upon 
plant  lice.  So  it  is  that  many  insects  are 
both  friends  and  enemies  to  the  tiller  of 
the  soil . 
Prof.  E.  B.  Voorhees  of  the  New 
Jersey  Experiment  Station  writes  The 
R.  N.-Y.  as  follows:  “  I  was  much  in¬ 
terested  in  Prof.  Wing’s  suggestion  on 
page  35  of  The  R.  N.-Y.,  in  regard  to 
the  extension  of  university  or  collegiate 
instruction  in  agriculture.  I  have  already 
a  class  in  extension  work  at  Freehold, 
N.  J.  It  was  begun  on  January  16,  with 
90  members  in  attendance.  The  course 
consists  of  12  lectures  on  general  farm 
practice,  though  with  particular  reference 
to  the  applications  of  chemistry.  We  are 
alive  in  New  Jersey,  though  we  do  not 
brag  about  the  fact  so  much  as  we  might. 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  this  kind  of  work 
is  good.” . 
Our  old  friend,  Colman’s  Rural  World, 
has  given  up  its  old  title-head  and  adopt¬ 
ed  a  new  one  which  is  in  every  way  an 
improvement.  Then,  too,  it  appears  in  a 
brand  new  dress  of  sharp,  clear  type. 
Though  in  its  44th  year,  this  farm  weekly 
may  well  be  congratulated  on  its  vigor, 
freshness  and  evident  prosperity,  and 
The  R.  N.-Y.,  two  years  its  junior,  hereby 
offers  its  hearty  congratulations . 
Mr.  Frank  Ford,  of  Ravenna,  O. ,  says 
that  early  potatoes  of  fine  quality  are 
usually  not  productive.  The  perfect 
potato  can  be  found  in  but  one  place — 
the  seedsman’s  catalogue . 
Prof.  Lazenby  affirms  that  the  perfect 
apple  will  be  seedless  and  coreless.  It 
takes  as  much  mineral  elements  to  grow 
one  pound  of  apple  seeds  as  100  pounds 
of  flesh . 
Mr.  T.  Greiner,  as  lie  speaks  in  The 
Farm  and  Fireside,  sees  grave  objec¬ 
tions  to  the  free  delivery  of  mails  in 
sparsely  settled  rural  districts.  One  is 
the  enormous  expense.  Uncle  Sam  can¬ 
not  afford  to  pay  a  man  fair  wages  for 
distributing  a  half  dozen  letters  among 
the  isolated  farm-houses  scattered  over  a 
square  mile.  If  the  people  in  these  rural 
districts  demand  free  delivery  of  their 
mail  matter,  he  has  as  yet  seen  no  indi¬ 
cation  of  it.  No  matter  how  far  back  a 
farmer  lives,  he  wants  to  go  to  town  once 
or  twice  a  week:  in  fact  he  has  to  go,  in 
order  to  do  his  trading,  horse-shoeing, 
mending  tools,  etc.,  and  this  also  brings 
him  to  the  post-office  fully  as -often  as  he 
will  think  necessary . 
The  unreasonabty  great  cost  of  such 
an  innovation  would  diminish  the  post- 
office  revenues  to  such  an  extent  that  fur¬ 
ther  reduction  of  postage  rates,  espec¬ 
ially  of  letter  postage  from  two  to  one 
cent  per  ounce,  and  of  the  rates  on  pack¬ 
ages  (third-class)  from  one  cent  per 
ounce  to  one  cent  for  every  two  or  even 
four  ounces,  would  have  to  be  postponed 
almost  indefinitely.  This  would  of  course 
be  a  fine  thing  for  the  express  companies, 
and  enable  them  to  keep  up  their  high 
rates  on  parcel  transportation  ;  but  the 
farmer  would  find  far  less  fun  in  it . 
Mr.  G.  B.  Lamm  of  Missouri  has  asso¬ 
ciated  with  fruit  growing  the  gentle 
Jersey  cow.  If  he  lived  farther  from  a 
city,  or  distant  from  a  creamery,  he 
might  have  decided  differently;  but  liv¬ 
ing  close  to  the  city  he  finds  that  fruit, 
milk,  cream,  butter,  cottage  cheese,  etc. , 
when  supplied  to  a  retail  trade,  are 
all  appreciated  by  the  same  people  at  the 
same  time.  That  is,  each  family  will 
order  one  or  all  of  these  for  the  day’s 
consumption,  and  they  seem  glad  to  have 
them  at  the  same  hour  and  from  the  same 
party . 
A  bulletin  just  received  from  the  Ohio 
Experiment  Station  treats  of  “  Forty 
Years  of  Wheat  Culture  in  Ohio.”  It  ap¬ 
pears  from  this  statistical  study  that  the 
average  yield  of  wheat  is  increasing  in 
the  northern  and  central  sections  of  the 
State,  while  it  is  at  a  standstill,  and 
standing  at  far  too  low  a  point  for  profit 
in  the  southern  and  south-eastern  coun¬ 
ties.  It  would  seem  that  the  profitable 
culture  of  wheat  on  the  steep  hill-sides  of 
southern  Ohio  is  a  hopeless  undertaking  ; 
that  the  great  problem  before  the  wheat 
grower  of  the  central  belt  of  counties  is 
winter  killing,  a  problem  which  may  be 
partially  solved  by  underdrainage  and 
the  intelligent  use  of  clover  and  manures; 
and  that  in  the  northern  counties  climatic 
influences  are  more  generally  favorable 
to  wheat  culture  than  elsewhere  in  the 
State.  The  statistics  indicate  that  the 
wheat  crops  of  Ohio  have  been  slightly 
increased  by  the  use  of  commercial  fer¬ 
tilizers,  but  it  appears  that  the  average 
cost  of  this  increase  has  equaled  its  mar¬ 
ket  value,  and  that  a  general  improve¬ 
ment  in  the  methods  of  agriculture  has 
contributed  more  largely  to  the  increase 
of  Ohio’s  wheat  crops  than  the  use  of  pur¬ 
chased  fertility . 
Director  Thorne  concludes  that  the 
total  area  under  wheat  in  Ohio  might  be 
considerably  enlarged,  and  at  the  same 
time  more  closely  restricted  to  lands 
adapted  to  tillage,  and  that  the  yield  per 
acre  may  be  so  increased  that  the  total 
product  shall  reach  double  the  quantity 
now  annually  produced . 
( Continued  on  next  page.) 
IN  writing  to  advertisers  please  always  mention 
The  Kuhal  New-Yokker. 
Grip— Bad  Cough 
Left  in  Bad  Shape 
“During  the  prevalence  of  the  Grip,  I  was  one  of 
the  favored  ones  to  have  It  severely.  It  left  me  in 
bad  shape  ;  no  strength,  no  appetite,  generally  used 
up,  and  with  a  bad  cough.  I  heard  what  Hood’s  Sar¬ 
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decided  to  give  It  a  trial,  and  I  have  seen  no  reason 
to  regret  my  choice,  for  after  taking  three  bottles, 
consider  that  I  am  as  well  as  ever  I  was  in  my  life. 
Hood’s  Sarsaparilla 
Is  most  surely  a  good  medicine  and  worthy  the  con¬ 
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JERRARD’S  SEED  POTATOES 
Are  grown  from  Jerrard’s  Famous  Seed  Stock  in  the  virgin  lands  of  the 
cold  North-East.  They  comprise  all  the  valuable  New  and  Standard  Kinds, 
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I  MY  ILLUSTRATED  CATALOGUE  FOR  1892  MAILED  FREE.  Address 
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P.  C.  LEWIS  MANUFACTURING  CO.,  C’atskill,  N.  Y. 
