43o 
TIIE RURAL NEW-YORKER. JUNE 6 
to pasture, affording a shade for cows and a wind-break 
for fields and orchards. Wherever an unsightly spot or 
protruding ledge existed, it was surrounded by White 
Pines, which give the farm a beautiful appearance, and the 
air is filled with the aroma, and they are paying for them¬ 
selves; for later on they can be converted into lumber. 
The water is never-failing, and is carried into the house by 
an aqueduct from a spring in the woods one-third of a mile, 
away. The overflow from the house runs into a cistern of 
6,300 gallons’ capacity in the barn. The house, see Fig. 157, 
contains 14 rooms with a bath, laundry, etc. The barn 
will store 50 tons of hay, and give accommodation to 30 
head of stock ? and three horses, and has a 60-ton silo. 
There are also rooms for calves and young pigs. It is cov¬ 
ered with tin and is well ventilated. 
“There Is a large 2J^-story building used for carriage 
house, carpenter shop, tool house and timber room, sheds, 
three hen houses, sand rooms, etc. Particular attention 
has been paid to the house drainage, which is carried off 
beyond the barn into a large cesspool. Adjoining the cow 
yard is a large pear orchard, as well as quince bushes, 
cherry trees, plums, etc. This place is so located that It 
receives all of the wash from barn and yard. The shade 
trees on the farm are principally maple, and they are 
tapped every spring for the use of the family. 
“The 26 acres under Mr. Cheever’s ownership one year 
produced 66 acres of crops, and the gross income from each 
acre annually exceeded the market value of the land itself, 
and the net Income after paying all expenses left a ‘ lib¬ 
eral ’ salary to the owners, and ‘ twice ’ the rate of interest 
in addition that the best savings bank would pay. These 
statements are based on farm accounts that have been 
carefully kept and balanced annually. About seven years’ 
ago Mr. Cheever sold ‘ Pine Hedge ’ to a gentleman who 
made many improvements and pursued about the same 
system as Mr. Cheever, so that the farm when purchased 
recently by the present owner was in a very high state of 
cultivation; and I will endeavor to keep up its high repu¬ 
tation. I expect to cut 50 tons of English hay and raise 
11 to 12 acres of crops on the 25 acres, and will advise The 
Rural of the final result in the fall or early 
winter. No useless fences on this farm !! I in¬ 
tend to pursue in some respects a different 
system. I shall gradually prepare my land for 
fruit raising, asparagus and rhubarb culture, 
and with some dairying and poultry keeping, my 
time will be pretty well occupied. 
Norfolk Co., Mass. GEORGE ,T. hittinger.” 
How the Cows are Fed. 
In an address before the Massachusetts State 
Board of Agriculture in 1882, Mr. Cheever 
talked about New England forage crops. His 
own practice was to produce a succession of 
heavy crops of grain plants which were cut 
before the grain ripened and fed green or 
cured as hay. Each year, in September and 
October, winter rye was sown at the rate of ly& 
to three or four bushels per acre. Cutting this 
began from the first to the middle of May, the 
date depending on the season, and if several 
sowings were made the cutting continued about 
three wteks, the earliest sowing being about 
10 days ahead of the latest. If the weather was 
unfavorable for hay-making, when the rye 
was at its best, and it stood a little too long, it would 
always make good horse hay. Rye proved a safe and 
handy forage crop, utilizing ground that would otherwise 
lie idle. It miy follow grass, any of the spring grains, 
potatoes, millet or corn, and be out of the way for any 
spring crop the farmer may wish. Winter wheat, at the 
rate of two to three bushels per acre produced fodder that 
was relished by cattle even better than rye. It was more 
leafy, and made an excellent second green crop for spring. 
Spring rye was the earliest spring-sown crop. After these 
came oats and barley and spring wheat. The oats were 
sown at intervals of a week or 10 days, till the weather was 
warm enough for corn planting. After the oats came corn 
planting. After much experimenting with thick and thin 
seeding, Mr. Cheever came to this conclusion: “Until I 
find cause for changing my mind, I shall in future plant 
no corn specially for fodder in any of the popular ways, 
either broadcast or thickly in drills, but will plant for a 
full crop of ears, and not hesitate to cut it when it is most 
needed. I believe an acre of field corn can never produce 
more flesh, milk, or butter than if cut when the kernels 
are just passing the milk stage, and beginning to glaze.” 
The next forage crop was millet, which Mr. Cheever calls 
“one of the most valuable forage crops a New England 
farmer can grow.” This is a hot-weather plant and should 
not be started until the days begin to grow hot. It may 
be sown from the first week in June till the middle of 
July—this refers to Hungarian Grass. It will grow after 
winter rye and will be off the ground in time for sowing 
rye again or for grass seeding. 
When the season got too late for sowing corn or millet, 
Mr. Cheever began sowing barley for cutting and feeding 
green in October and November, after corn and millet 
would be injured by frost. This, he says, may be sown 
after early garden crops, early potatoes, spring grain, early 
corn or early millet. A full crop may be looked for if 
sown in July and, in a fairly favorable season, much of it 
will be headed out if sown during August. Mr. Cheever 
has had good results from sowing half and half barley and 
winter rye at the rate of three bushels per acre in August. 
This gave an excellent feed for late October and the first 
half of November. All these green crops were cut and 
hauled to the barn and fed at regular hours—morning and 
evening. When a crop overran present needs it was cut 
when mature and made into hay. With this great variety 
of different foods coming from May till November the 
cows eat with relish and keep up a steady flow of milk. 
In this way the farm produced fodder enough to keep one 
animal for every acre. Mr. Cheever grew the following 
crops in 1881 on 26 acres : Nine acres winter rye, seven acres 
oats, five acres millet, four acres com, four acres English 
hay (first crop), four acres rowen, nine acres barley (for 
fodder), 1% acre for grain, one-half acre winter wheat 
(part cut green, and part left to ripen), one acre potatoes, 
five acres rye (sowed for next year’s cropping), three acres 
barley (sowed with rye for this year’s cutting), seven acres 
seeded to grass, and one acre in garden : in all, 66 acres. 
Mr. Cheever also says; “The nearest approach I have 
ever made towards obtaining the full use of an acre of 
land through the whole year was with an orchard. It was 
sown with winter rye the previous fall; and, the spring 
being early, it was ready to begin to cut and feed the first 
week in May. About the 10th it was finished; and the 
ground plowed, manured, and immediately sown to oats. 
You can readily believe that these were at their full height 
and in bloom the 10th of July. At this time they were 
cut and made into hay, the ground again plowed and 
manured and sown to barley. The barley grew about 2J^ 
to three feet high, was well headed and ready to cut the 
middle of September, or in season to be entirely out of the 
way of picking the winter apples, which made the fourth 
heavy crop of that season. I then had nearly the whole 
of October for seeding again with winter rye. That I did 
not do so, I suppose, may be taken as evidence that I have 
a little more land than I can fully use.” 
It was by means of such a system that Pine Hedge farm 
became a profitable institution. A study of Mr. Cheever’s 
method is of particular interest just now in view of the 
present condition of the dairy business, and the prospects 
for a short crop of forage. 
GREAT IMPORTANCE OF BASIC SLAG. 
Second only to Superphosphates as a Source of 
Phosphoric Acid. 
My personal experience is confined to the analysis of ba¬ 
sic slag, but so numerous and careful have the German 
investigations upon this substance been, that most points 
COW LANE AT PINE HEDGE FARM. Fig. 158. 
involved in its agricultural appl'ca’ions have be uncovered. 
From both sources I derive the following information: 
In the first place, let me call attention to some of the 
differences in chemical nature between the ordinary phos¬ 
phates and that in basic slag. The phosphate in ground 
bone and pulverized South Carolina rock is insoluble in 
the soil liquids, and is only slowly dissolved by the plant 
rootlets coming in contact with it; the latter statement is 
especially true of the pulverized rock phosphate. When 
these phosphate-containing substances are treated with 
sulphuric acid, so as to form dissolved phosphates or 
superphosphates, as they are ordinarily called, two other 
kinds of phosphatic compounds are formed—one not very 
soluble in water but quite readily attacked by plant root¬ 
lets; the other very soluble in water and capable, there¬ 
fore, of rapid and thorough distribution in the soil. Of 
these two, the former is called the “reverted” and the 
latter the “soluble” and both are grouped together under 
the term “available.” It is a characteristic of the “sol¬ 
uble phosphate that soon after its addition to a soil rich in 
carbonate of lime—and this is abundant in all fertile 
soils—the phosphate loses its solubility and becomes “re¬ 
verted;” and later still, all the “available” phosphate 
tends to enter into combination with any iron and alum¬ 
ina present in the soil, forming compounds not only insol¬ 
uble, but also rendered available by plant rootlets only 
with great difficulty. For this reason the effect of the 
phosphate may, after some months, cease to be noticed, 
although the crops do not take it all up from the soil. 
In basic slag, which is used to remove the phosphorus 
from iron and steel, this constituent occurs in a state of 
combination with lime, altogether different from those 
found in superphosphates. While quite insoluble in 
water and somewhat less readily attacked by plant 
juices than the “ reverted” phosphate, it is far more avail¬ 
able than the “insoluble” phosphate of that class of fer¬ 
tilizers, and, further, exhibits comparatively little ten¬ 
dency to conversion into the difficultly available phosphates 
of iron and alumina. From this last fact it follows that 
the so-called “residual” effect of the basic slag, or that 
effect manifested after the first year from the time of ap¬ 
plication, is usually markedly greater than that of super 
phosphates. 
The comparative composition of the two classes of phos¬ 
phate as placed upon our markets may be seen from the 
following figures, which show: 1, the average composition 
of the dissolved South Carolina rock goods sold in Penn¬ 
sylvania during 1890; and, 2, the mean of several analyses 
of basic slag made by the Pottstown Iron Co., and sold 
under the name “Odorless Phosphate.” 
Superphosphate. Basic Sla*. 
Per Cent. Per Cent. 
Moisture. 12.16 0.14 
Soluble phosphoric acid. 10.01 0.00 
Reverted “ “ . 2 86 4.71 
Insoluble « “ . 2.29 16.39 
Including a little more than one per cent of iron phos¬ 
phate, the percentage of phosphoric acid contained in the 
basic slag may, of course, vary widely according to the 
conditions of Its manufacture; it should therefore, like 
ordinary phosphates, be bought only upon guarantees of 
composition. 
It may be claimed, and fairly, that the comparison of 
composition given above does not fully represent the rela¬ 
tive agricultural availability of the two classes of goods, 
because ammonium citrate, which is the officially recog¬ 
nized solvent for use in the separation of the “reverted” 
phosphates from superphosphates, has much less solvent 
action upon the slag phosphate than some other organic 
solvents that also closely represent the action of plant 
roots upon the “ reverted.” Actual soil tests, too, show a 
greater availability than is indicated by the solvent ac¬ 
tion of ammonium citrate. For these reasons allowance 
must be made in the interpretation of analytical results 
obtained by the present official methods when applied to 
basic slag. No other compounds in the slag tend to in¬ 
jure the crops to which it is applied, however abundantly 
it may be used. In common with all insoluble mineral 
substances, basic slag Is most readily used by the plant 
When applied to moist soils rich in organic matter, rather 
than to the lighter, drier soils. Its best effects are appar¬ 
ent on heavy clays, moist loams and peaty lands, and on 
pastures as compared with cultivated fields. But on ap¬ 
plication to light soils It has been found to give much bet¬ 
ter results than pulverized South Carolina rock, and 
though It is assigned a value of 30-60 per cent of that of 
soluble phosphate, on sandy soils deficient in lime, it has 
the added merits of neither leaching away nor forming 
such a concentrated solution as to “ burn ” the crop—dis¬ 
advantages arising in rainy and dry seasons respectively, 
when superphosphates are applied abundantly 
to such soils. The residual effect noted the 
second year after applying basic slag, may be 
stated as 25-100 per cent greater than that of 
superphosphates, taking into consideration a 
large number of results upon various soils. 
In the selection of the particular crops to which 
any fertilizer shall be applied, there are several 
general principles of fertilization that may serve 
as guides : 1. Many soils are so deficient in the 
ingredient in question, that none of the crops in 
the rotation can find enough in an available 
condition to allow the attainment of the complete 
development permitted by the physical and 
climatic conditions under which they are grown. 
2. The particular fertilizer, as phosphoric acid, 
should be applied to those crops in the rotation 
which have least ability to gather enough of it, 
from a fairly fertile soil, to maintain the growth 
otherwise possible. 8. Of two fertilizers at hand 
supplying the desired ingredients in different 
conditions of availability, the least available 
should be applied to those crops having the 
longest periods of growth and greatest power of 
assimilating the ingredients in question. For these reasons 
it seems best to apply basic slag, on farms of average soil, 
to pasture, grass, corn and fall-sown cereals, rather than 
to turnips, spring grain and vegetables. General experi¬ 
ence justifies the theoretical conclusions regarding this 
fertilizer; yet it would be unjust to overlook the fact that, 
in numerous instances, excellent results have been obtain¬ 
ed from the application of the slag to the second group of 
crops—results not to be attributed to the beneficial action 
of the caustic lime cmtained in the slag in greater or less 
abundance. 
As to the manner of application : like all other insoluble 
manures it must be thoroughly distributed through the 
soil by mechanical means, as harrowing or drilling, and 
cannot be properly applied as top-dressing, except to pas¬ 
tures and other grass lands. Care must be taken to pur¬ 
chase a finely pulverized article, for its value depends very 
largely upon the state of subdivision. The fine slag has a 
tendency to cake, which may be largely prevented by the 
admixture of a little powdered sod or rich loam, which 
does not affect the quality of the slag on standing, although 
it would very materially lower the value of a superphos¬ 
phate by reverting its soluble acid. Numerous experi¬ 
ments under a wide range of conditions have shown that 
better results are, as a rule, obtained from a mixture of 
slag and superphosphate, than can be gained from the ap¬ 
plication of an equal amount of phosphoric acid in either 
form alone; the reason for this is not fully known. Potash 
may be added to slag in the cheaper form of kainit, which 
contaias a large amount of magnesium salts, which, on 
addition to a superphosphate, gradually cause a reversion 
of the soluble phosphoric acid in presence of even the very 
little moisture found in the factory or warehouse ; on this 
account the highest grade superphosphates receive their 
potash in the form of the more costly chloride, or muriate, 
and sulphate. In this connection it is further Important 
to note that, while there is a very considerable loss of 
nitrogen when a mixture of superphosphate and nitrate of 
soda (Chili saltpeter) stand for any length of time, no such 
loss occurs from the storage of a mixture of slag and 
nitrate; on the other side, while ammonium salts can be 
used without los3 to supply nitrogen in a complete fer¬ 
tilizer containing superphosphates, on addition to slag 
and then standing in the presence of the least moisture 
nitrogen Is lost in the form of ammonia, the latter being 
set free by the action of the caustic lime in the slag. 
From all these facts basic slag may be considered as a 
phosphatic fertilizer second in importance only to super- 
