THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
March 11 
164 
put into the latter say 20 acres of corn, which would 
give him ensilage enough, at only 12 tons of finished 
ensilage per acre, to feed 1,000 lambs, averaging, say, 
55 pounds, for 1(30 days. The clover hay should be fed 
to the same 1,000 lambs, and in addition they should 
have, say, 500 bushels of corn, 15 tons of bran and 15 tons 
of new process linseed meal. Suppose they cost him 
four cents per pound in the fall—a good price for 
Michigan—and they are cross-bred Merino, black¬ 
faced—I would prefer Hampshire—and that at the end 
of 161 days, or 23 weeks, they should go out at no 
more than 101 pounds—a ridiculously low gain of only 
two pounds per week, much less than I ever had them 
do—this less the fleece, as they should be shorn in Jan¬ 
uary, and that they should sell shorn at only five cents 
per pound, and that they sheared only five pounds 
each, and the clip sold at only 20 cents per pound, 
the account would then stand : 
1,000 lambs at 55 pounds each—55,000—at four cents. 
240 tons of ensilage at $1. . 
500 buBhels corn at 40 cents. 
30 tons linseed meal at $20. 
40 tons bran at $12. 
,$ 2,200 
. 240 
, 200 
. 600 
. 480 
Whole cost aside from straw 
.$3,720 
CR. 
By 985 lambs, allowing three per cent loss. 
985 lambs, 101 pounds each—99,485—at live cents.$4,974.20 
5,000 pounds wool at 20 cents. 1,000.00 
Amount sold for.$5,974.25 
leaving as profit $2,254.25 allowing the manure to pay 
for the labor and rent of the plant. This would not 
be a bad business when we consider that besides 
keeping the straw, hay, corn and corn fodder which 
were grown on the farm at home, there would be 
added in actual plant food in the 30 tons of linseed 
meal at least $600, and in the 40 tons of bran $480 
more, or $1,080 in both. 
Although oats are a good sheep food, yet when one 
can sell them at an average of 25 cents per bushel and 
can buy linseed meal at $20 per ton, he can’t afford to 
feed them. Of course the barns must be kept well 
ventilated and plenty of plaster should be used in the 
pens, and not more than 20 lambs should be placed in 
a pen, and they should have an abundance of pure 
water. 
Now don’t let anybody say, “Well, that looks well 
upon paper, but it can’t be done.” I know it can and 
much more. The prices I have named are all noto¬ 
riously against the lambs: 55-pound lambs do not 
average four cents pei pound, and good, fat 100 -pound 
lambs will always sell in April for more than five 
cents, and then good crossbred lambs will gain more 
than two pounds per week when fed as I have indi¬ 
cated. They will shear more than five pounds and the 
wool will sell, one year with another, for five years, 
nearer to 25 than 20 cents per pound. But above 
all and over all, the land belonging to the man who 
goes into this business and carefully saves and uses 
his manure, will soon become “ notorious for its 
fruitfulness ” 
The Meaning: of a Fertilizer Analysis. 
A. T., Guysville, O —What is the difference in value 
between the following two potato specials : 
No. 1. Analysis. No. 2. 
Ammonia. 136 to 236 Ammonia. 
Soluble plios. acid. 7 to 9 Available phos. acid... 
Insoluble phos acid,... 1 to 2 Insoluble phos. acid.... 
Keverted phos.acid.... 1 to 2 Potash. 
Total. 9 toll 
Kqual to bone phos. 19 to 21 
Potash (KsO). 336 to <36 
Equal to potash (sulph) 636 to 8 
5 to 636 
9 to 11 
2 to 3 
5 to 536 
Please explain so that a common farmer can under¬ 
stand. What puzzles me is the difference in the terms 
used. What does K 2 0 mean in the first analysis ? 
Ans. —There is no sense in any manufacturer’s 
printing such an analysis as No 1. It is misleading 
and confusing. No. 2 is right except that it is fairer 
to print the per cent of nitrogen instead of ammonia. 
“Ammonia” is a mixture of one part nitrogen and 
three parts of another gas—hydrogen. Ammonia 
weighs more than nitrogen alone—by the proportion 
of 17 to 14, so when the manufacturers figure on the 
basis of ammonia they get a larger percentage than if 
nitrogen alone were taken. This is not fair because 
the farmer often thinks he is figuring on the basis of 
pure nitrogen when really the per cent represents 
ammonia—a substance nearly 25 per cent heavier. 
Deduct 18 per cent from the amount of ammonia 
claimed and you will have about the amount of nitrogen. 
Phosphoric acid is found in three forms in one fertil¬ 
izer. “Soluble” means that which will dissolve in 
water. “Reverted” was once soluble, but has changed 
chemically so that it will dissolve only in weak 
vinegar. Both “soluble” and “ reverted ” are avail* 
able—that is, the plants can make use of them. The 
advantage of having “ soluble” phosphoric acid is that 
the young plants can utilize it quicker than the 
“reverted.” “ Insoluble” refers to the portion that 
must be treated in sulphuric acid before it will 
dissolve. All that is necessary is to give the amount 
of available and insoluble. To give in addition the 
“reverted ” and “total ” is misleading and a waste of 
space. “Equal to bone phosphate” is another childish 
statement that confuses many farmers. A “bone 
phosphate ” represents simply the combination of 
phosphoric acid and lime as found in bones. This 
manufacturer wants to give the idea that there is 
enough phosphoric acid in his fertilizer to make that 
much bone if it had come from bone. It is just like a 
cook saying : “ I have a pound of flour—equal to three 
pounds of bread.” She might thus get some people to 
think she had three pounds of bread when she had noth¬ 
ing of the sort. The manufacturer who puts “equal 
to bone phosphate ” on his bag does it because he 
wants people to think he uses bone in his fertilizer, 
when in reality it is just as likely that he used phos¬ 
phate rock entirely. “ K a O” is the chemical symbol 
for what is called potash in fertilizers. K is the letter 
by which chemists designate potash and O represents 
gas, oxygen. “ K a O” means two parts of potash and 
one of oxygen which is the combination in which 
potash is best used, just as phosphorus is not used 
alone, but when combined with oxygen to make phos¬ 
phoric acid. “ Equal to potash (sulphate”) is just like 
the “bone phosphate.” The sulphate of potash is the 
most expensive form of this material. In it the potash 
is combined with more than its own weight of other 
substances. This manufacturer wants to convey the 
idea that he has used sulphate of potash, when per¬ 
haps he has done nothing of the sort. He also wants 
to make a big and unfair showing—like the cook with 
her flour and bread. Change ammonia for nitrogen 
and No. 2 is simpler and less confusing. There is 
absolutely no excuse for such an analysis as No. 1. 
Another point to remember : In No. 1 the manufac¬ 
turer guarantees “ ammonia 1% to 2% per cent.” A 
farmer buying that fertilizer has a right to assume 
that there are only 30 pounds of ammonia in the ton. 
That is, the lower figure of the guarantee is all that 
the farmer should look at. The other one per cent 
that may be there is none of his business. All that is 
actually guaranteed in that analysis is 1% per cent 
and that is the basis on which it should be bought 
and sold. 
Why We Broadcast Fertilizer. 
W. F. Tabor , Pouqhheepsie, N. Y. —In The Rural of 
February 11, I noticed the answer to an inquiry from 
a Vermont subscriber in reference to obtaining a 
big potato yield. As the views of others are invited 
and as the theory and advice presented do not exactly 
coincide with mine, I will state my views. I never 
broadcast a special fertilizer for potatoes because I 
believe the roots of the crop do not cover the ground 
and therefore cannot utilize all the fertilizer used in 
that way. My practice on such soil would be to pre¬ 
pare the ground by plowing and furrowing it and then 
cover 18 or 20 inches in the furrow with the fer¬ 
tilizer at the rate of from 1,200 to 1,600 pounds per 
acre, and mix it with the soil by running a cultiva¬ 
tor through the rows or, if to be planted, I harrow the 
ground. I question whether the plaster would be of 
any benefit to the crop, as I think the bone in the fer¬ 
tilizer will supply all the lime needed. I would not 
omit the harrowing and plowing that the inquirer 
proposes to do before planting, neither would I neg¬ 
lect to harrow the potatoes both before and after they 
come up, as I have found it of great benefit, pulver¬ 
izing the entire surface, which the cultivator does not 
do. As the inquirer proposes to seed to grass, I would 
broadcast the fertilizer at the time of seeding. I would 
like him to try fertilizing in the drill at the rate of 
1,200, 1 600 and 2,000 pounds to the acre and report 
results. What does The Rural think of this plan? 
Ans. —Many readers do not approve of The R. N.¬ 
Y.’s advocacy of broadcasting manure and fertilizer. 
They want the food near the plant where the roots 
may get at it. Hill manuring gives decided results. 
Its effect is to stimulate an early and vigorous growth, 
and that is just what misleads farmers and gardeners 
as we believe. The older plant suffers. The baby 
plant is fattened and the maturer plant starved. Many 
people do not believe that the roots of corn planted, 
let us say, two by four feet apart, meet before a set is 
formed. Many do not consider that the roots of po¬ 
tato plants set one by three feet apart, meet and in¬ 
termingle before the tubers are well formed. The R. 
N.-Y. from its long experience and careful experiments 
has earnestly advocated the broadcasting of manure 
for nearly all crops. Hill manuring is good as far as 
it goes, but it does not go far enough. The young 
plants are pushed forward—the old plants starved. 
Let us take a young apple tree set three years ago. 
We apply manure liberally around it, covering a circle 
four feet in diameter. The tree thrives. But when 
this tree has become 10 years old, how much good 
would such an application of manure do ? Very little, 
because the young feeding roots now are far beyond 
such a circle. Our friend does not use too much 
manure in the hill for a good crop of tomatoes; he 
uses too little in the soil from which the plants must 
derive their support later in the season. Mind The 
R. N.-Y. for this once. Feed the older plants more 
liberally, while giving the younger plants all needed 
care. 
Buying: Potash in Nova Scotia. 
G. C. M., Middleton, N. S .—The best quality of finely 
pulverized bone testing three to four per cent of am¬ 
monia and 23 per cent of phosphoric acid, is retailed 
here at $40 per ton; muriate of potash testing 50 per 
cent of potash is sold by the bag at $45 per ton. On 
this basis of valuation, what should a fair average 
quality of unleached Canada ashes sell at ? The im¬ 
porters have to pay about $7.50 per ton freight, which 
added to cost and profit runs the price to $19, and they 
are not very dry at that. 
Ans. —$19 per ton for wood ashes is far too much. 
As an average of many samples analyzed at the Con¬ 
necticut Station, Prof. Johnson gives the following 
constituents in one ton of good quality : 
pounds. 
Sand, earth and coal. 260 
Water. .... . 240 
Oxide of Iron, alumina, soda, etc. 131 
Actual potash. 110 
Phosphoric acid. 39 
Carbonate of lime and magnesia. 1,220 
2.000 
The only things of agricultural value in this list are 
the lime, potash and phosphoric acid. Muriate of 
potash of high grade at $45 per ton would mean 4% 
cents per pound for potash. Tbe potash in the ashes 
would cost at this price, $4 95, and the phosphoric acid 
should be bought in the form of bone for $4. A sub¬ 
stitute for the ashes could be easily made for less than 
$ 12 . Prof. Johnson says that 800 pounds of oyster 
shell lime, 220 pounds muriate of potash, and 150 
pounds Peter Cooper’s bone, or 1,170 pounds in all, will 
give a close imitation of a ton of superior wood ashes. 
The Peter Ccoper’s bone contains but little nitrogen. 
If you use the bone sold at $40 you should take 200 
pounds. This will cost more, but the mixture will be 
worth more because of the nitrogen. 
A Storage House for Apples. 
E. R. M., Flat Rock, N. C.— Will The Rural give 
suggestions and plan for an apple-house in which to 
keep apples through the winter in a place where the 
temperature goes to 10 degrees below zero. Should it 
be above or under ground ; if above, how should it be 
heated, etc.? 
□ Ans. —It is probable that this correspondent is quite 
familiar with the best method of storing and safely 
keeping sweet potatoes. The whole secret with these 
is to maintain an even temperature, safely above the 
freezing point. Now, for apples, exactly the same 
principle is involved ; but while sweet potatoes must 
not be frosted or severely chilled, apples will take no 
hurt, and will, indeed, keep all the better at, or close 
to the freezing point. A well walled pit, so roofed 
over as to allow a free chance to handle and put away 
the fruit, and also to get at and remove a portion, or 
the whole of it, at any desired time during the winter, 
is all that is required for keeping apples, even in 
Canada. The floor timbers or joists, should be 10 
inches wide, ceiled below with sound boards laid 
closely, and then packed full of some non-conducting 
material; dry sphagnum moss, such as is used by 
nurserymen for packing their trees and plants, makes 
the best material for this use. When the floor is thus 
tightly packed, a double upper floor is laid ; and if 
the sides and ends are well banked up, apples keep as 
far north as they can be grown, without freezing. 
But we want to have our apples so stored that we can 
get at and remove them at any time during the winter 
and spring. This is secured by making of the stair¬ 
way an “airlock”—exactly on the principle of the 
locks of a canal. Into the space of this lock, built 
with two tight doors, one (a trap door) opening at 
the top of the stair or hoist-way, and the other into 
the cellar, from 10 to 20 barrels of fruit can be rolled, 
the cellar closed, and the barrels rolled or hoisted to 
the main floor and carted off. It is well to choose as 
mild weather as possible for taking out the apples, 
not only to avoid the admission of cold into the cellar, 
but to prevent «oo severe chilling of the removed fruit 
and also to allow of its examination, and, if needed, 
repacking; though as a rule tbe apples are usually 
stored in bins, and sorted and barreled when sold. 
In Carolina it does not appear probable that anything 
like as many precautions need be taken to prevent the 
admission of cold air as in the Northern States ; yet 
it is always best to be on the safe side. With us snow 
is a great help to keeping such cellars warm in the 
severest weather. Snow is easily and quickly shoveled 
up around such a cellar, and I have usually found that 
in mild weather there is some difficulty in keeping 
these cellars cold enough so that potatoes stored in 
them will not sprout. An excellent and very con¬ 
venient plan is to have a large water cistern in such a 
cellar. It may be filled by conductors from the roof; 
and this mass of water, while in other seasons it is 
available for any other purpose, acts in winter as a 
regulator of temperature, and especially prevents it 
from falling too low; for until this water gets cold 
enough to begin to freeze, neither potatoes nor apples 
can freeze. The upper room over the pit is of con¬ 
siderable use for storage purposes. t. h. hoskins. 
