1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
185 
3. There is no better time for using fertilizers than as 
soon after plowing as possible, as they mix much bet¬ 
ter with the soil before it has become crusty, provided 
the plowing is done at the proper time. I would not 
advise doing it in the fall and putting the fertilizer on 
them for spring and summer crops. 4. I think it cer¬ 
tainly pays to moisten fertilizers that are very fine 
and dry, because, if there is a brisk wind when they 
are applied in a dry state on small fields, a fourth, and 
often a third, is blown into the woods or an adjoining 
field, which is a heavy loss. No farmer can afford to 
fertilize his neighbors’ fields or the woods. 
Long Island. robinson Gordon. 
Crosbey Peach and Ground Bone. 
W. H. P., Silver Lane, Conn. —1. What about the 
Crosbey peach ? Who has set the variety ? 2. Which 
is the better for berries—bone meal or ground bone ? 
Ans.— 1. The Crosbey peach originated in Billerica, 
Mass., about 17 years ago. It has since been fruited 
in various parts of the East and its hardiness thor¬ 
oughly tested, The tree is of somewhat dwarf growth, 
the fruit of medium size, yellow in color, splashed 
with carmine and less acid, according to Mr. Hale, 
than most peaches of the Crawford class. It ripens 
with Oldmixon. Mr. J. H. Hale, of South Glaston¬ 
bury, Conn., has raised this variety in large quanti¬ 
ties. 2. The finer the bone is ground the quicker 
will be its effects. 
The Strawberry Crown Borer. 
A. \V., Montpelier, Ft—What is the strawberry 
weevil? 
Ans — The strawberry Crown Borer is about one- 
eighth of an inch long and of a dark color The grubs 
bore into the crown of the plant, destroying the fruit 
stems. We do not know of any other insect that our 
inquirer may allude to. We would suggest as a 
remedy spraying the vines with kerosene emulsion. 
A Big: Corn Yield For Missouri. 
A. K., Washington, Mo .—I would like to raise such 
a crop of corn as J. Van Loon, La Crosse, Wis., tells of 
on page 100. The ground I intend to put in corn is a 
dark sandy creek bottom which was in clover one 
year and broken up last fall. Another piece is hill 
land which has been in meadow for three years but is 
not broken up yet. It used to yield 30 bushels of 
wheat per acre. Had I better get the complete fer¬ 
tilizer or just certain chemicals and mix them myself, 
and where is a good reliable house here in the West 
to order from ? 
Ans.—T o equal Mr. Van Loon’s yield we should im¬ 
itate his methods as far as possible. He used tank¬ 
age or manure on the sod, and if you can harrow in a 
good coat of manure do so by all means. Mr. Van 
Loon has used a complete fertilizer, and we would 
advise you to do the same as you do not know that 
your soil particularly needs any one ingredient above 
another. All the firms advertising in The R. N.-Y. ' 
have Western headquarters. You can either buy a 
mixed fertilizer or buy the chemicals and mix your 
own—a comparison of prices alone will tell you which 
is cheaper. Among Western fertilizer houses is the 
Thompson & Edwards Company, Chicago, Ill. Take 
the formula given in this week’s issue for corn. We 
should use at least 500 pounds, one half harrowed in 
before planting and the other half when the grain 
drill will just clear the corn plants so you can dis¬ 
tribute the fertilizer with that tool. Mr. Van Loon’s 
“ tablespoonful per hill” would mean nearly 300 
pounds per acre or 400 in all. In connection with this 
culture you might use on different rows different 
combinations of bone, potash and nitrogen, to see 
which your land most needs. We have often explained 
about such an experiment. 
A Home Mixture for Corn. 
J. M. D., Milford, N. Y .—I wish to plant 15 acres of 
corn and would like to raise 60 to 70 bushels of shelled 
corn per acre in a good season. The land, an old 
Timothy meadow, slopes to the east and is good corn 
land. Can I buy the chemicals and mix them cheaper 
than to use as a special corn phosphate? What 
is a good formula and how much should I apply ? 
Ans. —There are many sides to this home-mixing 
problem. Undoubtedly the first cost of the chemicals 
is cheaper, especially when bought in large lots. You 
cannot get so perfect a mixture with shovel, hoe and 
rake as the manufacturers give you, and you are not 
so sure of getting pure chemicals as you are of getting 
pure mixed goods. The following formula will give 
an analysis equal to that of the best corn fertilizer: 
Ground bone. 800 
Bone-black superphosphate.400 
Muriate of potash. 300 
Nitrate of soda.;. 4 Q 0 
Total.1,900 
This will give you all the nitrogen, potash and phos¬ 
phoric acid found in a ton of good corn fertilizer. The 
advantage of the manufacturer’s fertilizer would be 
that the nitrogen, for example, will be obtained from 
half a dozen different sources, like nitrate of soda, 
sulphate of ammonia, ground fish, tankage, guano, 
dried blood, flesh, etc., while you will have but two 
forms—nitrate of soda and bone. You can see that 
you cannot mix so many different substances in a small 
lot and have a perfect mixture. The manufacturers 
do it better because they mix in large lots and have 
perfect machinery for doing it. What is the advantage 
of having different forms of nitrogen and phosphoric 
acid ? Ask yourself that question about feeding your 
stock. You could make a perfect ration of ensilage 
and cotton-seed meal or clover hay and corn meal, and 
yet all the best dairymen seem to believe that a mix¬ 
ture of four or five different foods will give the best 
results. We should use at least 500 pounds per acre 
of this mixture, half broadcasted and harrowed in and 
half cultivated in when the plants are knee-high. 
Various Fertilizer Questions. 
J. N., Newark, Del. —1. Is phosphoric acid in South 
Carolina rock worth as much, pound for pound, as in 
raw bone? 2. Can the acid used to dissolve the rock 
have any injurious effect on the land? 3. How about 
the following formula for corn: 150 p unds of rock; 
150 pounds of raw bone; ammonia four to five per cent; 
25 pounds of muriate of potash with 50 to 56 per cent 
of actual potash? Is it necessary to add nitrate of 
soda ? 
Ans. —1. No. The phosphoric acid in South Carolina 
rock is insoluble. It can be rendered soluble only by 
treating it with sulphuric acid. The phosphoric acid 
in fine bone is worth seven cents a pound; that in 
rock about two cents. 3. No. It will not harm the 
laDd, but it is harmful to seeds when it comes in ac¬ 
tual contact. 4. It would be well to add a small 
quantity of nitrate of soda to the formula. 
“Tree’’ Such An Agent As This. 
A. Q. M., Clyde, Kan. —There is an agent here sell¬ 
ing the tree currant and also a tree gooseberry. The 
currant is represented as being as large as a large 
cranberry ; the gooseberry as having a diameter of an 
inch and a half. Are there any such fruits ? 
Ans. —Tree currants and tree gooseberries are 
frauds upon the face of them. There can be no such 
things except through manipulation. We do not be¬ 
lieve that there are any currants as large as cranber¬ 
ries or gooseberries as large as an inch and a half in 
diameter. We would advise you to have no dealings 
whatever with the firm you mention. 
Manure or Tannery Waste. 
S. H. P., Newfield, N. Y .—What would be the worth, 
per ton, of lime, hen manure and scrapings from a 
tannery as taken from the vats and hauled out in 
piles. I live 2>£ miles from the village and can get 
all the stable manure I wish to handle for 25 cents 
per ton. Can I afford to haul the tankage at the 
same rate ? 
Ans. —We have no analysis of such tankage and 
could only guess at its value. At 25 cents a load we 
should haul all the manure we could get and not touch 
the tankage. In any event don’t use lime on hen 
manure or tankage. 
Alsike Clover; Sod For Potatoes. 
C. H., Selin’s Orove, Pa.—I Will Alsike clover thrive 
on land that is inclined to be a little wet in the spring, 
and sometimes overflows with back wat r from the 
river, which remains on the land from 24 to ; 2 hours ? 
If within a week or two after the clover seed is sown 
the land overflows and the water remains on for a few 
days, will it destroy the seed ? 2. Which is the better 
way to raise potatoes in soil half loam and sand mixed 
—to plow the clover under on the potatoes, or to 
plow it under and then harrow the soil fine, furrow it 
out and plant the potatoes and cover them ? 
Ans.— 1. Alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum) thrives 
well in cold, wet and stiff soils, but we should think 
that inundations such as you speak of would kill it 
out. 2. W e should prefer to plow the clover under, 
and harrow, etc. 
Cows That Say “Bedding” to Grain Hay. 
J. A. N., Jersey City. —Will some reader of The Rural 
give his experience in cutting rye, before heading, 
and curing it for hay, for winter feeding to cattle, and 
also as to oats and wheat ? 
Ans. —In 1890, I cut four acres of rye in full bloom. 
The field promised 25 bushels of grain per acre. The 
neighbors inquired around covertly concerning my 
sanity. It cured straight and stiff and all admirable 
human qualities were required to keep a load of it in 
the wagon long enough to reach the barn. It made a 
big mow. I offered it to the cattle as I would offer 
them hay and they said, “ bedding.” So we cut it and 
mixed it with ensilage half and half. It was then well 
eaten and seemed as valuable as the same amount of 
hay. We cut grain each year in this way and find it a 
valuable extension to the coarse fodder besides clear¬ 
ing the land for a late crop of corn. In 1892 we cut 
the rye when the first bloom appeared, still the cattle 
would not accept it as hay though eating it well when 
mixed with ensilage. It should probably be cut about 
the middle of May, when heading. I shall try that 
this year. Wheat cut in the last of the milk is treated 
in the same way by the cattle and I shall cut it earlier 
this year. Wheat is more leafy than rye, but seems 
harsher and stiffer. We shall cut both earlier each 
year until the cattle will accept them as readily as 
hay, if it can be done. Oats for hay were better 
grown mixed with field peas, sowing 1% to 2 bushels 
of each per acre and cutting when the oats are in the 
milk and the peas half podded. e. c. bibge. 
Ashes and Bone for Potatoes. 
PL. B. S., Fall River, Mass .—Would a fertilizer com¬ 
posed of equal parts of ground bone and unleached 
wood ashes be a complete one on a sandy loam, (not 
rich) for a potato crop, and how many pounds per 
acre ? 
Ans. —Yes, in one sense, and yet it might not give 
full satisfaction. Half a ton each of average wood 
ashes and ground raw bone would analyze as com¬ 
pared with a ton of standard mixed fertilizer: 
Ashes and Bone. 
Potato Fertilizer. 
POUNDS PER TON. 
Nltroxen 
. 85 
. 80 
Phos. Acid. 
220 
180 
Potash. 
140 
You can see the waste in using the ashes and bone. 
In order to obtain the potash in half a ton of the reg¬ 
ular potato fertilizer you must use over 2,500 pounds 
of your ashes and bone, though this gives you nearly 
three times as much phosphoric acid as you need, and 
somewhat more nitrogen. The nitrogen in the bone 
too is slowly soluble and of little benefit to young 
plants. The feeding of a plant is not unlike the feed¬ 
ing of an animal. A grown-up cow can eat cotton 
seed meal, cob meal, stalks or straw. But that food 
would have killed her when she was a calf. In 
calfhood it needed milk and other quickly digestible 
foods. Just so with a young and tender potato plant. 
Its food must be soluble and close at hand. That is 
why a good fertilizer should contain nitrate of soda or 
other soluble forms of nitrogen. These are like the 
milk for the calf, while the nitrogen in bone is like 
the coarse foods that suit the cow. If you want to 
use the ashes you should broadcast them and harrow 
in, and then use in addition m the hill or drill a mix¬ 
ture made up on this basis 
Nitrate of soda. 200 
Raw bone.200 
Superphosphate. 200 
Sulphate of potash. 50 
050 
To obtain the benefit of 1,000 pounds of the potato 
fertilizer you will have to use 1,000 pounds of ashes, 
and the whole 650 pounds of mixture in the drjll. 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
S. H. C., Erwlnna, Pa .—Tue Cyclone insect exter¬ 
minating machine is a good thing. 
A Tree Gooseberry. —H. R. W., Benton Center, N. Y. 
—We have no knowledge whatever of the Watson 
Seedling Tree gooseberry, and we have as little confi¬ 
dence in it as we have knowledge of it. 
About Blackberries.— J. M. M., Wellburn, Canada.— 
The Taylor blackberry is nearly as hardy as Snyder- 
one of the hardiest varieties grown. Erie is not hardy. 
Minnewaski is about as hardy as Kittatinny. Ancient 
Briton is about as hardy as Taylor, but the berries are 
smaller, though of fine quality. 
Soja Beans. H. A. I’., Crescent, la.—There are many 
varieties of these beans. Three different sorts were 
tried at the Rural Grounds last year. Write to the 
Kansas Agricultural College at Manhattan. Yes, we 
think that they are the same things that parties in In¬ 
diana and Missouri are sending out as coffee plants. 
Scotch Heather Seed.— Mr. Wm. S. Kimball, the 
famous amateur horticulturist of Rochester, N. Y., has 
procured with much trouble a lot of Scotch Heather 
seed that he is willing to share with others, for distri¬ 
bution in this country, at cost to him, viz , $1.25 per 
pound. This plant, Erica herbacea carnea, is of easy 
cultivation. Start it in gentle heat—a box or pot. 
Bush Fruits. —G. C. C., Greece, N. Y.—Of gooseber¬ 
ries, try Red Jacket and Columbus. Of currants, try 
Fay’s Prolific and Cherry : Victoria is a good late sort. 
Of red raspberries, try Cuthbert, Golden Queen, 
Shaffer and Royal Church. Of blackcaps try Souhegan, 
Hillborn and Ohio. Of blackberries, try Minnewaski, 
Lovett’s Best, Erie and Taylor. 
Potato Fertilizer.—A. O. B., Franklin.—We would 
like as high as eight or nine per cent of available 
phosphoric acid and not less than eight per cent of 
potash in the form of sulphate. Four per cent of nitro¬ 
gen is little enough, and this, if furnished by bone 
alone, would not be sufficiently soluble.* We would 
use a small quantity of nitrate of soda—say 100 pounds 
to the acre—which would furnish nitrogen for the 
young plants in the early season before the nitrogen 
of the bone becomes soluble. 
M. 
