20 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 13 
with the consumers of his fruits. The man who has 
such a st'ck of crates has the advantage of the one, 
who, when berry harvest comes, hies himself to the 
henhouse, where some of his crates have been filling 
the ofijce of nests, coops and jails for sitters, resur¬ 
rects them, half full of straw, dirt, rubbish and ‘ ‘fer¬ 
tilizer,” turns them upside down, thumps the bottom 
a few times, and proceeds to fill them with little, 
sandy, dirty berries, feebly held together by grimy, 
musty, tied-together baskets, and hauls them away in 
an unpainted, muddy, rickety old wagon. This is 
rather severe on that class, but we sometimes see an 
outfit (?)—horse and man included—that can suggest 
no other history than the above. f. n. ballou. 
What Say ? 
What About Ashhs ?—Will you ask through The R. 
N.-Y. for exp?rienee in the use of unleached wood 
ashes as a fertilizer on corn ? How are they used and 
in what quantities ? Will they burn the corn if put in 
the hill without any mixing with the soil ? Has any 
one tried them mixed with washings along a creek ? 
How are they for clover ? u. i. B. 
Wire Fence Facts Wanted. —One who has no ex¬ 
perience in wire netting as fencing, would like to have 
reports from those who have. What size mesh and 
wire is best for a lawn fence to turn poultry, pigs, 
horses and cattle ? Would it not be advisable to use 
two sizes of mesh in the same fence, say, two feet of 
two-inch mesh at the bottom and a three-inch mesh at 
the top ? J. w, w. 
Ensiuaqe in a Stack.— On page 831 Mr. Mapes 
speaks of pressing ensilage with a hay press, which 
might not answer, as the pressure would be constant, 
but has any of your readers tried the Blunt patent ap¬ 
paratus, by which the ensilage is stacked in a common 
stack without a silo, and pressure applied as needed to 
keep the temperature suitable ? I would like to hear 
if any one has had success with it. s. o. i. 
[Every query must be aooompanled by the name and address of the 
writer to Insure attention. Before asklns a question please see If It is 
not answered In our advertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
A TALK ABOUT GREEN MANURES. 
T. P. R., New York .—At what stage of growth should 
cow peas. Crimson clover and rye be plowed under for 
manure? What are the reasons? Which is better, deep 
or shallow covering? Does all the nitrogen, phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash, contained in these crops be¬ 
come amtfabie plant food? If so, what is the approxi¬ 
mate time required for these agents to be converted 
into an assimilative form. 
Not Much of an Opinion of Rye. 
It is better to plow under these crops when in blos¬ 
som, for then the plants contain their nitrogenous 
compounds, are most easily decomposed, and they 
contain less of woody fiber than when more mature. 
The organic acids are most abundant at the earlier 
period, and in lands that are “ sour ” some change in 
time of plowing under might be advisable. All .the 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash and lime becomes 
available for plant food. The time required for the 
complete decomposition or rotting of the vegetable 
matter plowed under will depend upon the character 
of the soil and the climatic conditions. In a moist 
climate decay will be much more rapid than in a dry 
one or in a dry year. Decay would probably be fully 
twice as rapid in New York as in Dakota. 
The chief benefit would be derived the first and 
second years after plowing under, but the good effects 
might extend over a period of five or six years, accord¬ 
ing to conditions and nature of crops to follow green 
manuring. As to howdeep to plow under will depend 
upon the character of the soil and subsoil. In general, 
plow to the same depth you would plow such a soil 
were the crop not to be plowed under. I cannot say 
that I am much of an advocate of using rye as a manur¬ 
ing crop unless it be to furnish organic matter to a soil. 
North Dakota Agricultural College. e. f. ladd. 
Put the Succeeding Crop Close on its Heels. 
Practically all the phosphoric acid and potash of 
a plowed under green crop becomes available for 
tlie succeeding cron. Both of these fertilizing in- 
grenients are held by most soils for comparatively 
long periods of time, so that there is little loss of 
either phosphoric acid or potash if considerable time 
elapse between the plowing under and the growing 
of the succeeding crop. With nitrogen it is different. 
There is al ways more or less loss of nitrogen in the 
processes of decay, and the longer the time the ground 
is unoccupied by the succeeding crop the greater this 
loss. Hence to make the best use of a crop f or green 
manuring, the succe'-ding crop should be nlanted at 
once after plowing under the green crop. 
Most plants contain a maximum of fertilizing in¬ 
gredients when they are in early bloom. At this 
stage of growth they are still soft and succulent, and 
their decay begins almost immediately after they are 
under the soil. 
Cow peas make a slow growth in our climate in the 
first part of the season, and are not large enough to 
be of much value for green manuring until Sep'ember. 
They could be plowed under any time after the middle 
of September. If to be followed with a spring sown 
crop, the later in the season they are plowed under 
the better. 
Fall sown Crimson clover will be ready to plow under 
about the middle of June, provided it lives through the 
winder. Sown in August, Crimson clover has pretty 
generally lived through the winter in Connecticut, and 
has made a vigorous growth in the spring. Spring 
sown Crimson clover will not be in the best stage of 
growth for green manuring until July. 
Fall sown rye will be ready to plow under at about 
the same time as summer sown Scarlet clover. 
Spring sown lupines make a valuable crop for green 
- manuring.' They will be ready for plowing under 
about the middle of July. . chas. d. wood.s. 
Storrs Agricultural School, Conn. 
A Good Deal in the Plowing. 
We know that it is the ash and the nitrogen that 
make up the valuable fertilizing matter of plants. 
All the rest of the plant—the carbonaceous matters— 
we believe are of no special value as food for a new 
race of plants, although it may be that this carbon¬ 
aceous matter may have some duty to perform in the 
soil, perhaps to feed the nitrogen-gathering organisms, 
"but at any rate I do believe that this part of the 
green manure does play some useful part in the soil 
in some way or other. 
Leaving this out and taking only what we are cer¬ 
tain of as a basis for an opinion, we know that plants 
contain most mineral and nitrogenous matter when 
they are in full blossom. It is at this stage of growth 
that the medicinal plants are gathered for making 
extracts or for drying, and the farmer knows how 
much better for animal food the hay is when cut at 
this stage. By referring to the standard tables of the 
composition of plants in any chemical work in which 
this information is given, we find that clover at this 
stage has 50 per cent more nitrogen in it and 10 per 
cent more mineral matter than when ripe. Every 
one who has used his common sense knows that the 
green stuff decomposes much more quickly than if it 
were dried, at which time it has become woody and 
hard. We find the same applies to Alsike clover and 
to Lucern, so that for this purpose we may assume it 
to be a fact, and reasonably believe that the best time 
to tu»^n under any plant is when it is in blossom. 
Second, as to the manner of covering this green stuff. 
This depends, too, on the chemistry of decomposition, 
which may teach us that the larger exposure to the 
atmosphere, the more rapid and complete will be the 
decay of this organic matter. So that the manner of 
plowing it under is of great importance. Not long 
ago I read of a leading farmer who had plowed under 
a crop of clover, and the next spring on replowing the 
land turned up the undecayed matter all black, but 
still recognizable. It is easy for one who has had 
sufiicient practice to understand why this was so. 
The land had been fiat plowed, and clover simply 
buried and covered from all access of the air. The 
roots of the crop intended to be fed by the clover had 
six or maybe seven inches of soil to get through before 
they could get even a smell of the food, and thus the 
food remained locked up, as one’s bread might be 
under an impenetrable covering of steel in a safe, and 
no wonder if it remained until the next year, and the 
man went hungry all the time. 
Now it is not a question of deep or shallow plowing. 
Unless, indeed, the land is to be wholly turned, the 
furrows flat and as it is termed cut and covered. In 
that case it would only be a difference of degree, as to 
the uselessness of the plant food provided for the 
crop. But it matters not how deeply the laud is 
plowed if the furrow slices be laid on edge at an 
angle of 45 degrees, for the air may penetrate and the 
green matter will decay all the way down, and the 
roots of the crop following will be enticed all the way 
down to the bottom, by the presence of the most 
desirable food in course of rapid decomposition 
and preparation for use. And is it not also very 
clear that the air, having the freest access to this 
turned under matter of whatever kind it may be, will 
supply to the innumerable organisms busy at their 
work on this stuff for their subsistence, more atmo¬ 
spheric nitrogen for the growing crop, than if this 
green manure had been covered by even as little as 
half the thickness of soil, but laid flat, and inverted, 
so as to bury it where it can do the least good ? Thus 
I am free to say that the best way to turn under any 
kind of green crop is to plow it with lapped furrows 
just as deep as the best steel plow will put it, without 
bringing up the crude subsoil, unless a very little bit 
of it at a time. 
What becomes of all the nitrogen and mineral ele¬ 
ments of this plant food ? What becomes of the corn 
you put before your pigs in the fattening pen in the 
open and fully accessible feed trough ? I have learned 
one thing, if only one. in the course of my life in the 
field and the barn. 1 his is that animals and plants 
are subject to precisely the same conditions in regard 
to their vital functions. They feed, and digest, and 
assimilate their food in practically a similar manner, 
and if any one doubts what a plant will do when it is 
supplied with acceptable food in the shape of manure 
of any kind, stable, green, or artificial, jnst let him 
give his crops the food, and he will very soon see what 
they will do with it. One year I turned under a crop of 
clover which I well remember, because my neighbors 
thought me a lunatic for “ wasting such splendid pas¬ 
ture,” but when the corn was ripe, they thought the 
more than 80 bushels to the acre proved me a man of 
some sense, at least. Yes, indeed, every particle of 
the food elements of the green crop will become avail¬ 
able and will be availed of by the crop, and this the 
first year, if the crop be permitted to get at it. and it is 
not buried f om it by the cut and cover method of 
plowing. It is my belief, and that, I think, of the 
agricultural chemists, that green manure properly 
turned under is as quickly exhausted as any artificial 
fertilizers, because of the rapid conversion of the suc¬ 
culent matter into its original elements, or. at least 
into such a condition as to be available for the use of 
the crops. In England the remainder of any manur¬ 
ing after a crop has been taken is valued on a well- 
settled principle, but I never read of any account 
being taken of any residue of a green-manure crop. 
Oae year I turned under a heavy Quack grass sod, 
which by accurate weighing I estimated to b^ equiva¬ 
lent to 80 tons to the acre. Eirly Rose potatoes were 
planted on it, and on adj lining ground which was ma¬ 
nured with 20 loads of stable manure to the acre. The 
yield, by measure, so as to pay for the harvesting by 
a share of the crop, was a little over 600 bushels on 
the sod ground, an I barely 400 on the manured ground, 
per acre. On plowing the land after the potatoes, the re¬ 
mains of the manure were quite evident, but very little 
of‘ the remains of the sod were to be seen; a discolor¬ 
ation of the soil here and there in patches might be seen, 
but not a visible trace of the structure of the former cov¬ 
ering of the surface. The potatoes got all they could 
make use of, and yet there was enough left to make 
over 40 bushels of wheat to the acre. I am sure from 
observation of many growing crops on land where 
green crops have been turned under, that the food be¬ 
comes available in a few days after the planting, and 
is continually becoming available as decay goes on all 
through the growing season, and not much of it is left 
for the second year. n. stewart. 
The Seeds of a Permanent Pasture. 
O. H. D., Springville, N. Y .—I have a large field 
which I wish to seed to be used for a permanent pas¬ 
ture. The land is partly gravel and partly muck, 
inclining to clay. What kind of grass seed should 
be sown and how much of each kind? When is the 
best time to seed ? 
Ans. —The first step towards a good permanent pas¬ 
ture is to secure a thorough preparation of the soil, 
as small seeds require far better preparatory tilth 
than do larger seeds, such as corn and the like. Then, 
too, permanent pastures, if they are to be really good, 
require rich land, or at least land that has an abun¬ 
dance of available plant food. The best way to get 
this is by thorough cultivation, and this can best be 
secured by a summer fallow. Toe land should be 
well prepared by the first to the middle of September. 
The seeds may then be sown except the clovers, which 
must be sown in the spring. Fall sowing of the 
grass allows it to get something of a start and crowds 
out the weeds which would appear and smother the 
grass if the seeding were done in the spring. In most 
localities it should not be necessary to so v Blue 
grass, as it “comes in” in large quantities. If this 
is not the case at Springville a small amount of Blue 
grass should be sown with the other grass, otherwise 
none should be used. 
The following amount and kinds of seeds should be 
used per acre—the clovers to be sown quite early in 
the spring. L’ghter grasses, those that weigh only 
14 pounds to the bushel, will have to be sown separate 
from the Timothy in order to get good, even distribu¬ 
tion. 
Upland.—Three pounds Timothy (Phleum pratense); 
one pound Orchard grass (Dac^ylis glomerata); one 
pound Fescue (Festuca elatior); two pounds Alsike 
clover (Trifoiium hyoridum); two pounds Medium Red 
