i52 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
March 10 
ance ; this could be easiest made with a quart of com¬ 
mon soft soap, half a pound of crude carbolic acid and 
lime to thicken the wash. In the South, where cot¬ 
ton-hull ashes (which contain 25 or more percent of 
potash,) are abundant and cheap, I use these in prefer¬ 
ence to the commercial potash ; and I presume that an 
amateur here at the North, who did not have soft soap 
handy, would have just as good success in taking un¬ 
leached hard-wood ashes, with the carbolic acid and 
lime. As stated in a former letter to The Rubal, the 
only use of the potash is to help smooth the bark and 
do away with nesting places for the beetle the follow¬ 
ing year, and the particular advantage of putting 
some in the crotches of the tree is that the rains, dur¬ 
ing the season, wash it down, so that the whole body 
of the tree is as smooth and fresh as a young twig. 
South Glas'ionbury, Conn. J. h. hale. 
A Talk About Potash; Hen Manure. 
W. W. M., Stony Ford, Pa.—l. What is the differ¬ 
ence between muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, 
and kainit? 2 . Would it be advisable to use either 
form for potatoes, with a reliable high grade fertil¬ 
izer, the potatoes to be planted on heavy sod ? If so, 
which form would be best to use, all fertilizers to be 
applied when the potatoes are planted ? Would it be 
better to apply the' potash at some future time? 
3 . What proportion of plaster should be used with hen 
manure, and what would be the analysis of the proper 
mixture? To what crops should it be applied? I 
raise corn, potatoes, oats, with cabbage, onions and 
root crops for garden specialties. 4. Which are the 
best root crops for cows, horses and sheep ; mangolds, 
carrots or ruta bagas ? 
Ans —1. All three of these substances come out of 
the same mine, where they are found in layers with 
salt at the bottom. To understand what a sulphate 
is, consider ordinary land plaster and also what is 
called lime. The plaster is the sulphate of lime— 
that is, a combination of sulphur and lime with 
enough water to give it bulk. In like manner sul¬ 
phate of potash is a combination of sulphur and pot¬ 
ash. Now consider common salt. That is called a 
chloride, or a combination of chlorine and soda, or 
sodium. A muriate is practically a salt in which pot¬ 
ash takes the place of the sodium. Kainit is a mix¬ 
ture of common salt, muriate and sulphate of soda 
and potash. It usually contains about 12 per cent of 
actual potash, or twice as much as wood ashes. 2 . On 
most soils a potato fertilizer with, say, six per cent of 
potash, ought to supply enough of this substanee, but 
some soils require more. You can learn whether 
your soil needs extra potash by using it on strips 
through the field and comparing yields. The sul¬ 
phate has one advantage over the muriate in that it 
gives a better quality to crops like potatoes, beets and 
tobacco. This is because of the chlorine in the muri¬ 
ate, the absence of which is the only advantage in 
the sulphate. You can apply the potash at any time 
—it is often broadcasted in the fall. When the pota¬ 
toes are planted is a good time. 3. Enough to make 
the manure thoroughly white under the roosts. The 
time to use plaster on hen manure is as soon as possi¬ 
ble after it has been dropped. We explained about 
the treatment of hen manure last week. Always fine 
it before using. We would use it on corn and garden 
crops. 4. We would use carrots for horses and man¬ 
golds for cows. 
What About This Fertilizer P 
J. 1., Chili, N. Y. —Last spring I ordered three 
tons of fertilizer, each ton to contain 1,000 pounds 
South Carolina rock, 500 pounds tankage, 500 pounds 
muriate of potash. I used 800 pounds to the acre on 
potatoes, and it increased the crop 60 bushels to the 
acre. In what way would The R. N. -Y. advise me to 
change the formula ? Can I get the acid in any other 
form cheaper ? My soil is chestnut land. I paid $35 
per ton at the factory for the fertilizer; did I pay too 
much ? 
Ans. —At the average analyses for these substances, 
a ton of this mixture should contain 35 pounds of 
nitrogen, 170 pounds of phosphoric acid and 250 
pounds of potash, or 1% per cent nitrogen, 8)4 per 
cent phosphoric acid and 10>^ per cent potash. Of 
course we assume that the rock was dissolved. As 
compared with a good mixed potato fertilizer this is 
too low in nitrogen and too high in potash. On a 
good clover sod, this amount of nitrogen may answer, 
but on open ground you will need more, and you 
cannot expect to keep up the increase of yield with¬ 
out using more nitrogen. The value of such a mix¬ 
ture will depend a good deal on the fineness of the 
tankage. Nitrogen in tankage ranges all the way 
from 73^ to 15 cents a pound—depending on the fine¬ 
ness of the grinding. A fair estimate of the compara¬ 
tive value of the fertilizer would be about $27. That 
is, the fertility in this mixture would cost $27 in other 
substances. Unless you know that your soil needs 
extra potash, we would use 250 pounds nitrate of 
soda, 400 pounds tankage and 350 pounds muriate. 
If on a clover sod, you will not need so much nitrogen 
—in fact, a simple mixture of bone dust and muriate 
like that described by Mr. Dibble on page 115 may be 
enough. Try it. 
Rules for Using: Bone, Ashes and Hen Manure. 
W. P. H., Ten Mile Bottom, Pa .— I have 40 barrels of 
hard-wood ashes, fine and dry enough to drill ; how 
can I get the best results from them ? I grow corn, 
oats, clover and potatoes for general crops. I set 75 
peach trees last spring on sandy soil, and 300 plum 
trees on clay soil. Would an application of ashes help 
the trees ? I have two wagon-loads of hen manure ; 
should I mix it with the ashes ? 1 can buy fine ground 
bone meal for $20 per ton ; should I buy it and mix 
with ashes for any of my crops ? I sow clover seed 
with my oats. 1 get ashes at a wagon-spoke factory 
for 25 cents per barrel, and they weigh from 150 to 
200 pounds per barrel. 
Ans. —You are fortunate in obtaining ashes and 
ground bone at these prices. They are cheaper than 
any other fertilizer you can buy. Ashes are good for 
all crops, but there are three good rules about mixing 
them. They are : 1. Never mix wood ashes with bone. 
2. Never mix ashes with hen manure. 3. Never mix 
ashes with anything. Mixing with bone or hen manure 
will surely mean the loss of some nitrogen, and the 
ashes are so fine and dusty that it is almost impossible 
to make a perfect mixture with coarser substances. 
Use the ashes on the fruit and on the clover seeding. 
Use the hen manure on corn, and the bone broadcast 
wherever a fertilizer is needed. Do not put the ashes 
in the drill for potatoes, but broadcast and harrow in 
if used on this crop at all. Ashes and bone meal make 
a good fertilizer for any crop, but we would always 
apply them separately. 
Must Stable Manure Be Used on Sweet Potatoes ? 
R. W. S., Elmer, N. J .— Our farmers are using a large 
amount of New York horse manure this season, buy¬ 
ing it in car lots at $2.30 per ton. The manure reaches 
here in a heavy, dark or black colored mass, very 
moist and just beginning to heat after being on the 
road about three days. It is hauled away in wagon 
bodies holding about 30 bushels, and the load weighs 
approximately 3,000 pounds, making the load cost the 
farmer $3 50 at the railroad station. The only use so 
far made of this manure has been for sweet potatoes 
and tomatoes, which are raised in large quantities 
hereabouts. Is the use of this manure as economical 
as a good fertilizer which can be purchased here for 
$25 per ton, or in three-ton lots for cash at $22 50 per 
ton, containing, phosphoric acid, available, 9 to 10 per 
cent; ammonia from blood, 2>^ to 3 per cent; potash, 
actual, 3 to 4 per cent. Will this, dollar for dollar, 
give as good results in crop and permanent enrich¬ 
ment of the soil ? If it will, it will save a vast amount 
of disagreeable labor in hauling and composting. 
Ans. —The best thing that you can do is to send to 
the New Jersey Station at New Brunswick, N, J., for 
a copy of the last aonual report. This contains just 
exactly what you want to know, viz., a test between 
chemicals and stable manure on sweet potatoes. Sev¬ 
eral experiments were tried, not on little plots, but 
with actual field culture. We have not space for all 
the details. It is enough to say that the chemicals 
alone gave a larger yield and a cheaper product than 
manure alone. Here is a statement of the results: 
Cost of Net value per 
fertilizer, acre of crop. Net gain. 
Unfertilized. 198.92 
Chemical fertilizers only.... $12.34 128.14 $29.22 
New York stable manure.... 40.00 103.49 4.57 
In this case 20 tons of stable manure per acre were 
used at a cost of $2 per ton, not including hauling. The 
chemicals consisted of a mixture of 320 pounds of dis¬ 
solved bone black, 160 pounds of muriate of potash, and 
280 pounds of dried blood. That was the combination 
that gave the best yield on that soil. In another 
experiment a mixture of 500 pounds of tankage, 400 
pounds of dissolved bone black, 50 pounds of sulphate 
of ammonia, and 250 pounds muriate of potash, cost¬ 
ing $17.50, gave a crop worth $156, while 18 tons of 
manure and 200 pounds of muriate of potash, costing 
$40, gave a crop worth $118. These experiments prove 
beyond all reasonable doubt that it is not absolutely 
necessary to use stable manure on sweet potatoes, and 
that chemicals provide cheaper plant food. Now as 
to your actual question. The fertilizer mentioned is 
cheaper than the stable manure. That is, in one ton 
of this fertilizer you will obtain more actual fertility 
than in 10 tons of manure, to say nothing of the extra 
cost of hauling the latter. At the same time, this fer¬ 
tilizer is not the most economical one you can buy. It 
contains too little ammonia and potash. It would be 
cheaper and better to use either of the mixtures given 
above, or a mixed fertilizer with more potash and am¬ 
monia. 
Dissolved Bone and Potash for Potatoes. 
J. W. C., Sparrow Lake, Ont .— A fertilizer manufac¬ 
turer in a city near here makes a “potato manure” at 
$40 per ton, guaranteed ammonia three to four per 
cent; phosphoric acid, seven to ten per cent; potash, 
five to seven per cent. The same firm sells a “dissolved 
bone” said to contain ammonia, three to four per cent; 
phosphoric acid, 12 to 15 per cent. If I took 66 pounds 
of this at $38 per ton and 10 pounds of sulphate of pot¬ 
ash, I would have 76 pounds of fertilizer with as much 
plant food as 100 pounds of the “ potato manure” and 
for 40 cents less cost; or a difference of $8 per ton, 
and a saving of at least $1 in freight. Nine dollars is 
a wide margin to pay for mixing, and a man could 
afford to do it very thoroughly for that money. Would 
The R, N.-Y. consider it a wise thing to do ? Would 
the above mentioned be a good mixture ? 
Ans. —Is there not a mistake in that figuring ? In 
100 pounds of potato manure there would be three 
pounds of ammonia, seven of phosphoric acid and five 
of potash, counting the lowest guarantee of the manu¬ 
facturer, as is right. In 66 pounds of “dissolved bone,” 
you would have two pounds of ammonia and nine of 
phosphoric acid, while the 10 pounds of sulphate would 
give the needed potash—or too much phosphoric acid 
and too little nitrogen. You cannot say that because 
you have an excess of one that that excess will make 
up for a deficit in another. You must supply the 
missing pound of ammonia before your mixture can 
be said to equal the potato fertilizer. At the prices 
given, you cannot mix the dissolved bone and the sul¬ 
phate so as to give three per cent of ammonia without 
using a large excess of phosphoric acid, and thus in¬ 
creasing the cost. If you could add eight pounds of 
nitrate of soda to the 76 pounds of bone and potash, 
you would have a better analysis than the potato ma¬ 
nure. Still it might not be a better mixture, for the 
nitrogen in a good potato fertilizer should be obtained 
from half a dozen different sources instead of one or 
two. On good soil, and especially on a clover sod, 
some farmers obtain good crops of potatoes from a 
mixture of dissolved bone and potash, but on poorer 
soil with no clover, we would prefer more soluble 
forms of nitrogen. 
Plants by Mail; Niarht Soil. 
S., Pontiac, Mich. —1. Is it advisable to order peach 
and plum trees and grape vines by mail ? 2. Is night 
soil mixed with earth and deodorized, a good fertilizer 
for the garden, or for small fruits ? What is its prop¬ 
erty and value ? 
Ans. —1. We would prefer express, except on very 
small orders. The mail is usually safe, however. 2 . 
Fairly good, but not so good as is generally supposed. 
Popular belief gives this and hen manure greater 
values than they really possess. Large quantities of 
it are used by gardeners in the writer’s county, chiefly 
for melons and vegetables. It is a quick or forcing 
manure, as its nitrogen is in a very soluble form. As 
you will use it, it is probably worth about the same as 
stable manure. It is better for a garden than for 
small fruit. Spread it broadcast and spade it in. 
Facts About a Crop of Clover Seed. 
0. P., Montreal, P*. Q. —1. What are the principal re¬ 
quirements for growing a crop of clover seed in the 
way of soil, situation, etc. ? 2 . What method of cul¬ 
tivation would you recommend in keeping the crop 
clean, fertilizing, etc. ? 3. When is the proper time 
to sow ? 4. Would you recommend broadcast or drill 
sowing ? 5. What would be the approximate cost to 
sow and cultivate an acre of White clover and to har¬ 
vest the crop and prepare it for market ? 6 . How 
much seed would be required to sow an acre ? 7 . 
How many bushels would be considered a fair yield 
per acre ? 8 . About what price would a grower get 
per bushel from a seed merchant ? 9. How long would 
it take from the time of sowing to receive a profit ? 
10. Is it necessary to sow annually to insure a crop 
every year ? 
Ans. —1. Any soil upon which a good crop of clover 
hay can be produced, will produce seed provided the 
flowers become well fertilized, in which the bees per¬ 
form an important part, and the midge in the head or 
beetle at the root do not prevent. Clover will adapt 
itself to a great variety of soils, but is at its best in a 
warm, moist soil. 2. I would not think of growing a 
crop of .clover, grass, or grain for seed upon a soil 
which needed cultivation for the purpose of keeping 
it free of foul seeds. In my clover fields, I follow a 
rotation of corn, followed by potatoes, by a grain crop 
seeded to clover and every weed is annihilated in the 
corn and potato fields before it approaches maturity. 
In my own case, the crop is fertilized by a heavy 
application of manure made from corn-fed steers and 
hogs, spread upon the clover sod before plowing for 
corn. 3. I sow all clover seed in early spring ; if with 
a winter grain crop, I sow on a fall of damp, heavy 
snow in the latter part of March; if with a spring 
grain crop my practice is to sow the grain as early as 
the soil is fit; drill or harrow in, then sow the clover 
seed and roll. 4. I always sow clover seed with a 
Cahoon hand seeder. 5. In my method of growing 
the cost of sowing is the cost of the seed and the 
time it takes to sow it which, for one acre, is from 12 
to 15 minutes. In harvesting, I cut with a self-rake 
reaper throwing off, in straight rows, small sized 
