28 o 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
May 5 
ORGANIC OR MINERAL NITROGEN? 
An Important Paper from Phok. S. W. John'SON. 
1. Why is Nitrogen in Ammonia Salts Worth More 
than Nitrogen in Nitrates ? 
2. Why is Nitrogen in Organic Matter Worth More 
than Nitrogen in Nitrate of Soda ? 
The above questions are put with reference to the 
“ trade values of fertilizing ingredients in raw mater¬ 
ials and chemicals” which are used in the manufac¬ 
ture of “fertilizers,” and the words “worth more” 
properly apply to m'lfket value only and not to fertiliz¬ 
ing value. Ammonic nitrogen (nitrogen in the form of 
sulphate of ammonia) is probably, on the whole, not 
worth so much to apply to crops or to the land as a 
fertilizer, as nitric nitrogen (nitrogen of nitrate of 
soda), but the supply of the former is just now rather 
short of the demand—not the agricultural, but the 
commercial demand, while the supply of nitrate of 
soda is ahead of the commercial, including the agri¬ 
cultural, demand. The same relation now exists as to 
demand and supply, between the best forms of organic 
nitrogen and the nitrogen of nitrate of soda. The 
latter is probably, on the whole, the better of the two 
for fertilizing use in agriculture and horticulture. 
But agriculturists and horticulturists and the fertilizer 
manufacturers, don’t think so, and they make the 
demand ! There is a considerable number of consum¬ 
ers who would buy nitrate, if the cost of its nitrogen 
were greater than that of organic nitrogen, and such 
consumers are now “ having a good time.” 
3. Can’t you tell Whether the Nitrogen in a Ferti¬ 
lizer is Soluble or Not? 
It is easy to ascertain whether the nitrogen of a 
fertilizer dissolves freely in water, as is true of the 
nitrogen of ammonia-salts and nitrates, as well as that 
of the urine of mammalian animals. But some of the 
best forms of organic nitrogen, such, for example, as 
that of bird urine and Peruvian guano (uric acid), and 
that of dried (and coagulated) blood, of dried meat, of 
cotton seed and castor pomace, are mostly or entirely 
insoluble in water. The organic substance and nitrogen 
of bone, and that of tankage, so far as due to the ani¬ 
mal matters that yield gelatine, are insoluble in water 
unless boiled with it for some time. Hair, horn, feath¬ 
ers and wool, insoluble in cold and in boiling water, 
may be dissolved in superheated water at a tempera¬ 
ture of 300 to 400 degrees P. Leather and its nitrogen 
may be dissolved in strong alkali and in sulphuric 
acid. Even the organic nitrogen of stable manure, 
peat and bituminous coal is partly soluble in alkalies 
and acids. 
Water, cold or hot, alkalies and strong acids may be 
used to study the solubility of organic nitrogen, but 
these solvents do not enable one to discriminate with 
readiness and certainty between some of the best and 
the nearly worthless forms, especially when the good 
and bad are intimately mixed together. 
Attempts have been made to distinguish the valuable 
from the inert forms of organic nitrogen by the use of 
digestive solvents, such as pepsin-hydrochloric acid, 
and also by submitting them to putrefaction. These 
methods give very useful indications, but are not 
altogether satisfactory, because the solvent processes 
and agents which operate in the soil to bring the 
organic nitrogen of fertilizers into available con¬ 
dition, are neither digestive ferments nor the bacteria 
of putrefaction. 
4. Why Cannot Leather Be Detected P 
The chemist can easily detect leather by taking ad¬ 
vantage of the purple color which tannin gives with 
iron salts, when leather is unmixed with matters that 
mask this color by their own dark tints, and when the 
leather has not been altered by the use of acid, etc., 
used to disintegrate it or, perhaps, merely to baffle the 
analyst. Thus it happens that in “ mixed fertilizers ” 
and some kinds of so-called “ ammoniates” or “ tank¬ 
age,” there may be a considerable or preponder¬ 
ating proportion of leather which cannot be positively 
identified by chemical tests or by the use of the micro¬ 
scope, the leather having been so treated as to lose its 
original characteristics. In mixed fertilizers, also, 
finely pulverized leather, especially if roasted just 
sufficiently to make grinding it easy, may be added in 
large proportion and yet escape detection, or the 
chemist, finding the color reactions of tannic acid 
may reasonably hesitate to announce that leather is 
present, because similar colors are exhibited by a 
variety of organic substances, and he cannot assert on 
oath or prove in court either, that he has found tannic 
acid, or that tannic acid, if found, necessarily implies 
the presence of leather. 
5. If Leather is in a Fertilizer Do You Estimate 
Its Nitrogen at the Price of Organic Nitrogen P 
Not if we know and can prove it. But if we cannot 
prove the presence of leather in a given mixed fertil¬ 
izer, we cannot justify any discrimination against the 
nitrogen of that fertilizer. Most of the large manu¬ 
facturers of fertilizers are known to use only good 
materials. They cannot afford to do otherwise. 
Their factories and their supplies of all kinds are so 
far open to the public that anything crooked would 
leak out sooner or later. If leather enters into the 
make-up of some commercial fertilizers it is as likely 
as not to do so in spite of the good intentions of the 
manufacturer and through ignorance. The producers 
of fertilizer-leather, probably do not offer it under 
that name, and it may easily find its way into reput¬ 
able goods under false pretences. At the same time, 
the fact that leather may be put on the fertilizer mar¬ 
ket and turned off on the farmer at a large profit to 
the producer, and a heavy loss to the consumer, is one 
which will inevitably be “ worked for all it is worth” 
by unprincipled manufacturers. The only security at 
present consists in buying of thoroughly trustworthy 
and intelligent parties, and giving a wide berth to 
organic nitrogen which is suspiciously cheap and can¬ 
not be identified as to its source and nature. There 
is however, I believe, a sure means of determining the 
value of organic nitrogen which experiment stations 
can employ. This is simply to take the testimony of 
the plant itself as to whether the nitrogen of a given 
fertilizer is able to nourish vegetation satisfactorily or 
not. To produce this testimony in court requires time 
and skill. The Connecticut Experiment Station has 
made some very promising attempts in this direction, 
an account of which will shortly appear in its 17th 
Annual Report, to which those interested are referred. 
New Haven, Conn. 
[Hvery query must be aooompanied by the name and address of the 
writer to insure attention. Before asklnK a question please see if it is 
not answered in our adyertising columns. Ask only a few questions at 
one time. Put questions on a separate piece of paper.] 
HOGS AT THE CREAMERY. 
WillTHuK. N.-Y. publish a good ration for hogs, to be fed with 
buttermilk ? As we run a creamery, we have any amount of fresh 
buttermilk, but everything else must be bought, as we have no chance 
to grow anything. Will it pay to grow sweet corn to feed green if we 
can get the land ? The hogs have a good-sized yard, but no pasture. 
Eagle Mills, N. Y. L. B. T. 
Buy Wheat Bran or Middlings. 
Undoubtedly the hogs would do well on green sweet 
corn ; whether it would be as economical as other 
feed, we are unable to say, but think not. Experience 
has taught us that wheat bran or middlings or ground 
oats with buttermilk is excellent to give size and bone. 
When we desire to fatten, we give corn meal instead 
of the other. It takes a month or six weeks, when thus 
fed, to get our stock in fine condition to kill. 
F. H. GATES SONS. 
Sweet Corn and Ensilage Both Pay. 
The best results I ever had in growing and fattening 
pigs six months to a year old were obtained when I 
fed skim-milk and buttermilk—the refuse of my dairy 
—in connection with corn meal, in the proportion of 
100 pounds of the former to 56 pounds of the latter. 
With younger pigs, I have found it better to use wheat 
middlings, in part at least, instead of corn meal. I 
have also found it beneficial to give some green food. 
We frequently feed a little ensilage in winter and 
green clover in summer. In the fall, we have fed green 
sweet corn with excellent results. It pays well to 
raise some for that purpose. I think the same com¬ 
bination of foods with buttermilk at a creamery would 
be all right, as the chemical composition of buttermilk 
does not vary materially from that of skim-milk. 
Wisconsin. c. p. goodkich. 
To Supply the Fat in the Milk. 
He must endeavor to replace the fat that has been 
taken from the milk in making the butter. The best 
product with which to do this is uncertain and depends 
on locality, but 100 pounds of corn meal with 200 
pounds of wheat middlings, 80 pounds to the bag, 
mixed dry and used with the buttermilk, about one 
pound of feed to four pounds of milk, is a good feed 
when the animals are young, and up t'6 four months 
of age. I would gradually decrease the middlings 
until, when finishing for market I would use two 
pounds of corn to four pounds of the milk. I would 
not allow it to become too sour, but would mix fresh 
for each feeding time. This should grow pigs with 
sufficient strength of bone to carry all the weight of 
flesh that may be put upon them, but care must be 
taken to secure a good breed. It will also give a good 
price for the milk, and the meat will be of extra qual¬ 
ity. A small quantity of green food would be very 
beneficial, yet care must be taken not to feed a large 
amount at once, or it is possible that it would not 
prove healthful for the stomach. Clover is better than 
very green corn ; peas are also excellent when green, 
but he may use some corn the first season. Great care 
should be given tg clean pens, also have them dry and 
feed, say, one-half ounce of charcoal and about a dram 
of salt per 100 pounds of live weight daily. 
WILLS A. SEWARD. 
Nothing Better Than Fine Middlings. 
We have found fine middlings the most economical 
food we can buy to feed growing pigs in connection 
with skim-milk or buttermilk. It is inferred that the 
hogs mentioned will be grown on this ration ; it would 
be more profitable to buy pigs than grown hogs to 
which to feed the buttermilk. Sweet corn is an ex¬ 
cellent food for growing hogs if fed at the proper 
stage of development. It should not be fed before the 
corn is fit to boil; from this time, until the husks are 
ripe, it will be found to give thd best results if the 
hogs are kept in confined quarters and have no other 
green food. At the present time, young, thrifty sbotes 
bring the most in our market, and I know of no food 
so well suited to their production as skim-milk or 
buttermilk and fine middlings; this certainly is the 
very best we have for pigs soon after they are weaned. 
It is equally as good for growing these young animals. 
This ration will produce more lean meat and less fat 
than a ration of which corn meal forms a considerable 
part. GEORGE C. WATSON. 
Cornell University. 
Life and Death of the White Grub. 
J. D. G., North Reading. Mass .—The farmers in our 
vicinity have been troubled very much during the past 
year with the white grub or muck worm, and would 
like to learn something in regard to its habits so as to 
be able to know what to do the coming year in regard 
to planting land infested with them. 
Ans. —White grubs are among the most common, 
well-known, destructive and frequently discussed of 
our insect pests. Yet our knowledge of their life his¬ 
tory is incomplete ; no one knows how long they live 
as grubs. And again, a practical and effective method 
of exterminating them, especially where they infest 
grass lands, is yet to be discovered. In regard to their 
habits and life history, we know that the grubs 
usually become full grown in the summer or early 
fall ; then change to white, soft-bodied pupm in 
earthen cells made by the grubs in the soil; and usu¬ 
ally before winter sets in the pupm become adult 
beetles which, instead of leaving the earthen cell and 
appearing above ground in the fall, remain in the cells 
all winter and come forth in May or June. The 
beetles often appear in immense numbers during these 
two months, and this habit has given them their com¬ 
mon name of May or June beetles, or as sometimes 
incorrectly used, June bugs (the true bugs are suck¬ 
ing insects like the plant lice, squash bug, pear Psylla, 
etc.). There are at least 20 different kinds of May 
beetles in New York and neighboring States, but the 
species known as Lachnosterna fusca seems to be more 
numerous than any other. These May beetles feed on 
the foliage of trees, bushes, vines, and other vegeta¬ 
tion, often doing considerable damage during their 
lifetime of a few weeks. They lay their eggs in little 
earthen cells among the roots of grass, one egg in 
each cell. The little white grubs hatch from these 
eggs in about two weeks. They at once begin to feed 
on the roots about them, but while they are small, but 
little injury results. How long the grubs work among 
the roots is not definitely known. Many think they 
live as grubs for three years ; others say two or even 
five years. No one has ever traced the life of a white 
grub from the time it left the egg until it became 
a May beetle. Several observers are now at work 
on this question in different parts of the country, I 
believe. 
The grubs attack all kinds of vegetation below 
ground as grass, corn and strawberry roots, potatoes, 
etc. They can also doubtless live on dead vegetable 
matter in the soil, for it has been found impossible to 
starve them out in months in cages where no vegeta¬ 
tion was grown. Thus clean fallow would not be an 
effectual means of getting rid of these grubs any more 
than it is of fighting the wire-worms. The potash 
salts used for fertilizers, and common salt have not 
been found effective unless used in impracticable 
quantities. Kerosene emulsion has been reported 
effectual in some instances. It is not practicable, 
however, on large areas ; and some experiments made 
here on a lawn last season showed that it must be 
applied in immense quantities to be effectual, as we 
applied 15 quarts of the emulsion (containing one quart 
of kerosene) to a square yard of lawn and failed to 
kill a grub. Skunks soon discovered the grubs and 
nearly exterminated them. Garden moles have been 
known to destroy the grubs also. Some advise turn¬ 
ing hogs on an infested meadow some time before it is 
plowed; doubtless they would root up a great many 
of the grubs. 
However, I think these peets can be quite success¬ 
fully fought and their ravages largely prevented by 
the proper manipulation of the land and crops. By 
this I mean, first, practice a short rotation of crops, 
never leaving^a plot in sod for a long series of years in 
