252 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
April 6 
Part VIII. 
Wood Ashes and Bone. 
In the ease of the superphosphate or 
dissolved rock, the phosphoric acid is sol¬ 
uble iii water, and for that reason is dis¬ 
tributed ail through the soil—better than 
the hone, which receives only a mechani¬ 
cal distribution. It is not known that 
the plant takes up phosphoric acid in 
the water-soluble form. The belief is tha t 
the reverted form supplies the plant with 
this food. If this is so, the snperphos- 
phate must revert in the soil before feed¬ 
ing the plaDt. A reverted phosphate 
formed in this way can hardly be equal 
in feeding capacity to a porous and or¬ 
ganic fragment of bone. Then, too, a 
portion of the soluble phosphate un¬ 
doubtedly uuites with iron and other sub¬ 
stances in some soils, to form insoluble 
combinations which are of no immediate 
value. Unfortunately, too much of this 
discussion is theory — there are not 
enough actual facts to 'prove what people 
sometimes believe. All who buy fertilizers 
are confronted with this question as to 
the relative merits of phosphoric acid 
from rock, or from bone. From the very 
nature of the case, soluble phosphoric 
acid must be the same—no matter what 
its source—just as potash would be the 
same in the ashes of pine, oak or apple. 
The question is, does it pay to use the 
soluble form when all the facts are fairly 
considered V And then the question 
arises, if bone, fish, tankage, etc., give 
this organic form of phosphoric acid, how 
much more can we afford to pay for a 
pound of it, all things considered ? This 
question cannot be fairly answered until 
we get half way through the plant's life. 
We have now briefly reviewed the 
sources of potash and phosphoric acid in 
the ashes. We know where to go and 
duplicate these substances in cheaper 
forms than the ashes alone provide. We 
have seen that a ton of the ashes con¬ 
tains about 1,200 pounds of lime, 110 ol 
potash and 40 of phosphoric acid. Just 
as a bit of review, let us see whether we 
can make up a fair substitute for the 
ashes. As to the potash, 225 pounds of 
muriate or 1,000 pounds of kaiuit, will 
give more actual potash than the wood 
ashes. For feeding most crops, as we 
see on page 192, this form of potash 
would be just as good as the carbonate in 
the ashes. 
Lime is the same whether it is burned 
from wood, shells or limestone, therefore 
1,200 pounds of quicklime will do as much 
good as the lime in the ashes. How 
about the phosphoric acid ? We cannot 
use a superphosphate, because you will 
readily see that the lime in the 
ashes will at once combine and revert 
the phosphate as explained on page 
212. llone would do it. but that contains 
nitrogen, too, and we wish only a sub¬ 
stitute for the ashes. We might use basic 
slag for the purpose, but a better sub¬ 
stance is what is known as the Peter 
Cooper bone meal. This is bone which 
has been treated in glue-making to re¬ 
move the gelatine or glue. The result 
is a fine substance—nearly a pure phos¬ 
phate of lime. In brief, then, a mixture 
of 1,200 pounds lime, 225 of muriate of 
potash, and 150 of some steamed bone, 
would give all the plant food there is in 
an average ton of wood ashes. Its action 
on the soil would not be quite so good, 
and it would not be so fine and readily 
worked into the soil, but the plant food 
would be just as valuable. We have 
made this statement as a sample of what 
can be done to provide different bread 
and butter for the plant’s sandwich. We 
now come to consider the meat or nitro¬ 
gen—the most important part of all. 
Going back to the “ Balanced Ration,” 
we understand that lean meat represents 
muscle. We have taken nitrogen to rep¬ 
resent the meat in the sandwich, because 
it is the element that promotes growth. 
An excess of nitrogen is like a whip on 
the plant, urging it along to an excess¬ 
ive growth of stem and leaf at the ex¬ 
pense of seed and fruit. As with the 
potash and phosphoric acid, there are 
different forms in which nitrogen is 
found—just as there are many kinds of 
meat for a sandwich. Here is a list of 
the substances most commonly used in 
fertilizers with the amounts of these 
three fertilizing elements they contain : 
Pounds in 100. 
Nitrate of soda. 
Nitrogen. 
. 16 
Phos. 
acid. 
Potash 
Sulphate of ammonia. 
. 20 
Dried blood. 
14 
Ground bone. 
8 54 
20 
Dissolved bone. 
154 
15 
Dried fish. 
7 
7 
Tankage. 
7 
10 
Cotton-seed meal. 
7 
3 
2 
Basic slag. 
20 
Wood ashes. 
2 
554 
Dissolved S. C. rock .. 
12 
Dissolved bone black. 
16 
Sulphate of potash... 
50 
Muriate of pot ash. 
50 
Kainit. 
1254 
One ton clover hay.... 
41 
8 
44 
One ton stable manure. 10 
5 
12 
The first thing we call your attention 
to in that list, is the fact that 150 pounds 
of cotton-seed meal, 10 pounds of super¬ 
phosphate, and 20 pounds of muriate of 
potash, will provide all the actual plant 
food there is in a ton of stable manure. 
Mind you, we don’t say that it will make 
just as large a crop, for it will not. The 
bulk and vegetable matter in the manure 
have a valuable effect on the soil, as we 
shall learn later. The point here is to 
learn where the actual plant food can be 
obtained, and whether it is any cheaper, 
all things considered, in the substitute. 
It also shows again why we advocate the 
use of extra potash and phosphoric acid 
with manure. Sometimes, when asked 
to use a fertilizer containing three per 
cent of nitrogen, seven of phosphoric 
acid, and six of potash, people say, 
“ What about the useless 114 per cent? 
Why must we buy 100 pounds in order 
to obtain 1(5 pounds of plant food ?” 
These men seldom ask why they handle 
1,973 pounds of “useless” matter in stable 
manure in order to make use of 27 
pounds of plant food. We have seen 
how potash and phosphoric acid cannot 
possibly be used in a pure form. They 
must be mixed with lime and other sub¬ 
stances and, of course, all this means 
bulk. We add the analysis of clover hay 
to show how it compares with stable 
manure, and also to show how chemicals 
may be mixed with green crops to give 
the needed bulk. 
How a brief word about these forms in 
which nitrogen is bought. Nitrate of 
soda is, as its name implies, a combina¬ 
tion of nitrogen and soda. It looks like 
coarse salt, and dissolves readily in 
water. It comes from the rainless dis¬ 
tricts on the west coast of South America. 
Nitrate of soda is quickly available be¬ 
cause it dissolves readily in water, and 
is thus passed all through the soil—like 
the soluble phosphoric acid. Unlike the 
superphosphate, however, it does not 
form new and lasting compounds in the 
soil, but will leach out with the drainage 
water unless the plants are right at hand 
and able to make use of it. Sulphate of 
ammonia is the result of an operation 
in making gas. In passing the gas 
through water, a quantity of ammonia is 
washed out and remains in the water. 
By adding sulphuric acid, the sulphur 
and the ammonia unite and form sul¬ 
phate of ammonia which settles at the 
bottom. This substance, while soluble 
in water, is not so available as nitrate of 
soda. At present prices, it is too ex¬ 
pensive as compared with the niti-ate. 
The other forms of nitrogen here given, 
are what is called organic —that is, they 
are made as a part of an organized 
body—animal or plant—as dried blood or 
cotton-seed meal. The nitrogen in these 
substances is not, like nitrate, quickly 
soluble in water. To be fully available 
as plant food, the organized form must 
first break up. This requires heat as 
well as moisture, so that this organic 
nitrogen is most useful during the 
latter part of the growing season 
when the weather is hot. That explains 
why on late planted crops dried blood or 
tankage gives better results than nitrate 
of soda. "With early planted crops, how¬ 
ever, it is considered the best practice to 
use both forms —mineral or nitrate and 
organic such as blood, tankage, cotton¬ 
seed meal or bone. The reason is that 
in the cooler weather of spring, the 
soluble nitrate provides soluble nitrogen, 
while later, in the summer, the organic 
form is ready. If we use all nitrate, part 
of it might be washed out and lost, while 
if we used all organic, there might be no 
available supply early in the season. The 
solubility of these organic forms depends 
very largely on the degree of fineness to 
which they are ground. The nitrogen in 
ground bone, for example, is harder for 
the plant to obtain than that in the finer 
blood or cotton seed meal. 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
Corner Chambers and Pearl Streets New York 
St. Jacobs Oil is made to cure ^ 
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