434 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 22 
THE SOIL . 
Part IX. 
Two weeks ago, we gave a problem 
about soils for some of the wise men to 
figure out. This week we shall give 
some of their answers. First, here is 
the problem over again : 
How to Doctor This Soil. 
Eight or ten years ago, we could seed to wheat 
and grass, and cut two or three crops of hay 
that would yield from one to two tons an acre. 
Three years ago, a field was planted with cow 
peas, then it was sowed with wheat with 300 
pounds of dissolved bone. It yielded 27 bushels 
of wheat, and gave promise of a fine yield of hay; 
but the promise was all that I got, for there was 
hardly a half ton of hay to the acre. I have no 
trouble in getting a stand of grass; but after the 
grass has made a stand, it seems to think that 
has done its duty, for it will not make a good 
growth. Clover is the same way, or, rather, worse. 
Four years ago, a field was seeded to clover, and 
after getting a good stand, it completely died 
out before the next harvest. The next year it re¬ 
fused even to make a good stand, and since then 
1 have not sowed it. I have no trouble with grass 
on my potato land that I manure with either 
fertilizer or barnyard manure. Last year I cut 
24 two-horse loads from four acres. But I can 
manure only a few acres every year for potatoes, 
and I have a large farm to work. Now I would 
like to know whether the land “ run out,” or 
whether it needs some one fertilizing element. On 
a grass field that was in potatoes last year, I can 
see the rows where only 100 pounds of nitrate of 
soda were used per acre. A large brush pile was 
burned on the land, but no effects were visible 
where it was, and a little soot that I applied this 
spring, shows very plainly. I have a field of 
wheat this year that has a splendid catch of 
grass on it. Would vou advise that it be fertilized 
this fall or next spring, and with what fertilizer ? 
I might also state that, a few years ago, I tried 
lime on, perhaps, a half dozen places, and the 
only effect seen was on one field where the next 
year clover came up as though it had been sown. 
The weed known as “ sheep sorrel ” has this year 
made its appearance in the greatest profusion. 
Maryland. c. 
We want to call attention to the fol¬ 
lowing' answers, and particularly to that 
by Prof. Whitney,because we are anxious 
to impress every reader with the im¬ 
portance of being accurate and exact in 
asking questions. Something is wrong 
with this soil. What is it ? Of course 
this man doesn’t want any guess-work if 
he can help it; but how can people do 
more than guess unless they know all 
the facts? We have learned enough 
about soils now to understand that add¬ 
ing manurial substances to them is only 
one small part of the necessary treat¬ 
ment. Far more important is the mechan¬ 
ical treatment that will make them hold 
water more perfectly. As you see, with¬ 
out knowing more about the soil itself, 
these men are finable to prescribe fully 
for it. This is a good thought to bring 
home right now. 
Sick Soil and Sick Man. 
No more striking obieet lesson has 
ever been presented of the need of closer 
observation by farmers as to the char¬ 
acter of their soils and soil conditions. 
I would call your attention to the fact 
that in the description, not a single 
word has been said of the soil itself. 
Nothing is said of the geological forma¬ 
tion to which the soil belongs, which 
would convey some idea of the character 
of the soil, and nothing has been said 
about the structure of the soil or its 
physical condition. 
Suppose a man said that his health is 
failing, as he could walk but two or 
three miles a day, while formerly he 
regularly walked 10 or 15 miles per day; or 
that he could now do much less work than 
formerly. This would give some measure 
of his failing powers, but it would give 
no idea whatever of the cause of the 
failure Properly to diagnose the case 
and decide upon the treatment, it is 
essential to know the age, sex, tempera¬ 
ment and vitality of the patient, and to 
observe the condition of all the principal 
organic functions. So with a soil. The 
reason for the deterioration of the soil 
s not to be looked for in the smaller 
yield per acre ; this is but a measure of 
the causes which have been operating. 
It is an effect, and not the cause. A per¬ 
son may have a headache resulting from 
indigestion, from over fatigue, or from 
other causes The pain is the effect of 
certain disordered functions in the body, 
and the most intelligent treatment is to 
relieve the pain by treating the condi¬ 
tions which cause it. 
To judge properly of the trouble with 
this soil,it is not sufficient to know that it 
yields less per acre now than formerly ; 
but we should know the nature of the 
soil—its origin, texture and present 
structure ; its relation to water and the 
conditions of moisture which it main¬ 
tains for crops. What conditions does it 
maintain during wet seasons ? What 
conditions does it maintain during dry 
seasons ? What effect have these condi¬ 
tions during different seasons upon the 
development of plants ? 
One may readily see the analogy which 
I have suggested between the intelligent 
treatment of a soil, and of a human 
patient. The lack of appreciation of 
these facts, and the lack of close obser¬ 
vations of soil conditions, have been the 
source of endless trouble and disappoint¬ 
ment to farmers. A man hears of a 
variety of seed, or of a kind of fertilizer, 
or of a method of cultivation which has 
given admirable results when used in 
one part of the country, and is disap¬ 
pointed to find that it does not give the 
same results when used on his own farm. 
He has not realized that the soil and 
soil conditions are very different, or he 
would have appreciated the fact that 
the methods which were successful in 
one locality would not necessarily be ap¬ 
plicable in another, milton whitney, 
Chief of Division of Agricultural Soils. 
U. S. Agricultural Department. 
An Experiment Suggested. 
The correspondent has no trouble in 
getting a good growth of grass on his 
manured and cultivated land, but on 
unmanured land he cannot follow wheat 
with grass, successfully, without ferti¬ 
lizers. Yet, he could do it 10 years ago. 
These facts suggest that his land is per¬ 
haps, “runout” of nitrogen, or some 
other element. It is not easy to pre¬ 
scribe for a patient, intelligently, by ex¬ 
amining a lock of hia hair, or suggest in 
Connecticut, what a sick field in Mary¬ 
land requires. 
If it were mine, I would lay off an acre 
of the land in question, plow it, and 
mark it into four quarter-acre plots, A, 
B, C, D. A should have no fertilizer ; B 
250 pounds of kainit or muriate of pot¬ 
ash ; Cand D should each have 250 pounds 
of basic slag (odorless phosphate) or 
marl cr soft Florida phosphate, and D in 
addition 250 pounds of the muriate or 
kainit; all fertilizers to be sown on the 
furrow. After harrowing, I would sow 
IX bushel cow peas to the acre, from 
May 1 to 15, about the middle of August, 
plow them under and sow Crimson clover. 
The following spring, I would plow this 
under and seed down, perhaps with sum¬ 
mer grain. Careful watching will show 
enough to pay for the experiment. The 
cow peas and clover will gather nitrogen 
from the air, and supply the soil with 
humus or mold. The four plots ought 
to show whether applications of nitro¬ 
gen, or phosphoric acid, or of potash, 
greatly help the crop, and whether com¬ 
binations of two, or of the three are more 
helpful. 
Whether a nitrogenous fertilizer could 
be economically used instead of the peas 
and clover, thus saving time and labor, 
is a question which cannot be answered 
by one unacquainted with all the local 
conditions. e. ir. jenkins. 
Connecticut Experiment Station. 
Better Culture and Nitrogen. 
Since the field produced a large yield 
of wheat, there must have been an 
abundance of plant food in the soil at 
the time it was grown. The cow peas, 
without doubt, furnished the nitrogen, 
or a large portion of it, and the liberal 
dressing of dissolved bone made it pos¬ 
sible for the wheat to yield abundantly 
without depending very largely upon the 
available plant food which was in the 
soil before the cow peas were planted. 
It is stated that, where 100 pounds of 
nitrate of soda were used per acre, the 
effect could be seen the next year. It is 
also stated that, where a large brush 
pile was burned, no beneficial effects 
were noticeable, and that a light appli¬ 
cation of soot showed marked results. 
These facts would all lead to the con¬ 
clusion that the land was lamentably 
deficient in available nitrogen. 
Soot contains from IX to 2 per cent of 
nitrogen, and the ashes from the burned 
brush heap, none. It is probable that 
the culture necessary to prepare for the 
wheat, set free enough nitrogen to sup¬ 
ply the wants of both the grass and 
wheat for the time ; but since the wheat 
occupies the land largely to the exclu¬ 
sion of the grass for nearly a year after 
it is sown, one must conclude that the 
wheat had taken the lion’s share of, not 
only the available mineral matter, but 
the available nitrogen also, thereby 
leaving the grass but little to feed upon. 
The experiment tried with lime seems to 
indicate a lack of nitrogen, as does also 
the appearance of sheep sorrel. 
As soon as the wheat is harvested, the 
grass should receive a light dressing of 
commercial fertilizer containing a very 
high per cent of nitrogen, and a low per 
cent of potash and phosphoric acid. The 
grass should be treated two or three 
times a year to similar applications, as 
it will be found more economical to feed 
the grass, both fall and spring, than to 
put the whole amount on at one dressing. 
One more thing needs to be explained, 
that is, the possibility of getting a good 
catch of grass wherever potatoes culti¬ 
vated with manure or fertilizers have 
been grown. The potato is a compara¬ 
tively deep-rooted plant. The frequent 
culture necessary to its growth and the 
destruction of weeds, gives opportunity 
for large amounts of inert nitrogen to 
become active. 
While going over the experiment plots 
(Continued on next page.) 
NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND 
—the bad habits and 
early vices of young 
men and their dis¬ 
astrous consequen¬ 
ces. Young men 
and old men, those 
who suffer from 
nervous debility and 
exhaustion, the 
wasting away of the 
vital strength and 
power from hidden 
drains or intemper¬ 
ate habits can readi¬ 
ly find relief for body and mind by writing 
the World’s Dispensary Medical Associa¬ 
tion, of Buffalo, N. Y. They employ a full 
staff of physicians and Specialists, who 
treat at a distance by correspondence or at 
the Invalids’ Hotel and Surgical Institute 
of Buffalo, all this class of diseases. Those 
who suffer from low spirits, irritable 
temper, a “broken-down” nervous sys¬ 
tem, and such distressing symptoms as 
backache, dizziness, shooting pains in head 
or chest and indigestion, sexual excesses 
or abuses, all the result of exhausting dis¬ 
eases or drains upon the system,—will find 
a permanent cure after taking the special 
prescriptions sent them from the Invalids’ 
Hotel and Surgical Institute. This associa¬ 
tion of medical men have prepared a book 
written in plain but chaste language, treat¬ 
ing of the nature, symptoms and curability, 
by home treatment, of such diseases. The 
World’s Dispensary Medical Association, 
Proprietors of the Invalids’ Hotel and Sur¬ 
gical Institute, Buffalo, N. Y., will, on re¬ 
ceipt of this notice, with io cents (in stamps 
for postage) mail, sealed in plain envelope, 
a copy of this useful book. It should be 
read by every young man, parent and guar¬ 
dian in the land. 
The Key to the Situation 
—if you suffer from Sick or Bil¬ 
ious Headache, Constipation, 
Indigestion, Bilious Attacks, or 
any derangement of the stomach, 
liver and bowels—is Dr. Pierce’s 
Pleasant Pellets. Mildly and 
gently, but thoroughly and ef¬ 
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and regulate the entire system. 
One little “Pellet” fora gentle laxative— 
three for a cathartic. They’re purely vege¬ 
table and perfectly harmless : these tiny, 
sugar-coated granules of Dr. Pierce. 
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Books Worth Buying. 
Country Roads. 
I. P. Roberts and others. Expert opinions 
upon laying out, constructing and maintain¬ 
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Horses, Cattle, Sheep and Swine. 
Geo. W. Curtis, M. S. A. Origin, History, 
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one new subscription. 
The Rural New-Yorker, New York 
