5i4 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
July 27 
Part XIV. 
Knowing how nitrification is produced, 
the next step for the farmer is to know 
how to bring about this desired action 
in his soil. Put milk or ripe fruit away 
in ordinary air, and it will soon begin to 
sour and decay ; put it on ice, or put 
boiling water on it, or surround it with 
the “ sterilized air ” we told about last 
week, and it will remain sweet much 
longer. Why ? Because, in the latter 
case, the conditions are bad for the pro¬ 
duction and spread of the bacteria. In 
the ordinary air, they multiplied rap¬ 
idly, and thus brought about decay. This 
is just the condition we desire in the 
soil. When we hire a gang of men to 
work after the binder, or on the thrash¬ 
ing machine, we don’t want a big storm 
to put in an appearance. If we had our 
choice, we would have a clear day—not 
too hot, and with a good breeze—because 
such a day gives conditions that bring 
out a man’s best labor, and that is what 
we have invested our money in. It’s just 
the same way with these little bacteria 
in the soil. They do their best work 
under certain fixed conditions, and we 
get more work out of them by making 
those conditions right. First, there 
must be an abundance of available phos¬ 
phoric acid present. Without an abund¬ 
ant supply of phosphoric acid, nitrifica¬ 
tion will proceed but slowly if at all. 
People sometimes ask why, in all stand¬ 
ard fertilizers, the percentage of phos¬ 
phoric acid is far above what the ash of 
the crop shows. Without the phosphates, 
there can be no growth or life, no mat¬ 
ter how much nitrogen is supplied, and 
these useful bacteria will refuse to work 
when phosphoric acid is absent. 
There must also be present in the soil 
a good supply of oxygen. This may be 
supplied by letting the air into the soil 
by tillage. Just as we explained in the 
treatment of that clay soil, deep plow¬ 
ing and mixing organic matter in the 
soil, will loosen it—let in the air. This 
means increased warmth and moisture, 
and a needed supply of oxygen to carry 
out this work of nitrification. 
Another point is that nitrification will 
not be readily carried on in acid or sour 
soils. Take a low peat or muck swamp, 
and you will find few useful bacteria, 
and very little nitrogen that plants can 
use. Drain the swamp and let m the 
air by stirring the soil, and it will be 
improved, but not yet ready to support 
good crops.. Add a heavy dressing of 
lime or wood ashes, and you will in 
time see a great change for the better. 
In addition to the mechanical effect of 
the lime on the organic matter of the 
swamp, it has “sweetened” it or changed 
its sourness, and thus promoted the 
growth of bacteria and consequently, 
nitrification. This matter of curing the 
sourness of soils, is an important one. 
The chemist at the Rhode Island Station 
has made a special study of it, and some 
of his conclusions are of great interest 
and value. We shall talk about them 
later. 
Another established fact is that nitri¬ 
fication goes on best when the materials 
are kept at a favorable temperature. 
This is illustrated by considering the 
decay of fruit in warm air, and in a cold 
ice-box. The bacteria are probably most 
active at about 95 degrees or there- 
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abouts. In summer, therefore, we may 
expect to find nitrification going on most 
actively, and practical experiments show 
that this is so. A very high temperature, 
however, will destroy the nitrifying 
power of the soil, and so will a complete 
drying. 
The last point to consider is that shade 
or the absence of a strong light, seems 
necessary for nitrification. 
To review these conditions briefly, the 
ideal soil to produce available nitrogen 
would be about as follows : Open and 
porous with good drainage, yet capable 
of retaining a fair amount of water and 
admitting air. Not sour, cold or heavy, 
but with an abundance of phosphoric 
acid, lime and potash. In other words, 
the soil itself should be open and mellow 
with abundant supplies of mineral plant 
food. The culture should be such as to 
keep the soil from packing hard. The 
upper surface should be well stirred, 
both to admit air, and bring up a neces¬ 
sary supply of water. Then with a hot 
summer and some crop to shade the 
ground, we should expect a rapid forma¬ 
tion of soluble nitrogen—if the organic 
matter had previously been supplied. 
We are working on this principle in gar¬ 
dening this year. The soil is deep and 
black with a tough, hard sod on it, but 
well drained. We have used heavy 
dressings of bone and potash, and have 
secured an immense growth of all crops. 
We have mulched this soil wherever pos¬ 
sible, so that it is fully shaded. We thus 
expect, during the next six weeks, to 
promote rapid nitrification, and thus 
break up and decay the tough, hard sod. 
But this, of course, will render avail¬ 
able a large amount of nitrogen. What 
will become of that ? This question 
brings up one of the most important 
principles of agriculture. Suppose I 
hired six men for a week to work on the 
thrasher. I agree to pay them $2 per 
day and board for six days. I feed them 
well and make them comfortable, and 
they start in prepared to do good work. 
By Thursday night everything is done. 
I can’t find anything more for them to 
do, and they simply dawdle around over 
a few chores for two whole days, taking 
my money and eating my food. You 
would say that is a foolish operation ; 
yet it is on the same principle for a 
farmer to tend his soil so as to promote 
this nitrification during July and August, 
and then leave it bare of crops during 
September, or after corn and potatoes 
stop growing. Here we are striving to 
make these bacteria work double time 
during August. That will mean lots of 
available nitrogen which will be wasted 
or utilized as we leave the ground bare 
or start another crop. 
For our own part we shall prepare for 
this by sowing Crimson clover in every 
crop that does not prolong its growth 
until late in the season. On much of the 
land, potted strawberry plants will be 
set this fall. The object is to have some 
growing crop—let it be fruit, grain or 
clover, to utilize the summer’s work of 
the bacteria in making the nitrogen 
available. A crop of corn furnishes an 
ideal place for the work of this bacteria; 
yet after the corn crop is harvested, a 
large part of the available nitrogen will 
be washed out of the soil unless some 
young and thrifty crop follow on to 
utilize it. It is a mistake to let any soil 
lie bare during the fall rains. In the 
experiments of Sir J. B. Lawes, drainage 
waters from a large field were carefully 
examined each month for 12 years. Up 
to September 1, while crops were mak¬ 
ing more or less growth, there appeared 
but little soluble nitrogen in the drain¬ 
age waters. During September and Octo¬ 
ber, when no growing crops were on 
the ground, the nitrogen appeared in 
the water, and large quantities were 
passed. This is just what we would ex¬ 
pect. During the hot months of July 
and August, the organic matter was 
broken up, and the nitrogen made sol¬ 
uble. While growing crops were in the 
soil, it was all utilized, or nearly so. In 
September the land was left bare of 
crops, and there being no roots to utilize 
it, the nitrogen was washed out of the 
soil—in other words, wasted. 
This, then, indicates one great mis¬ 
take in the treatment of our soils, espe¬ 
cially in a grain rotation. Small grains 
make little growth after July, and unless 
clover be sowed with them, all the work 
of nitrification will be largely lost. The 
importance of clover in the grain is thus 
made doubly evident. The corn crop, as 
we have said, is likely to be the weak 
point in this loss of nitrogen, because it 
is often ’followed by potatoes, and thus 
the ground lies bare during the autumn 
rains. This we believe to be a mistake. 
A crop of rye will give a large crop of 
organic matter to turn under, but wher¬ 
ever Crimson clover will grow, it will 
prove much more valuable than the rye. 
Suppose the Crimson clover do not live 
through the winter ! Whatever growth 
it makes through the fall, is so much 
gain. As any one can readily see, it 
makes use of the available nitrogen, and 
turns it into organic matter. There it 
is safe for future crops until nitrification 
starts again the following summer. Thus 
Nature goes through her rounds year 
after year. The skillful farmer avoids 
the wastes that occur at her changes. 
MORE ABOUT MOLES. 
In The R. N.-Y. of April 6, Fairfax 
tells of his efforts to exterminate moles, 
and discusses the merits of various kinds 
of traps invented to ensnare them. He 
says that he used every poison he could 
hear of, and speaks of trying corn sat¬ 
urated with strychnine. The moles, 1 
think, would have eaten horseradish root 
just as readily. Still, moles can be 
poisoned if enough care be taken. 
Several of my friends tell me that they 
have succeeded with corn soaked in a 
solution of arsenic. Arsenic is not as 
sure a poison as strychnine—it may 
either vomit or purge the animal, and so 
fail to take effect—and it does not read¬ 
ily dissolve in water; but it has the 
supreme advantage of being tasteless, 
(Continued on next page.) 
“RUNDOWN ,’ 5 
“tired out” woman 
who complains of 
backache, headache, 
loss of appetite, ex¬ 
treme lassitude and 
that “don’t care” 
feeling is pretty sure 
to be suffering from 
“Female Weakness,” 
some irregularity or 
derangement of the 
special functions of 
womanhood. Very 
often womb troubles 
set the nerves wild 
with affright and as a 
result the woman suf¬ 
fers from sleeplessness, nervousness, nerv¬ 
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irritability and indigestion. In all cases of 
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for the hard-working woman who suffers 
from catarrhal inflammation of the lining 
membranes causing a constant drain upon 
the system, there is no prescription used 
by any physician which can equal in re¬ 
sults Dr. Pierce’s. For over thirty years 
Dr. R. V. Pierce, chief consulting physi¬ 
cian to the Invalids’ Hotel and Surgical 
Institute of Buffalo, N. Y., has used his 
“Favorite Prescription” in the diseases 
of women which had long been his spe¬ 
cialty and in fully ninety-eight per cent, 
of all cases, it has permanently cured. 
Mrs. John M. Conklin, of Patterson, Putnam 
Co., N. y., writes : “lam 
enjoying perfect health, 
and have been since I took 
the last bottle of Doctor 
Pierce’s Favorite Prescrip¬ 
tion. I took five bottles 
of it. Never expected to 
be any better when I com¬ 
menced taking it, but 
thank God, I can say that 
I am glad it reached my 
home. I had falling of 
the womb, and flowing 
caused by miscarriage, 
and was very weak when 
I commenced taking your 
medicines. I was cured /a-4!j 
by taking five bottles in fit. 
all—two of the ‘ Favorite ,, _ 
Prescription ’ and three Mr S. Conklin. 
of the * Golden Medical Discovory.’ ” 
W&sbiog Powder 
can be used successfully with the 
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Gold Dust Washing Powder has 
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million women know now and more 
ought to know that 
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THE RURAL NEW-YORKER, New York. 
