JShe  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
151 
Phosphates :  Their  Origin  and  Use 
Part  II. 
Phosphate  Deposits. — See  what  has 
happened.  The  original  phosphorus  was 
widely  scattered  through  that  pasture 
soil.  The  plants  took  it  up  and  stored  it 
away  in  their  stems  and  leaves.  Then 
came  the  cattle  and  sheep  and  made  the 
grasses  into  meat  and  bone.  They  were 
buried  in  a  narrow  grave  so  that  phos¬ 
phorus  gathered  on  20  acres  was  finally 
concentrated  on  a  space  not  as  large  as 
a  house.  Years  and  years  hence  the 
bones  of  the  cattle  and  sheep,  having 
gone  through  changes  in  the  soil,  will  be 
found  as  a  "phosphate  deposit.”  This 
simple  illustration  shows  how  the  scien¬ 
tists  account  for  most  of  the  deposits  of 
phosphorus  which  provide  our  fertilizers. 
Ages  have  gone  and  millions  of  animals 
have  lived  and  died  in  order  to  bring 
these  things  about,  but  in  general  this 
is  the  theory — that  plants  and  animals 
concentrated  the  phosphorus  and  deposit¬ 
ed  it  where  we  now  find  it.  If  we  think 
for  a  moment  we  may  see  that  there  is 
nothing  miraculous  about  this  just  a 
plain  problem  of  concentrating  the  phos¬ 
phorus  in  the  soil  into  first  plant  and 
then  bone,  so  that  it  becomes  rich  enough 
in  plant  food  to  be  used  as  a  fortilzer. 
There  are  naturally  some  soils  which  con¬ 
tain  less  phosphorus  than  others.  These 
need  reinforcement  in  order  to  make  them 
productive,  and  whai  could  be  more  prac¬ 
tical  or  natural  than  for  fanners  to  go 
to  these  places  where  phosphorus  has  ac¬ 
cumulated  and  use  that  accumulation  for 
use  on  their  soils? 
Redistribution. — For  example,  take 
the  pasture  field  we  have  mentioned  where 
from  the  natural  soil,  grass  and  other 
plants  take  a  quantity  of  phosphorus  and 
give  it  to  the  cattle.  Suppose  the  farmer 
scattered  ground  bone  or  other  phosphorus 
over  that  pasture  in  the  Spring.  As 
every  farmers  knows  that  would  mean 
a  stronger  growth  of  grass  and  better 
quality.  Scatter  bone  dust  over  part  of 
a  pasture  and  you  will  find  the  cows  eat¬ 
ing  the  grass  in  that  strip  down  to  tin* 
ground,  while  on  other  parts  the  grass 
grows  almost  neglected.  This  ranker  and 
sweeter  grass  means  more  phosphorus 
for  the  cattle,  and  that  means  better 
growth  in  the  stock.  On  many  farms 
grain  has  been  grown  and  sold  for  many 
successive  years.  This  means  that  avail¬ 
able  phosphorus  has  been  taken  out  of 
the  soil.  This  phosphorus  may  have  been 
used  as  food  1.000  miles  or  more  away 
and  either  washed  into  the  river  or  the 
ocean  or  used  as  fertilizer  far  away  from 
the  soil  where  it  was  taken  out.  original¬ 
ly.  What  could  be  more  natural  than 
this  plan  of  going  to  the  place  where  the 
phosphorus  lias  accumulated,  digging  it 
out  and  preparing  it  and  bringing  it  back 
to  the  soil  that  needs  it.  This  is  a  fail1* 
distribution.  Some  farmers  still  feel  that 
any  system  of  using  fertilizers  is  wrong 
because  their  own  soil  ought  to  produce 
for  itself.  It  will  be  just  as  fair  to  say 
that  there  should  never  be  bought  for  the 
family  any  food  or  clothing,  but  that  the 
farm  should  produce  all. 
The  Work  of  Ages. — If  we  accept  this 
theory  of  the  formation  of  phosphate  de¬ 
posits  we  are  obliged  to  realize  some¬ 
thing  of  the  wonders  of  world  history. 
The  great  majority  of  us  can  only  hope  for 
a  personal  grasp  of  history  covering  half 
a  century.  Wo  read  the  records  covering 
3,000  or  more  of  years,  hut  apparently 
this  is  hut  a  brief  holiday  compared  with 
the  ages  which  have  gone  in  the  making 
of  the  soil  and  the  distribution  of  plant 
food.  It  staggers  the  imagination  to 
realize  that  if  the  geologists  are  right 
the  vast  deposits  of  prospborus  now  found 
tucked  away  in  the  earth’s  surface  were 
all  formed  after  the  manuer  of  the  cat¬ 
tle  in  that  old  pasture.  Atom  by  atom 
the  phosphate  was  taken  out  of  the  soil 
by  plants,  concentrated  and  passed  on  to 
animals  which  stored  it  up  in  their  bodies 
in  still  more  concentrated  form  as  bone. 
Then,  as  through  the  ages  these  animals 
died,  their  hones  accumulated  in  certain 
favored  places  and  were  petrified  or  slow¬ 
ly  turned  into  what  we  call  phosphate 
rock. 
Nature  Helped. — The  phosphorus  is 
also  accumulated  in  another  way.  Rain 
water,  when  charged  with  carbonic 
acid  will  dissolve  small  quantities  of  the 
phosphorus  in  the  soil.  This  is  carried 
along  with  the  water  through  cracks  or 
other  underground  passages  until  it  meets 
lime  or  iron  or  other  soil  substances  which 
have  a  chemical  affinity  for  it.  Most  of 
ns  realize  what  a  human  affinity  is.  If 
we  could  personify  those  minerals  in  the 
soil  we  might  imagine  them  saying  as 
the  soluble  phosphorus  goes  trickling  by 
— “Say,  wanderer,  stay  here  with  us. 
This  is  a  good  location  and  we  together 
can  make  a  mark  in  history.  Keep  on 
your  travels  and  you  will  remain  a  fluid, 
passing  restlessly  cm  until  you  reach  the 
ocean,  where  you  will  be  lost  to  sight 
and  memory.  You  may  pass  into  a  fish 
or  perhaps  form  part  of  some  lime  l’ock 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but  the  earth 
is  the  [dace  where  records  are  made.  Stay 
here  and  unite  solidly  with  us.  and  we 
will  build  for  coming  generations  and 
ages,  hence  men  will  come  and  put  us 
to  noble  use.  As  individuals  we  shall 
make  but  a  poor  showing;  in  combina¬ 
tion  we  shall  change  the  world’s  history.” 
Phosphorus  is  the  vital  force  of  the 
brain,  and  the  tiny  atoms  in  this  trick¬ 
ling  water  are  quick  to  see  that  a  solid 
home  with  your  friends  is  better  than 
a  wanderer’s  life,  so  they  tarry  by  the 
way,  unite  with  lime  or  with  iron  or 
other  substances,  and  so  through  countless 
years  build  up  great  masses  of  phosphates 
waiting  ready  for  distribution.  Surely  they 
do  change  history  in  this  way.  I  have  tried 
to  make  this  matter  of  origin  and  distri¬ 
bution  clear.  Now  let  us  take  up  the 
matter  of  preparing  this  phosphorus  for 
use. 
(To  be  continued) 
Making  Sweet-potato  Beds 
IIow  is  a  hotbed  built  for  sweet  pota¬ 
toes?  I  wish  it  to  hold  about  25  bushels. 
What  should  he  the  size?  I  wish  to 
build  the  flues  underneath  with  stone,  as 
I  have  (hem  handy.  How  many  inches 
of  soil  should  be  between  the  flues  and 
the  seed?  j.  o. 
Pangburn,  Ark. 
Experience  has  taught  us  that  ordinary 
flues  running  beneath  the  soil  does  not 
give  best  results  in  growing  sweet  potato 
plants.  The  potatoes  are  apt  to  cook  im¬ 
mediately  above  (he  flue,  while  those  a 
short  distance  to  one  side  will  not  have 
sufficient  heat  to  sprout  properly. 
Our  plan  for  making  a  furnace-heated 
bed  would  be  to  dig  a  pit  two  feet  deep 
where  the  heel  was  to  stand.  At  one  end 
of  this  would  be  a  deeper  pit  large 
enough  for  u  furnace  which  can  be  made 
of  stone  or  brick.  This  can  vary  in 
size.  We  prefer  an  arched  furnace  four 
feet  long  by  2(4  to  three  feet  high  and 
18  inches  wide.  From  this  a  flue  is 
run  along  the  bottom  of  the  pit  where 
the  bed  is  to  be.  but  it  only  goes  two- 
thirds  the  length  of  the  bed.  There 
should  be  a  slight  grade  with  the  open 
eud  of  the  flue  at  the  high  end.  Lay 
strong  sleepers  across  this  pit  five  feet 
apart,  and  have  all  of  them  at  least  six 
inches  above  the  flue.  Now  cover  the 
furnace  and  part  of  the  flue  next  to  the 
furnace  with  soil.  Also  put  tin  or  as¬ 
bestos  on  tin1  sleepers  immediately  above 
the  opening  of  the  flue  to  avoid  danger 
from  fire.  Then  lay  on  boards  leaving 
them  spaced  about  one  inch  apart. 
Eleven  12-inch  boards  will  go  nicely 
across  a  12-foot  bed.  Erect  a  chimney 
at  the  end  opposite  the  furnace;  stand 
boards  on  edge  around  the  bed.  nail  them 
to  small  stakes,  and  all  is  ready  for  the 
soil  and  manure.  A  bed  12  feet  wide 
and  55  to  00  feet  long  will  give  ample 
room  for  25  bushels  of  small  to  medium¬ 
sized  potatoes.  On  the  boards  place  first 
long  manure  or  straw,  then  follow  with 
the  soil  in  which  the  potatoes  are  bedded. 
Rut  the  soil  deepest  over  the  flue  aud 
near  the  furnace  where  heat  is  greatest. 
As  will  bo  seen,  the  principle  of  a  bed 
of  this  kind  lies  in  having  a  large  open 
space  immediately  below  the  bed,  which 
is  filled  with  warm  air  from  the  flue, 
and  the  heat  is  as  uniform  as  can  be  se¬ 
cured  from  a  comparatively  cheap  meth¬ 
od  of  construction.  The  potatoes  can  be 
protected  from  cold  above  by  a  liberal 
covering  of  buy  or  else  a  canvas  cover, 
TRUCKER,  JR. 
“My  younger  daughter.”  said  Mrs. 
Twiekembury,  "is  very  talented.  She 
can  sing  solos,  duets,  triplets,  or  quad¬ 
roons.” — Woman’s  .1  ourual. 
Budding  requires  great  skill  and  constant  supervision 
17"  11  ’T'ir£X£X<£  are  budded  by  men  of  years  of 
1  I00S  experience, under  the  personal 
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thousands  of  trees — all  the  standard  varieties  as  well  as  a  few  tested 
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36  years  of  honest  and  accurate  dealing  backs  every  tree  we  sell. 
Grown  in  the  heart  of  the  nursery  district,  our  splendid  specimens 
are  well  rooted  and  acclimated,  sturdy  and  free  from  disease.  As  one 
of  the  five  Kelly  Bros,  personally  directs  the  work  of  a  department 
we  know  the  pedigree  of  every  tree  and  its  history  from  the  seedling 
to  the  freight  car. 
Personal  Service  and  Our  Binding  Guarantee 
has  been  the  secret  of  the  Kelly  Brothers’  success.  From  the  time 
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to  be  true  to  name  and  exactly  as  represented  in  our  Catalogue. 
Kelly  Nurseries 
are  the  last  word  on  nursery  efficiency.  They  are  run  on 
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\  branched,  wide-spreading 
i  root-systems.  These  larger 
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i young — often  a  year 
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,  than  trees  with  only 
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Mention  this  larger  size  in  writing  us. 
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Brings  $3  Per  Box 
National  d#*««»rt  apotd 
—  wonderful  moui'y- 
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grow  a  r,  tiiiftineig 
ever*  whole. 
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Good  Apples 
Itnl'lwln-  A»ii  fur  im- 
prnvi'tl  strain  from  Mr. 
(LreW’a  fawoua  umuLro. 
Mrlntcmh.  it.  I.  Grrvn- 
Iritr,  Ur»VHMti'lnt  No, 
Spy.  Wealthy,  ulc. 
J.  H.  Halo  —Greatest 
Peach  Moneymaker 
Bold  at  oer 
leaflet  whvii  Sltwr^&B 
w«ra  bringing  J|  .2+  tho 
Putt  season  -  hif«r, 
tH»tUr  Qoality.  heller 
than  Ktktrta, 
Gi..w rt  and  »*old  .  i,-lu- 
Biridy  by  Wm,  I*.  Stark,  sta/k  City.  1 _ 
fot  ,traiJ«-mur<.;u»l  tag  with  J.  II  Hale 
Sta/k  City.  Look 
lltCftMureoTi  vVurv  tree. Early  Rose  P»«ch 
at  all  #*»rly  peaebe*,  wonderful 
(>toflt-produr*r;  Introduced  by  ualottUet 
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Monlm’cy  Cherry 
Moat  widely  planted. 
Also  unurs  (»nd 
8wtic*l>;  well  branched 
1  vottr  tree*  with  heavy 
2  yr.  root  nyatemo. 
Everbearing  Straw¬ 
berries  $5  to  $7 
Per  Crate 
lYovod  common* 
succubo.  Boar  tir«t  y vur 
fruit  until  frnnxing 
wotilhur.  Special  prices  _ 
on  lYutfnbUdVti,  host  overbearing.  Trc- 
mcruloo*  d#xnand  for  pinuts.  Write  at 
once,  luiva  plant*  reserved. 
Remember  the  Address 
To  get  William  P.  Stark’s  personnl  help  and  ser¬ 
vice  be  sure  to  address  “Stark  City,  Mo.”  It’s 
easy  to  remember — the  town  is  named  after  our 
nurseries. 
William  P.  Stark 
Nurseries 
Box  895,  Stark  City,  Mo. 
1  WILLIAM  P.  STARK  NURSERIES 
|  Box  895  STARK  CITY,  M0. 
I  Please  send  me  Free  "Inside  Facts,  etc.” 
and  New  1910  Catalog. 
I  Name . 
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.State. 
