Crown  Lands  and  Farm  Loans 
THE  State  of  New  York,  following  the  Revolu¬ 
tionary  War,  succeeded  to  the  Crown  Lands  of 
the  Province — quite  a  considerable  acreage  at  that 
time — and  further  took  over  many  estates,  former¬ 
ly  the  property  of  Tories  and  disaffected  persons. 
These  lands  in  the  early  days  were  sold  on  applica¬ 
tion  to  the  Land  Board,  when  approved  by  the  Sur¬ 
veyor  General.  A  cash  deposit  of  one-quarter  of 
the  agreed  price,  the  remainder  to  be  paid  in  six 
equal  installments,  were  the  terms  upon  which  these 
lands  were  sold.  Later,  the  State  Engineer  and  Sur¬ 
veyor  plotted  many  of  the  State's  holdings  and 
these  were  sold  at  public  sales.  By  escheat,  by 
sales  for  unpaid  taxes,  other  hinds 
came  into  the  State's  possession  and, 
about  30  years  ago,  the  State  began 
acquiring  by  purchase  a  forest  domain 
in  the  Adirondacks  and  Catskills. 
These  latter  lands  cannot  be  sold  or 
Unbelievable  as  it  may  seem  the 
United  States  Government  in  the  early 
thirties  of  the  last  century  found  it¬ 
self  with  a  surplus  and  nothing  par- 
ticular  to  spend  it  for,  so  it  was  de- 
rata  among  the  States.  The  allotment. 
to  New  York  State  was  $5,352,01)4.38 
and  this  sum  was  distributed  among 
the  counties  of  the  State  according  to 
population.  By  enactment  of  the 
Legislature  the  income  of  this  amount.  hr  'if- 
except  $25,000  deeded  to  capital  of 
school  fund,  was  to  he  annually  up-  - - 
plied  to  the  school  literature  funds  of 
the  State.  The  money  was  loaned 
upon  farm  lands  by  the  Loan  Commissioners  of  sent  plants  from  the  College  afterv 
whom  there  were  two  in  each  county,  appointed  by  that  they  were  effecting  the  eradicate 
the  Governor  and  the  Senate,  except,  in  Onondaga  forever  from  their  farms.  However,  I 
County,  where  they  were  elected.  These  Commis-  in  touch  with  persons  whom  I  know 
sioners  gave  bonds  for  their  trust  and  reported  an-  eased  plants  available, 
nually  to  the  State  Comptroller:  they  received  from  Cornell  University. 
Mi  A  SECT  IJN.H  Kl.— There  can  be 
little  question  that  the  danger  from 
certain  kinds  of  insects  is  greater  in 
a  newly  broken-up  pasture  than  it  usu¬ 
ally  is  in  soils  that  have  been  under 
cultivation.  Pasture  sod  often  con¬ 
tains  large  numbers  of  both  wire 
worms  and  white  grubs  and  these,  es¬ 
pecially  the  latter,  frequently  do  great 
injury  to  the  potato  crop.  Unfortun¬ 
ately  no  satisfactory  method  of  pro- 
Section  from  the  attacks  of  these  in- 
-  sects  has  been  discovered.  Breaking 
up  the  pasture  turf  late  in  (lie  Fall  may 
prove  of  some  benefit,  especially  in 
connection  with  white  grubs.  These  insects  have  a 
life  cycle  extending  over  about  three  years.  If  they 
have  been  abundant  in  a  pasture  turf  some  of  them 
will  have  entered  the  dormant  condition  and  will 
be  present  in  the  form  of  pupa*,  and  under  favor¬ 
able  conditions  would  emerge  the  following  Summer 
as  May  (June)  beetles.  Ii»  so  far  as  these  are 
brought  up  from  lower  soil  levels  to  the  surface  or 
close  to  the  surface,  there  is  great  probability  that 
they  will  he  killed  by  the  frost.  This,  however, 
while  a  desirable  result,  may  not  have  any  material 
influence  upon  the  degree  of  injury  to  the  potato 
crop  of  the  following  season,  for  by  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  injury  to  the  potato  crop  is  done  by  the 
partially  grown  worms  present  in  the  soil  at  the 
beginning  of  the  season.  Late  Fall  plowing  is  much 
_  less  effective  in  destroying  these  than 
in  destroying  the  pupa*  because,  though 
Extension  Spraying  in  South  Jersey.  Fig.  281.  See  page  770 
Old  Pasture  Land  for  Potatoes 
Part  III. 
RESULTS, — III  this  field  a  good  corn  crop  has  been 
obtained  only  where  potash  has  been  used.  No 
other  material,  no  other  combination  of  materials 
experimented  with,  is  capable  of  giving  a  good  crop, 
it  is  perfectly  apparent,  therefore,  that  on  this  soil 
Getting  Ready  for  a  Joy  Forever.  Fig.  282.  See  page  770 
potash  in  available  form  is  the  element  chiefly  re¬ 
quired  for  the  production  of  the  corn  crop.  The 
same  has  been  found  to  be  true  concerning  a  num¬ 
ber  of  the  other  crops,  more  particularly  clover  and 
Soy  beans.  In  this  field  there  is  one  plot  to  which 
land  plaster  has  been  applied  annually  at  the  rate 
of  100  pounds  to  the  acre,  and  nothing  else  through¬ 
out  the  entire  period,  with  the  exception  of  the  uni¬ 
form  application  of  lime  already  referred  to.  If 
land  plaster  exercises  an  important  influence  in 
liberating  soil  potash,  then  this  plot  should  have 
given  a  materially  larger  crop  than  the  no-fertilizer 
plots.  This  has  not  been  the  case.  The  average 
yield  of  corn  on  the  plaster  plot  exceeds  the  average 
on  the  no-fertilizer  plots  only  3.42  bushels.  The  con¬ 
clusion,  therefore,  is  unavoidable  that  the  plaster 
