Z?/>c  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
no  additions  wore  made  to  I  lm  soil, 
nitrogen  would  ho  tho  first  element, 
exhausted,  phosphorus  or  sulphur  tho 
next  ami  potassium  and  lime  last. 
Since  there  is  so  much  plant  food  in 
the  average  soil,  since  it  is  in  such 
an  unavailable  form,  since  tho  meth¬ 
ods  of  chemical  analyses  are  subject 
to  errors  as  great  as  the  amount  of 
plant  food  a  crop  gleans  from  an 
acre  of  soil,  and  finally,  the  chemist 
has  no  moans  of  measuring  tho  con¬ 
ditions  of  the  soil  that  determine  the 
availability  of  the  plant  food  present 
in  the  soil,  chemical  analysis  of  the 
soil  largely  fails  to  give  any  useful 
indication  of  its  fertilizer  needs, 
Er.MKU  o.  I’lPPE.W 
Cornell  1 'Diversity. 
(Continued  next  week.) 
Denatured  Alcohol 
From  a  Chemist’s  Standpoint 
IT  is  true  enough  that  the  course 
which  the  development  of  de¬ 
natured  alcohol  has  taken  in  this 
country  is  not  that  which  was  hoped 
and  expected  h.v  many  who  were 
most  active  in  getting  it  legalized. 
Tint  it  has  had  an  enormous  develop¬ 
ment,  and  has  helped  manufacturers 
beyond  all  expectations,  while  the 
field  for  local  development  is  just  as 
open  as  it  ever  was. 
Many  do  not  realize  the  difference 
in  conditions  lad  ween  us  and  Ger¬ 
many,  I  refer  to  the  Germany  “be¬ 
fore  the  war.”  of  course.  First,  take 
a  globe,  if  you  have  one,  or  borrow 
the  kid's  “jogerfy,”  (I  assume  it  is 
still  called  that ),  and  lay  a  bit  of 
thin  paper  over  Germany  in  the 
hemisphere  map  and  mark  ils  out¬ 
line.  I  >o  not  use  the  “Mercator  pro¬ 
jection"  map,  as  tlie  most  of  Ger¬ 
many  Is  north  of  us.  Now  cut  out 
this  outline  and  lay  if* on  our  States, 
and  you  will  find  that  the  millions  of 
German  people  are  all  living  in  the 
New  England  and  Middle  States,  with 
bits  of  Ohio  and  the  Virginias  thrown 
ill.  Add  to  this  that  they  have  been 
living  there  many  years,  the  roads  are 
perfect,  every  little  brook  a  canal, 
plenty  of  railroads,  a  paternal  Gov¬ 
ernment,  a  pressure  of  population 
such  that,  except  among  the  landed 
proprietors,  a  hoy  must  have  exact 
knowledge  of  something  if  he  is  to 
rise  the  least  hit.  and  plenty  of  tech¬ 
nical  schools.  Then  you  will  see 
some  of  the  reasons  why,  with  short 
distances  and  low  wages,  things 
chemical  can  he  done  which  were, 
and  will  again  be,  out  of  the  ques¬ 
tion  with  us. 
Gut  we  can  make  a  lot  of  alcohol 
if  we  wish,  ami  if  il  is  really  worth 
while.  I  think  the  Greeks  tohl  the 
tale  of  a  farmer  who  got  his  cart 
stuck  in  the  mud  and  sat  down  by 
it  and  invoked  Hercules  to  appear 
and  push  It  out  for  him.  After  lie 
had  wearied  of  tills  In*  set  to  ami  be¬ 
gan  to  push  at  one  of  the  wheels. 
When  lie  had  this  started  the  other 
side  seemed  to  be  moving,  and  he 
looked  over  and  saw  Hercules  at  the 
other  wheel.  So  it  is  no  use  to  sit 
down  by  a  heap  of  apple  cores  and 
yell  for  “government”  to  help  you. 
If  Mr.  Kittleherger  had  a  ledge  of 
low-grade  gold  ore  on  his  farm  he 
would  scarcely  offer  to  put  up  a 
smelter  if  “government”  would  send 
him  a  metallurgist  to  run  it.  He 
would  figure  if  there  was  gold  enough 
to  pay  for  the  smelter  and  the  man 
to  run  il  before  he  began.  And  he 
would  take  a  chance  on  some  accur¬ 
ate  advice.  One  of  the  great  draw¬ 
backs  lo  our  chemical  advance  has 
been  the  widespread  nolion  that  (lie 
chemist  must  give  away  his  knowl¬ 
edge  because  it  is  intangible.  Peo¬ 
ple  go  to  (he  other  professions  be¬ 
fore  they  get  into  trouble  as  well  as 
when  they  are  in,  but  they  wait  till 
tilings  are  in  a  bad  way  amt  getting 
First  Lesson  in  Horsemanship.  Fin.  334 
A  Backwoods  Michigan  Plow  Team.  Fig.  335 
Getting  Ready  for  Peach  Packing.  Fig.  336 
Cement  Water  Trough  Made  with  Silo  Form.  Fig.  337 
881 
worse  before  they  even  ask  a  chemist 
how  much  he  will  charge. 
These  waste  products  are  accur¬ 
ately  comparable  to  low-grade  mining 
propositions.  Each  has  to  lie  stu¬ 
died  mi  its  own  merits,  ami  more 
tilings  than  a  “theoretical  yield"  have 
to  be  figured  before  it  can  lie  told  if 
il  will  pay  to  work  them  tip. 
RESEARCH  CHEMIST. 
Cotton  Plants  Which  Resist 
Disease 
DURING  the  past  few  years  much 
work  has  been  done  in  trying 
to  develop  varieties  of  field  or  gar¬ 
den  crops  which  are  immune  to  cer¬ 
tain  diseases.  For  instance,  we  have 
strains  of  asparagus  which  are  prac¬ 
tically  immune  to  the  rust,  disease, 
and  will  not  go  down  with  that  dis¬ 
ease  even  when  other  plants  all 
around  them  give  way.  There  are 
also  one  or  two  varieties  of  tomato 
which  will  stand  by  while  others  go 
down  with  rot  and  blight.  It  is  also 
true  or  nearly  so  of  some  varieties 
of  potatoes.  It  is  a  most  interest¬ 
ing  development  and  of  practical 
value, 
The  Alabama  Experiment  Station 
now  tells  of  certain  varieties  of  cot¬ 
ton  which  have  I  lie  power  of  resist¬ 
ing  the  "will"  disease.  The  cotton 
wilt,  sometimes  called  “black-root”  or 
“blight,”  has  caused  great  trouble  in 
some  parts  of  the  South.  It  is  due 
to  a  fungus  which  can  live  for  some 
years  in  the  soil,  and  does  not  work 
upon  any  other  plant  except  cotton. 
The  fungus  enters  the  roots  and 
stems  of  the  cotton  plant,  and  de¬ 
velops  so  as  to  fill  up  the  water-car¬ 
rying  tubes.  Thus  it  shuts  off  the 
supply  of  food  elements  and  water 
from  the  soil,  and  the  plant  wilts  and 
dies  either  rapidly  or  by  degrees.  In 
some  cases  only  a  small  part  of  the 
plant  will  die,  the  rest  remaining  as 
a  dwarf.  Wherever  this  cotton  wilt 
appears  the  nematodes,  which  are  re¬ 
sponsible  for  root-knot,  are  usually 
found.  These  little  worms  enter  the 
cotton  roots  and  cause  a  growth  there 
which  makes  it  easier  for  the  wilt  to 
attack  a  plant  and  destroy  it.  It  ap¬ 
pears  that  many  varieties  of  cow  peas 
are  susceptible  to  root-knot.  When 
they  are  grown  on  infested  laud  the 
number  of  nematode  worms  will  in¬ 
crease.  That  of  course  adds  to  the 
danger  of  the  cotton  will.  Sweet  po¬ 
tatoes,  sugar  cane  and  many  garden 
vegetables  also  serve  to  increase  the 
number  of  these  gall-worms,  and  thus 
increase  the  danger  from  cotton 
wilt. 
It  appears  that  several  varieties  of 
cotton  have  now  been  developed 
which  show  more  or  less  resistance 
to  this  disease.  Some  of  these  are 
very  superior  in  the  production  of 
cotton.  The  remedy  for  the  cotton 
wilt  therefore  consists  in  planting 
these  resistant  varieties  on  land 
which  has  been  cleaned  as  far  as  pos¬ 
sible  of  the  nematodes  by  using  tin* 
crops  which  do  not  develop  them  in 
the  soil. 
After  considerable  experiment  the 
Alabama  Station  suggests  the  fol¬ 
lowing  rotation  for  infected  land: 
First  year — Plant  corn  and  between 
the  corn  rows  or  hills  plant  Iron  or 
Brabham  cow  peas.  Where  early  Au- 
t.iinin  pasture  for  cattle  is  desired,  vel¬ 
vet  beans  may  be  planted  with  tin*  corn 
and  grazed  while  green  and  in  time  to 
sow  a  Fail  grain  crop. 
Second  year  Plant  oats:  after  the 
grain  is  cut  for  hay  or  seed,  plant  the 
stubble*  in  Iron  or  Brabham  cow  peas 
for  hay  or  seed.  Follow  this  with  some 
Winter  groin  for  a  cover  crop. 
Third  year  In  the  Spring  plow  un¬ 
der  the  cover  crop  and  plant  some  wilt- 
resistant.  variety  of  cotton. 
The  two  varieties  of  cow  peas 
named  appear  to  lx*  resistant,  and  do 
not  increase  the  number  of  worms  in 
the  soil.  By  omitting  most  of  the 
garden  vegetables  and  other  crops 
