154 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER 
the influence of the superphosphate of lime 
and ammonia-salts, or nitrate of soda, the 
growing barley was able to obtain its non- 
nitrogenous organic matter, amounting to 
more than 90 per cent, of its total dry or 
solid substauee, from the atmosphere, and 
not from the soil. 
You will not fail to see the great import¬ 
ance of recognizing this fact when you are 
told that you may depend upon artificial 
manures to grow more frequent com crops. 
Artificial manures contain but little, and the 
best of them no carbonaceous organic mat¬ 
ter. If, therefore, they were active only so 
long as the plant could obtain sufficient or¬ 
ganic matter from the soil, each succeeding 
corn crop would cause a reduction of the 
condition of the soil, which could only be 
restored by the dung cart. If, on the other 
hand, the organic matter is supplied by the 
atmosphere, the repetition of corn crops by 
means of proper artificial manures may in¬ 
crease the condition of the land. 
If we deduct from the 14 kns of dung its 
water, its carbonaceous organic mattor, and 
the extraneous mineral mattor (soil, sand, 
&c.) which it always contains, there remains 
scarcely half a ton of mineral and nitro¬ 
genous matter. A good deal of this mineral 
matter is comparatively worthless. Of nitro¬ 
gen there is about four times as much as in 
the 200 lb. ammonia-saltH, or in the 275 lb. 
of nitrate of soda. But as the artificial 
manure and the dung have given equal crops 
it is obvious that a given amount of nitrogen 
applied in the artificial manure is much more 
effective than the same amount supplied in 
dung. 
There is one essential mineral constituent 
of a barley crop which is supplied in dung, 
but not in the mixture of superphosphate of 
lime and ammonia salts or nitrate of soda. 
This is potash. The crops grown by this 
artificial munurc must, therefore, have ob¬ 
tained it from the soil itself. Of potash, the 
average crop has been removed from 30 to 
35 lbs. annually. It is obvious that, up to the 
present time, my soil has been capable of 
yielding the quantity required. 
The dung has supplied about cwt. of 
potash annually, or about 34}£ cwt. in the 23 
yenrs ; and in the experiment No. 3, the sul¬ 
phate of potash has supplied tin average of 
abont 1 cwt, annually, or about 23 cwt. in 
the 23 years. Y«t neither the dung nor the 
artificial manure containing potash bus given 
more barley than experiment No. 2 without 
potash. Wbat may be the resources of other 
soils in potash it is not for me to sa}*. It is, 
however, not at all likely that any farmer 
will grow corn, and remove both the straw 
and the grain, for so many years in succes¬ 
sion from the same field, as in my experi¬ 
ments, -without bringing the dung cart into 
it; and I may remark that if the straw' had 
been returned to the lund, I might have 
taken more tliau 50 crops of barley in succes¬ 
sion, without taking from the soil as much 1 
potash as I have done up to the present time. 1 
The same kind of argument is applicable, 
but in a higher degree, in the case of silica. 
The straw of a barley crop contains about 
five times as much silica as the grain ; so that 
if the straw were periodically returned to 
the land in thavlfirm of dung, the exhaustion 
of that oubstmeo would be more gradual 
than that of potash. So also with other con- ^ 
stituents. 
From flic facts I have brought, before you, 
it may, I think, Ire concluded, that upon 
heavy soils, with a subsoil of clay, full crops 
of barley may be grown by the use of an 
artificial mauure containing superphosphate ^ 
of lime and nitrogen, either in the form of 
nitrate of soda, ammonia salts, or Peruvian 
guano. t , 
Mr. Lawks then proceeds to show by j, 
figures that t he quality of bailey grown by ^ 
the aid of artificial manure is quite equal to g 
that grown by the common mode- the aver- sc 
age weight of that grown by the use of su- a] 
perpliosphate of lime and salts of ammonia, ^ 
or nitrate of soda, for 23 years being 53)$ lbs. a , 
per bushel. He also shows that tiiere is a tl 
good profit —over £0 per acre—by his process. tr , 
Further interesting experiments are given 
and much practical knowledge, but our space ^ 
is gone, and we close the subject. if 
<#eld dfyops. 
WHEAT CULTURE 
INDIANA. 
Home-made Phosphate.—M r. H. B. Frink 
is reported as saying at a meeting of a Con¬ 
necticut Farmers’ Club “I have used 
home-made phosphate after the following 
formula : 300 lbs. bone, 150 lbs. sulphuric 
aciil and 6 pails warm water, wish sufficient 
earth to make a ton of the mixture. The 
cost of materials is from $12 to $J8 ; but 
now, instead of using the earth, I should 
mix the ingredients after being cut with the 
manure, and think I should get better re¬ 
sults.” 
I am not sure that wheat culture in In- 
diana, at least in this part of the State 
re (Wells Co.), pays as at present conducted, 
i a j though we have an exclient soil and usually 
38 . B°°d seasons for it. In fact, I am convinced 
l Je that no other crop we raise pays us bo poorly, 
and am not certain we can say it pays us at 
so all, and yet I am convinced that, taking one 
)r _ year with another, the wheat crop may and 
:i g should be a very valuable crop here. I 
l ie think there is, perhaps, no crop cultivated 
he here upon which proper culture has a better 
er effect than upon the wheat crop, and yet no 
!ie other cultivated so Indifferently, and the re- 
, y suit is very indifferent crops aud a yield of 
n _ perhaps 10 to 12 bushels per acre, while, 
with proper culture, our average yield should 
ts and would be from 20 to 25 bushels—a fact 
lt j we sec demonstrated every year by a few of 
j our Intelligent farmers. 
lg I know a few of my neighbors who always 
0 _ expect and get from 25 to 30 bushels per 
a ] acre, and this they have done for yearn, and 
r,. sometimes as much as 33 and 85 bushels, 
n while upon equally as good land, at the same 
time, their neighbors have been losing from 
A j 5 to 10 bushels ; in fact, I have in my mind 
)g at this time a field upon which a tenant 
u raised 34 bushels per acre, and yet the owner 
of the land has rarely, if ever, succeeded in 
u raising more than 10 to 15 bushels on the 
same field. Now, this difference cannot be 
lfc attributed to either the land or the season, 
, for while the tenant was raising 34 bushels, 
the same year on better land, on the same 
L farm, the owner succeeded In raising but 10 
a to 15 bushels. The difference was in the 
manner of cultivating, and all the difference. 
e While the one properly prepared his ground. 
0 put his wheat in at the proper time and in 
e the proper way, the other did not; hence 
f the widely different results ; and yet this 
farmer is going on in the same old way, 
{ with the same results year after year, and 
all the time complaining that “ farming 
don’t pay.” 
f A friend remarked in our presence some 
j time Biuce, that when once he had his farm 
cleared of roots, stumps and trees, he ex¬ 
pected to farm in such a way as to always 
, have good orops. Borne of his old fogy 
. neighbors laughed at him for it, but pea be¬ 
lieve it can be done. There is no good 
l reason why our wheat crops, or iu fact any 
other crop, should be dependent upon the 
season, though of course the season always 
will to some extent modify our crops of 
whatever kind ; but a thorough system of 
practical farming always can and always 
will produce remunerative crops. 
Wheat ground, in this part of the country 
at least, should be plowed early—the earlier 
the better—and if plowed in the latter part 
of May or first of June and ‘‘stirred ” imme- 
diately before sowing, best results will gen¬ 
erally be secured. First, because a better I 
admixture of surface aud undersoil is se- i 
cured, as when being stirred the soil will J 
not turn over completely inverting it, but < 
will mix up more, making, as we believe, a ] 
better bed for the reception of the seed, t 
Second, because if plowod deep in either of t 
the months spoken of, the soil usually being - 
moist at that time, the soil will be moist c 
and in better condition for germinating the r 
seed than if plowed immediately before s 
sowing, or sown in July or August. We I 
know the idea used to be very prevalent, 
and by many good farmers is still enter- t 
tained, that the time to sow wheat is when o 
the dust flies so thick as to make a cloud be- a 
hind the harrow ; but we believe reason and li 
the experience of our most successful wheat r 
growers contradict this theory. When the e 
soil is too dry the grain cannot germinate n 
and must lie in the grouud until sufficient o 
moisture is secured to cause it to germinate, s 1 
and very frequently when this is attained ei 
there is still not sufficient moisture to sus- tl 
tain the plant in a healthy condition, and it a 
becomes weakly and a cold, hard winter u 
kills it; while, upon the other hand, wheat, 
if sown when the ground is moist and in ai 
proper condition to receive it, germinates ol 
quickly, comes up at once, aud grows right qi 
along without hindrance. Iu this locality cl 
we would rather have wheat sown the 10th ai 
of October, aud have the ground in proper se 
condition aud have it done well, than have p« 
it sown upon dry, cloddy grouud on the lBt tb 
of September, bi 
Then our formula for wheat cultivation la 
would be :—Have your ground thoroughly so 
drained ; and what we mean by this is, not ot 
simply to have it so drained that ordinarily hs 
water will not stand upon the surface, but qi 
also that the subsoil may be free from water 
and warm, so that when the wheat gets to 
growing it may not be retarded by a cold, 
damp subsoil; and in order to have this it 
will be necessary on most lands in this coun¬ 
try to have a drain every 10 to 15 rods. 
Having this done, if you can have a good 
Now, as to growing root crops in larger 
quantities for stock feeding. 1 would recom¬ 
mend it in any part of our country where soil 
and climate were suitable for Indian corn, 
except so far South that the seed can be 
planted In late summer or early autumn and 
be insured a fair growth during the mild 
stand of clover to plow under, do it in June ; winters there. The roots can then be fed off 
if not. plow in June any way, if possible, 
and when you attempt it, ptoic ; don’t skim 
over the ground, but let your plow down. 
We hardly ever found a plow that ran right 
that ran too deep. As soon as your grouud 
is plowed harrow it well, in order to pulver¬ 
ize the clods before the sun has an oppor¬ 
tunity of baking them; and whether you 
plow in June or August, be assured you eau- 
not harrow your ground too often or too 
well. Ground should be very thoroughly 
pulverized before the seed is sown upon it, 
not merely the large clods broken into Email 
ones, for clods are clods, though no larger 
than a pea, and clods furnish no plant food 
to the tender plant, and the only way to 
have your ground thoroughly pulverized is 
to plow early, in order that the sun, the 
rain and the dews may do their share of this 
very important work. Now, having mv soil 
thus properly prepared, always presuming it 
lias been properly manured, if the ground 
were moist and in condition to bring on the 
plant, 1 should drill at once ; but if not suffi¬ 
ciently moist, I should wait until it was, for 
“ Beed time and harvest ” will surely come. 
Wheat land, we think, should always be 
rolled ; it makes a much evener and better 
surface for the seed bed. We should always 
place the manure, when sufficiently rotted, 
upon the soil after it is plowed, being very 
careful to scatter it evenly over the surface 
and harrowing it up well with the soiL 
Now, we believe—in fact, we know—that 
if wheat culture were conducted in this way 
and two-thirds the time spent upon one acre 
that we spend on two, we should have more 
than twice the amount of wheat we do have, 
at much less expense, beside the saving of 
in the field to 3heep and pigs during winter, 
the same as is done in the south of England, 
and thus save the trouble and expense of 
harvesting and storing. 
On the few acres that I now cultivate near 
the Jersey sea shore, the soil is so much 
lighter and the growing season so much 
longer and warmer than on the banks of the 
Niagara River, I find that rye, wheat, oats 
and corn are more reliable and profitable to 
grow for forage than roots. My rye is fit to 
cut green for soiling early in May, and as 
this is fed out. the winter wheat, then spring 
wheat, oats and corn follow in succession. 
In the meanwhile as much of these different 
sorts of grain as is wanted to ripen for 
threshing or shelling is left to do so. I ajso 
cut more or less of the above when in blos¬ 
som, and cure it as we do grass for winter 
forage. When one is short lu hay these are 
excellent substitutes, thus cut and cured, 
and may be as easily and as cheaply grown 
as grass by the system which I follow in 
their cultivation in our light soil and mild 
climate. In other parts of New Jersey, 
where the soil is a good clay loam, it is easier 
and cheaper generally to grow grass instead 
of the above green grain crops for winter 
stock forage ; but even in this cose I would 
recommend., always, a certain portion of 
these to be grown for summer soiling, in 
case of a drouth greatly lessening the grass 
crop. 
I plant field roots in rows three feet apart, 
This gives sufficient space between to work 
them with the cultivator. I thin out from 7 
to 9 inch©9 in the row. I do not want my 
beets to grow in this climate heavier than 4 
to 7 lbs. each, as a general rule, for if they go 
A. B. Allen. 
valuable lands for pasture or other purposes, beyond this the quality is not so good, and I 
There would be no need for Granges, and don’t think anything is gained by it. 
there would be fewer farms for sale and New York, Feb. 28. A. B. Allen. 
more contented and prosperous farmers. __ 
What aay you, Mr. RURAL I ORCHARD GRASS IN KENTUCKY. 
James A. Cotton, % _ 
What say we ? We indorse your method A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer 
of wheat culture as contra - distinguished s& Y a ‘—“ Orchard grass seed sells at from 
from the hap hazard mode ; and we are *1-50 to $2.25 per bushel. It should in all 
quite sure that if there was more thorough, cases be sown in March and harrowed in 
intelligent fanning, and if farmers knew with oats. Sow from 1>£ to 2 bushels per 
hmv to attend to their own business better, acre. It will not thicken after it comes up. 
and did do it, they would have less time and When well set it makes a fine sod. It will 
feel less disposition to find fault with other yield 10 to 15 bushels per acre of seed. It 
people. gets ripe the last of J une generally. Cut and 
CULTIVATION OF BOOTS, GBAIN AND 
GBASS. 
When farming, years ago, on the banks of 
the upper part of the Niagara River, I found 
the cool, moist summers aud heavy, loamy, 
clay soil there better fitted for growing roots 
than Indian corn, and as we were then 
breeding trotting horses, ShortrHorn cattle 
and other improved stoek, in considerable 
numbers, which required something in win¬ 
ter in addition to hay to keep them up to the 
proper mark, I devoted a good deal of at¬ 
tention to growing field root crops, which at 
that early period were rather a novelty in 
American husbandly. My experiments in 
cultivating aud feeding these will bear out 
all that is said of their relative value as to 
size, &e., in the able article published in the 
Rural New-Yorker of Feb. 6, page 90. 
Our farmers too often think that the larger 
the size of their roots the greater the amount 
of nutriment they obtain for their stock per 
acre, while the contrary may be the fact. I 
have raised sugar beets, mangel wurzels aud 
ruta bagas weighing as high as 17 to 23 ibs. 
each, which did not contain more, if as much 
nutriment as those not over one-fourth to 
one-third their size. The smaller were juicy, 
sweet and solid throughout, and were eaten, 
either cooked or raw, with avidity, whereas 
the larger were more or less hollow, pithy 
and dry, and would be rejected by our ani¬ 
mals, unless very hungry. 
In the cool, moist summers of Great Brit- I 
ain and some other portions of Europe roots 
of a larger size may be grown of a superior 
quality to those here ; but eveu then the 
chemical analysis published in the Rural’s 
article, referred to above, shows that the 
smaller roots contain an average of about 50 
per cent, more of nutriment (feeding value) 
than the larger roots. Thus, if we get 100 
bushels of the former from the same area of 
land as 150 of the latter, we have as much 
solid nutriment from the one as from the 
other, and we save the additional cost of 
handling, storing and feeding the larger i 
quantity. 
ORCHARD GBASS IN KENTUCKY. 
% _ 
i A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer 
J says :—“ Orchard grass seed sells at from 
e $1.50 to $2.25 per bushel. It should in all 
i, cases be sown in March and harrowed in 
r w »th oats. Sow from 1)£ to 2 bushels per 
', acre. It will not thicken after it comes up. 
I When well set it makes a fine sod. It will 
r yield 10 to 15 bushels per acre of seed. It 
gets ripe the last of J une generally. Cut and 
shock the same as wheat. The best way to 
) get the seed out is to tread with horses or 
thresh with a flail, the seed being so light (14 
lbs. per bushel) that to thresh it with a ma- 
f ! chine it will all blow away. The straw, 
1 when well taken care of, makes better feed 
than wheat or rye straw. Itaffords good fall 
' pasture, and ajso good pasture in the spring, 
1 as eai ly as March, and you can keep it pas- 
1 tured down until the middle of April ; then 
it will make a good crop of seed. 
“We in this county (Washington) sow 
more of the grass than in any other county 
in Kentucky, and we class it above all other 
grasses (blue grass not excepted) because it 
affords as much pasturage as any other 
j grass, comes up earlier than any other, and 
besides we can save seed enough to sell for 
more money than the same field would make 
in wheat. This is no supposition, but it is 
what my neighbors and myself know by 
try hag it.” 
-— ■■ 
FIELD NOTES. 
Seeding Lund to Grass with Flax. — (W. 
F.)—We know it is sometimes done, but we 
know no good reason why it should be rec¬ 
ommended ; on the contrary, from our ex¬ 
perience in flax culture and our knowledge 
of its habits, it is one of the last crops we 
should select t o sow grass seed with. If any 
of our readers know of any advantages to 
be gained by so seeding, we shall be glad to 
have them make them known through these 
| columns. 
Flax Culture. —Will not some of the readers 
of the Rural New-Yohkeu, who grow flax 
both for fiber and seed, tell us whether they 
find it profitable and if so, at what prices 
they sell the seed and fiber, so that we may 
judge whether we can make money growing 
it or not.— S. W. R., Easton, Pa. 
Broom Corn Varieties .—Will not some of 
your experienced readers engaged in broom 
corn culture tell us something of the com¬ 
parative merits of the different varieties and 
state the locality where their experience has 
been obtained ?—s. M. o. 
