282 
MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
dfyoturatg. 
THE APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL 
NURE TO GRAIN CROPS. 
American farmens are now turning their 
attention to the use of artificial manures in 
conjunction with barn-yard manures, in their 
treatment of crops, and any thing from men 
of experience in the use of these manures 
must pro veprofitable and interesting reading. 
The following is an extract from a paper 
read before an English farmers’ club by Mr. 
T. Fry which we regard worthy of perusal : 
The manufacture and sale of artificial 
manures have of late years been widely 
extended, and assumed au importance to 
which, until recently, they were not supposed 
to be entitled. The preservation of farm¬ 
yard manures is of primary consideration, 
and can never he deemed of secondary in¬ 
terest in the practice of agriculture. The 
first duty of us all is to look and inquire 
whether the excrements from stock un¬ 
treated in such a way as to obtain from 
them the greatest amount of benefit they 
are capable of yielding to the farm, and the 
fact should not be lost sight of that, while 
artificial manures are special and are de¬ 
signed frequently for a particular crop upon 
a particular soil, and are unsuitable in altered 
circumstances, farm-yard manure is adapted 
for all soils and for every variety of crop ; it 
contains, if -well managed, all the elements, 
organic and inorganic, which are essential to 
the nourishment of plants. Under the best 
mode of management sufficient cannot, be 
procured to supply the demand now made 
on the soil. 
The employment of artificial manures has 
now become an established practice, and I 
think must be regarded as essential to good 
farming, abundant crops alone being profit¬ 
able to the producer. The peculiar duty of 
artificial manures is to act as an assistant to 
the dung of the farm by supplying those 
materials which are so much needed for 
promoting the luxuriant growth of various 
crops. In like manner when the supply of 
dung is not sufficient, or when the cost of 
applying it to distant fields is too great for its 
profitable use, then artificial manures be¬ 
come highly valuable. The response which 
land makes to the application of manures 
varies in different localities, as was shown hy 
Professor Wightrow in his report upon root 
experiments, undertaken last season by 
members of the Cirencester Chamber of 
Agriculture, which, probably, most of you 
have read. Iu this immediate neighborhood 
we consider 3 to 4 cwt. of artificial manures 
a good dressing for our root crop. The 
Northumberland farmer does not consider 
half a ton too much. 
In the application of artificial manures to 
corn crops my practice has been to apply 
them in the spring of the 3 *car ; if to wheat, 
the latter part of March or beginning of 
April. Some recommend putting in about 
half the quantity in the autumn and the 
other half in spring. My idea is that when 
the plant is laying almost dormant during 
the winter months mucli of the nitrogen is 
washed away or out of the reach of the roots. 
I have adopted the plan in using guano to sift 
it thoroughly line and apply about 2 cwt, ' 
per acre with 3 cwt of common Balt, or if • 
nitrate of soda is to be used about 1)4 cwt. 
and 3 or 3 cwt. of salt—in either case with 1 
broadcast manure distribution, which 1 have 1 
no doubt is possessed by most farmers at the ( 
present day. Mine Is substituted by taking 1 
out the coulters of my ordinary drill of Priest c 
& WoolnoUgh’s, with Chambers 7 patent c 
barrel; lightly harrow, and roll behind. I c 
may mention iu passing, I think when bar- 1 
rowing wheat the roller cannot follow too 11 
close behind ; I have seen wheat deteriorated T 
very much from this not being attended to. 
Many other manures as top dressings are 
often applied to wheat. Soot, if it can be r 
procured unadulterated and near home, is a e 
very good manure ; a great drawback to its a 
use i6 the difficulty of distributing it properly, a 
The. application of artificial manures to the c 
barley crop is probably now-a- days more F 
general them to wheat. h 
I have for some time felt convinced that T 
we are more likely to grow barley than k 
wheat successfully in competition with for- « 
eign countries, and the relative price of the tl 
two specimens of grain during recent years M 
has confirmed my view. Ii becomes, there- ai 
fore, a matter of importance to consider aj 
whether we can increase our growth of the yi 
finer qualities of barley, such as are adapted st 
to malting. I must apologize if I am going L 
away a little from my subject, but in speak- in 
ing of the application of artificial manures I at 
feel obliged to go a little into the successful tl 
growth of the different crops, and in what 
way the quality and quantity can be promo¬ 
ted. Chemical science tells us that it requires 
: 5 lbs. of ammonia to produce a bushel of 
- wheat weighing 60 lbs. and its corresponding 
quantity of 100 lbs. of straw, the average 
weight of wheat being computed, iu relation 
r to the quantity of straw, us little more than 
1 one-half. Now the same amount of manure, 
r which I have before stated—viz., the 5 lbs. ®f 
1 ammonia which would produce this 160 lbs. of 
s wheat and wheat straw, would produce 250 
• lbs. of barley and barley straw. The usual 
r practice on anything like heavy land is to 
• succeed wheat by barley. In general the 
quantity and quality are much enhanced by 
the application of artificial manures. About 
r 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 3 cwt. of salt 
> would here be in most cases highly service- 
! able, especially if the land is sown early. If 
- late it is dangerous to do so, as too much 
, straw would be grown and great injury done 
■ by the crop being laid. Nitrogen supplied 
s in the form of nitrate of soda or salts of 
s ammonia acts with great advantage on 
• heavy land. A peculiar action takes place 
i in the soil, which causes increased develop¬ 
ment of root, and consequently porosity of 
the clay subsoil This induces the retention 
of moisture, and renders the growing crop 
more independent of drouth. 
I must say my experience has been princi¬ 
pally on light soils, where I have supplied 
artificial manures to Corn crops. On one 
farm I grow barley after wheat, when I 
invariably put on 1 cwt. of nitrate of soda 
and 3 cwt. of salt, or I have sown at about 
the same cost per acre 2)4 t,o 3 cwt. of corn 
manure, from Messrs. Hills of Deptford, with 
very good results. 1 prefer putting on the 
broadcast distributor in advance of the bar¬ 
ley drill. I have a sample this daj r in the 
market which was sown last year after 
wheat quite late, with a dressing of nitrate 
of soda and salt, and I believe there was 
never more than three hours’ rain after it 
was in tile ground till it was cut, and there 
was scarcely any tail corn. Mr, Lewis of 
Roeluimpstoad, who has conducted experi¬ 
ments for over twenty years, has found the 
application of 2)4 cwt. of nitrate of soda and 
3 cwt. of superphosphate of lime to produce 
during that period on the same land as 
nearly as possible the quantity—viz., 6 qrs. 
per acre—as a similar plot treated with 14 
cart loads of good farm-yard manure annu¬ 
ally. 
Aft ith regard to the application of artificial 
manures to the oat crop, we need not fear 
doing too much in reason, the oat being a 
gross feeder, and the danger of a laid crop 
not often dreaded. My custom is to sow 
oats on weak or down land generally after 
two years’ lay ; where the application of 
nitrate of soda at a tout 1)4 cwt. per acre in 
conjunction with salt hag produced good 
effects. I am sorry I did not order as much 
nitrate of soda before the late advance since 
: Blaudford fair of £1 per ton. I must say I 
am a great believer in it, its effect being so 
readily seen, it gives the plant the powerto 
extract from the soil what it otherwise would 
be unable to accomplish, and I hope I shall, 
as loDg as I am a farmer, be able to purchase 
it at £13, 10s. per ton. 
Guano, when pure, has proved itself au 
excellent manure. 1 have used ii in con¬ 
junction with salt in rather less quantities 
than 1 before named for wheat—it haB pro- 
duced good results, but from its cleaving , 
nature it requires to be mixed with a, few , 
dry ashes, or it is difficult to apply it regti- . 
lfti-ly with the broadcast distributor. Rape i 
cake 1 have known sown on the land or ( 
drilled with the seed whire wire-worm is ( 
often dreaded. [ have had no experience ) 
myself, but have suffered from wire-worm, 
and hope to learn the experience of some 
who have used it. 
cdftrM djjtpp. 
INDIAN CORN CULTURE IN NEW 
YORK. 
The Western New York Farmers’ Club 
has been discussing “Com: Varieties and 
Methods of Culture ”—We make extracts of 
the discussion from a report we find in the 
Times President Root grows the red glaze 
yellow ; Mr. Birdsell a hybrid “Dutton 
Mr. Dewey, the eight-rowed yellow ; C. C. 
Holton, an early Dutton, crossed with King 
Philip, ripening in ninety days from plant¬ 
ing ; and Mr. lliekox exhibited two varie¬ 
ties, a long eight-rowed white flint and a 
similar yellow variety, which last he pre¬ 
ferred, as being earlier than the white. Mr. 
three rows to the width of the drill. Drills 
in one peck per acre, and cuts out half of 
that if it all comes up. Rolled after drilling, 
and dragged with Thomas’ Smoothing Har¬ 
row before the com was up and again after. 
This destroyed the first crop of weeds. Did 
not care to cutout thistles till July,and often 
waited till after harvest. Cutting out the 
thistles as late as August will effectually de¬ 
stroy them as the corn is then so rank and 
strong that it smothers further growth of 
any kind of weeds. Was not much troubled 
with ragweed. One year measured twelve 
acres of com ground, and paid forhuskiug 
1,800 bushels of ears. Regarded the corn¬ 
stalks as worth what the com cost to grow. 
Never plowed corn ground till Spring, and 
prefer to wait till just before planting time. 
He thought green manure under the furrow 
did not lose any more than it usually would 
Holton also exhibited specimens of several j i n open barn-yards, and all the benefit to the 
Dent varieties, the “Chester County,” a 
Western com, and the “ Feejee,” a singular 
variety, with very largo ears and deeply set 
grains, some cart yielding a pint of shelled 
grain. It has a very thick, closely-set ear, 
with grains to the extreme point. Unlike 
most of the large-cared varieties, the Feejee 
has a small stalk, and the ear bends down. 
It requires a long season, hut ripened near 
Rochester last year. In opening the discus¬ 
sion, President Root said that corn is one of 
the most valuable crops. Our heavy lands 
are not so well adapted to corn as the mucky 
prairies of t.ho West, but the largest record¬ 
ed crops of corn have been grown in 
Western New York ; 140)4 bushels of shelled 
com per acre have been grown. The more 
prolific varieties are not always most profit¬ 
able, as they do not always ripen. The 
eight-rowed yellow, white flint, and Dutton, 
or twelve-rowed varieties, are generally 
considered best, though the yellow com is 
commonly mixed. 
corn was so much clear gain. 
Shelby Reed had drilled his com since 
1853. Rolled and harrowed corn before it 
was up, aud kept the cultivator going till 
the com was too large. Cottld grow corn 
cheaply enough, nut the difficulty was in 
cutting, husking, and shelling it to fit it for 
market. Had tried to cut com by reaper, 
but without success. Had done rather 
better in thrashing machine, made very 
strong. The corn needs to bo dry. The 
machine cuts the stalks in shreds, making 
them more readily eaten. The corn and 
broken pieces of cob come out together. Ic 
is, however, a slow process, and Mr. Reed’s 
explanation of its results was not very en¬ 
couraging. The cut stalks are liable to sins: 
into a pulpy mass unless left very thin, aud 
the moisture from tearing cob and stalks 
leaves the corn in bad state for ha idling. 
Had never thrashed a whole day, but thought 
whore farmers owned thrashing machines, 
small quantities ot corn for home and imme¬ 
diate use might be got out by them. The 
threshing makes a great noise, and any one 
would think the machine was coming to 
Mr. Root finds it best to plant on inverted Pieces, but he had not found any difficulty 
sod, plowing under all the coarse manure f, lS.BcckwUh preferred shallow plowing 
that can be gathered from barn-yards in the on heavy soils, even where manure was 
Bean and Pea Straw— .J. J. Mechi, in a 
recent paper read before the Midland Farm¬ 
ers’ Club, says Bean aud pea straw I take 
as much care of as hay or straw ; keep it dry 
and ready for cutting up through the chaff- 
cutter. It is very valuable food for our owes. 
For our cattle we generally soften it with 
hot water. It should never go under foot. 
The chaff-cutter is, in fact, with us one of the 
keys of the position. In a dry summer an 
acre of podded greon beans passed through 
the chaff-cutter gives abundance of food. 
With only six acres of permanent pasture, 
and some other green and root crops, I man¬ 
age to keep 200 slieep and a lot of cattle, and 
yet sell plenty of clover, hay and straw ,• the 
straw makes paper aud the clover goes to 
London. Take to the cutting up and pulp¬ 
ing principle and do away with the running- 
at-large plan, and you will be surprised by 
the economy of food. 
f spring. Corn ground should be left us loose 
and light as possible. The roller should 
, never be used, as it packs the soil too closely. 
[ We are apt to plant too much seed. Some 
, of his best, crops have come when worms had 
taken out one-half the young plants. 
Believe in planting with the drill. Tais on 
mellow soil leaves the corn in straight rows, 
so evenly distributed that the cultivator 
can run much closer than where the corn is 
planted in broad hills. As much ground can 
be cut up where corn is planted in drills a3 
in ordinary hills with rows both ways. He 
found tuat com in drills is as easily harvested 
1 as iu hills. lie drilled in rows four feet 
apart, but drills can be run three aud a half 
, feet or three feet, taking care at these small¬ 
er distances not to use too much seed. Used 
the cultivator to the exclusion of the hoe 
except to cut out tb istles. Seldom spend more 
tnan one-half day’s work per acre in cutting 
out thistles. 
Mr. Birdsell believed in planting in hills by 
hand. Good planting, covered too deep, or if 
machines are used, much of the seed is badly 
planted, covered too deep, or with stones 
and clods of earth. The large crop of corn 
spoken of by President was grown by John 
Fargo of Henrietta, many years ago. It 
was carefully weighed and the ground 
measured, and the crop was 144 bushels and 
l peck per acre. It was planted in rows 
three and a half feet apart, two kernels to 
every nine inches—and pull up one if both 
come up. It was twelve-rowed Dutton corn, 
and all the farmers in the county were eager 
to get some of “the Fargo com,” but none 
of them got so large a crop. Statistics show 
that Monroe County produced, in 1870, more 
bushels of wheat than of corn—probably a 
mistake. 
Mr. Holton said a very large crop of com 
might be grown too expensively for profit. 
The aim should be to grow ut the lowest 
cost per bushel. Most fertile soils grow pay¬ 
ing crops. Later aud larger varieties require 
richer laud. Some years ago he planted 
twelve acres with a hand-planter, in hills 
three feet by two feet, and three grains in a 
hill. AU the after work was done by culti¬ 
vator and horse hoe. The result was a crop 
of 1,500 bushels ear; at an expense of fifteen [ 
cents per bushel, of which five cents was for 
husking and cribbing. This was before the 
war. The corn was a hybrid of Dutton and 
King Philip, an early, twelve-rowed sort. 
Dewey was called out on corn. He said he 
understood that crop, because he was 
brought up on corn in a section where 
wheat could not be grown. Corn does best j 
on rich land, sod turned under with a jointer i 
plow, leaving loose mold on the surface. 
Rolled after plowing and harrowed thorough- 1 
ly. Drilled with the “ Farmers’ Favorite” I i 
drill,eleven tubes seven inches apart,making < 
Mi*. Beckwith preferred shallow plowing 
© on heavy soils, even where manure was 
e. plowed under. The manure rots more 
j readily, and the corn roots rea^h it quicker. 
, Mr. Hlokox eg reed with Mr, Beckwith. 
• After experimenting with deep, medium 
and shallow plowing, found the latter, (say 
d five inches) best for corn. Covers field in 
winter or spring with good dressing of 
manure. Prof rs to have sod set on edge, 
1 and uses jointer and roll. Drills with the 
*■ Macedou drill, thirty-live inches apart in 
r rows, and one-fourth bushel per acre. He 
s cultivates with two-horse cultivator, taking 
out middle tooth and catting shallow at first, 
1 going one inch deeper every time till the 
B cultivator goes as deep us the ground is 
5 plowed. Tiiis mixes all the manure with 
j the soil. One man with a two-horse c-ultiva- 
. tor will cultivate as much ag two men with 
1 a single cultivator, aud where the corn is 
i put in with drill will do it better. 
Mr. King preferred an old cultivator for 
1 going through corn tho first lirne as worn 
, teeth did not move the soil so much. 
Mr. Newton preferred drilling corn, as it 
• gave each stalk a chance to develop while in 
f hills the corn crowded and ears were smaller 
and fewer. 
r Mr. Glass wanted some corn that would 
. ripen if planted 15th of June. The early 
Connecticut shown by Mr. Ross, and Mr. 
• Holton’s twelve-rowed early Dutton were 
, recommended for that purpose. 
Mr. Ives advises very thorough cultivation 
as ibe best means of securing corn per 
bushel Would put in plenty of seed and 
then cutout if too thick. Agreed with other 
members that drilling corn was preferable 
to planting in hill?. Takes a hay.rake and 
cultivates young corn with that, stirring the 
ground before the oom is up, crossing the 
drill-marks. As soon as com appears, culti¬ 
vates and pulls up all thistles and weeds 
through the season. He planted corn last 
year on a field fufeEted by quack-grass. 
Found thorougli cultivation killed the quack, 
and grew a good crop of corn at a cost of 
$27.70 per acre, or 45 cents per bushel of 
shelled corn. He had sold 3ome at SO cents 
per bushel. 
-»•»»-- - - -- ■ 
BROOM CORN IN KENTUCKY. 
A correspondent of tho Sun. Nicholas- « 
ville, Kv., thus gives bis experience with 
this crop :—In 1868 I put in a crop of broom 
corn, it then being worth about $”50 per ton. 
When my crop cam© in I begun to manufac¬ 
ture brooms. For the first hundred dozen 
I realized $4 per dozen, and before 1 could 
get the same number again manufactured 
they were worth only $1.75 per dozen, and 
at this price they continued through the 
) years 1867 and 1S08, In 1869 I realized $350 
, per ton, which paid me very well In 1870 
1 moved to Jefferson county, near Louisville, 
expecting to get rich in tho business. I 
planted 150 acre?, and lost about $2,000 on 
the crop. From this vou can see tuat the 
I price of broom corn fluctuates even more 
j than that of any other crop that is raised 
I by the farmer. Broom corn is. something 
that has to be worn out, not consumed, like 
pork, Indian corn, or wheat. There was 
enough broom corn raised in 1S70 to supply 
the market four years. This is another 
1870, as there will be not loss than two 
thousand acres off corn raided in Kentucky. 
Broom starts of at $150 per ton ; let us see 
what it will be worth when the crop of 1875 
comes in. 
_ai 
