768 
NOV. 20 
than to most other agricultural pursuits. A 
very natural sequence to this tendency Is, 
that it is comparatively difficult to introduce 
a promising novelty, even for trial, the dis¬ 
position being to wait till some one else shall 
have demonstrated its value; instead of test¬ 
ing it for themselves, and thus becoming in¬ 
formed of its real value in time to be able to 
adopt promptly, whatever shall prove worthy 
of adoption for their purposes. 
Farm Orchards 
are needed for a distinct purpose; and hence 
the varieties selected for such purpose should 
be chosen for their fitness for the same. The 
commercial idea calls lor good handlers, bright- 
colored and productive, with but slight re¬ 
gard to mere quality; while the wants of the 
family demand fine quality, delicacy, and 
other minor particulars by preference. Un¬ 
fortunately the preponderance of the “mar¬ 
ket idea” among both nurserymen aud plan¬ 
ters is often so decided that family require¬ 
ments are in a measure crowded aside. In¬ 
deed, it is not unfitquently true that nurser¬ 
ies fail, in whole or part, to propagate and 
offer for 6ale many of the very finest of even 
the old. well rtcognized varieties; while 
newer sorts, no matter how desirable, are 
only taken up when necessary to meet a 
pressing demand. 
The Tardy Introduction of Novelties 
in Michigan, is doubtless largely due to the 
causes already stated; but it is believed that 
the very superiority of our climate, for such 
pursuits, may have much to do wiib the mat¬ 
ter. The almost universal success, here, of 
varieties popular at the East, coupled with 
the fact that both our people ardour orchards 
have been imported very largely from that 
direction, has almost wholly determined our 
selcctious; and although the pomologists of 
the more westerly States have, under ttie 
stimulus of a necessity peculiar to their re¬ 
gion, been long engaged in the creation of a 
class of fruits adapted to local needs; they 
have been in the main outs de of our line of 
supply; while our planters have doubtless 
acted upon the idea that, in their case, quality 
was being subordinated to hardiness; so that 
we here must expect to lose rather than 
gain by the introduction of these new crea¬ 
tions, since the old well known and thoroughly 
recognized sorts, already among us, are 
abnndunily satisfactory, 60 far as hardiness 
Is concerned. It is beyond doubt true that 
the alleged tendency of market varieties to 
override, or crowd aside those more especially 
of an amateur character, is increased by the 
circumstance that many if not most of the 
finest of amateur varieties are of feeble or 
otherwise unsatisfactory habit; and hence 
less acceptalle to both the nurseryman and 
the orchai dist; while few purchasers are found 
willing to pay for the increased expense or 
time requisite for their production. 
Janit (gnmoraB. 
WHICH FORM OF NITROGEN IS MOST 
READILY ASSIMILATED BY PLANTS 1 
No. 2. 
PROFESSOR F. H. STOKER. 
From the evidence of the experiments 
noted in my last article it is difficult to 
escape the conviction that the corn plant 
needs ammonia (or uiea?) when young 
and nitiates when more mature. It Is to be 
remarked that these results agree closely with 
those obtained by Stohman in bis earliest ex¬ 
periments with corn. His plants grew best in 
solutions that contained both nitrates and am¬ 
monia. The significance of this fact is seen 
now more clearly than it was at the time the 
experiment was made, for attention was dis¬ 
tracted from it by subsequent experiments of 
Stohman and others in which it was found that 
corn could apparently be grown In the absence 
of ammonia. Libmann’a results are in full 
accord also with Kuchn'sexperiments made in 
180G. Several experiments upon corn made 
by Hampe, and repeated by Wagner, bIiow 
also that this plant can use ammonia (as well 
as urea and uric acid) in the earlier stages of 
it* growth, and from the record of these trials 
it seems probable that the plants got an abund¬ 
ance of nitrates, in due course, from the oxida¬ 
tion of the ammonia in the solutions. Taken 
all together, the experiments go to show that 
ammonia alone is insufficient for the growth 
of corn ; that nitrates are needed by the more 
mature plant; aud that mixtures of ammonia 
and nitrates may fitly be used for fertilizing 
this crop. 
Lehmann experimented with tobacco also, 
in a similar sense, though in this case he grew 
the plants not by way of water-culture, but 
in sand to which all the necessary kinds of 
food had been added. To some of the plants 
he gave nitrate of soda aud to others sulphate 
of ammonia. The tobacco plants fed with the 
ammonium salt were healthy aud sound from 
first to last, and the plants grew normally all 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
the while. The nitrate-plants remained far 
behind the otlicrB daring the first half of the 
experiment and had a pale color and sickly 
appearance: bnt during the last half of the 
experiment they manifested a strong tendency 
to Improve. They became green and their 
growth was evidently stronger than before, 
though in spite of this improvement, the final 
weight of the nitrate-plants was comparatively 
small. The intimation given by these trials 
that ammooia may be better food than the 
nitrates for tobacco is all the more smprising 
inasmuch as tobacco is one of the plants that 
is apt to take up nitrates freely from the soil 
and store them in Us leaves. Like the mature 
coru-plant, the tobacco in these experiments 
evidently fed upon nitrates during tbe later 
stages of growth, and it is In the highest de¬ 
gree probable that even in the jars which con¬ 
tained ammonia, nitrates were really formed 
during the second period. Since the plants 
were grown in sand, in this case, it was im¬ 
possible to prevent the formation of nitrates, 
aB had been done for the corn-plants, by fre¬ 
quently changing the solution. 
Lehmaun grew lupins also, and It appeared 
that nitrate of soda was on the whole better 
fitted to feed Lliese plants than sulphate of am¬ 
monia. His experiments, as regards lupins, 
have recently been repeated by VVein who 
finds that, in spite of the fact noticed by Leh¬ 
mann also, that this plant stands in compara¬ 
tively little need of nitrogenous manuring 
anyway, the use of nitrate of Boda is, neverthe¬ 
less, advantageous on the whole, while sulphate 
of ammonia seems to be actually hurtful. 
Heiden also has offered evidence to show that 
sulphate of ammonia is of no use to lupins, 
not even in the earlier stages of growth, and 
that rye does not feed upon ammonia directly. 
In field experiments upon rye manured with 
sulphate of ammouia the plants were miser¬ 
able until the end of April when they began to 
grow luxuriantly. Meanwhile the soil had 
been tested from time to time for nitrates and 
none had been found until the end of April. 
From that time forth they were found in 
abundance. The fact that sulphate of am¬ 
monia has beeu found so useful as an applica¬ 
tion to grain in England is readily explained 
by the supposition that it gradually changes to 
a nitrate in the soil. 
Lucanus found in laboratory experiments 
that nitrates were absolutely necessary for the 
luxuriant growth of his clover-plants, aud Dr. 
Gilbert has called attention to the fact that in 
the field experiments of Dr. Lawes and bout 
self, nitrate of soda has been found to act 
much more favorably than sulphate of am¬ 
monia upon the growth of leguminous plants, 
such as peas, beaus, and clover. 
The upshot of the experiments 6eeras to 
be that while there are some plants which 
feed upon nitrates during their whole life, 
other plants can only use nitrates freely 
after they have reached a certain devel¬ 
opment; and that while there are some 
plants which are benefited by ammonia when 
young, there are other kinds which get no 
good from it oveu in the earlier stages of 
growth. These results of laboratory experi¬ 
ments are manifestly lu accord with the facts 
well known to farmers, that some crops, like 
Indian corn, lor example, will succeed well ou 
land that has just beeu dressed with fresh 
stable manure, while other crops had better al¬ 
ways be mauured with well-rotted dung. 
Furthermore, they go to 6how the utility, sug¬ 
gested long ago by Stoeckhardt, of using mix 
tures of nitrogenous fertilizais, in many cases. 
A mixture of a small quantity of nitrate of 
soda—or of sulphate of ammonia, in the cases 
where ammonia salts are to be preferred, to 
act in the earlier stages of growth—toge'her 
with a quantity of nitrogenlzed organic matter 
to be nitrified lu the later stages of growth— 
may often beamoreeconomical methodof man¬ 
uring than either one of the ingredicois taken 
by itself. It is not improbable that mixtures of 
Bulphateof ammonia and nitrate of soda would 
do betler service in many cases than either of 
tbeBe salts by itself. It was noticed some years 
since in the laboratory experiments of Birner 
& Lucanus that while healthy oat plants 
could not be grown in the ubseuce of nitrates 
it was still true that better plants were got by 
using both sulphate of ammonia and nitrate 
of lime than when only the nitrate was em¬ 
ployed. It is to be noted in this connection 
that more or less of ammouia compounds, 
aud usually some nitrates also, are contained 
in growing plants at all the different stages 
of theirdevelopmeut,the ammonia compounds, 
moreover, are commonly present in plants 
in larger quantity than the nitrates are. It 
wonld seem as if each of the two substances 
had some special physiological function to 
perform within the plant, and as if it would 
be well to provide the plant with both of them. 
The noted experiments of Hellrlegel on the 
growth of barley-plants, showed that barley 
succeeds perfectly when fed with nitrates, 
but does not succeed when fed wilh ammoDinm 
compounds, under conditions which preclude 
nitrification. More recently Ilaesselbarth 
has confirmed this result. He finds that 
barley grows perfectly well when fed with ni¬ 
trates, and also when it is manured with am¬ 
monium salts provided the soil is marled, i. * * 
It succeeds when the conditions are made fa¬ 
vorable for changing the ammonia to a ni¬ 
trate. In bolh oases his plants took up al¬ 
most tho whole of the nitrogsn that was con¬ 
tained in the fertilisers offered to them, and 
the weights of the dried crops were very 
nearly equal. But in the absence of marl 
only about half of the nitrogen contained in 
the ammonium salts was taken up by the 
plants and the dried crop only weighed a 
third as much as the others. These remarks 
apply both to sulphate of ammonia and to 
chloride of ammonium, but not to phosphate 
of ammonia, which gave exceptionally bad 
results. Only three-fifths of its nitrogen were 
consumed by the plants grown in the marled 
earth and only one-seventh by those where 
no marl was used, and the weights of the 
crops were correspondingly low. It was de¬ 
termined. moreover, by special trials that a 
large portion of the ammonia compounds in 
the marled earth did actually change to ni¬ 
trates during the course of the experiment. 
--- ♦♦ ♦- 
THE VALUE OF A CARRIAGE-BOLT AND A 
RIVET. 
A carriage-bolt is an iron bolt with a 
broad head at one end and a screw and nut at 
the other. It is to be procured of all sizes, 
from one-eighth of an inch thick up to one 
inch. Its form is aB here 6hown. It costs, in 
quantity, not much more than cut nails, and 
its value consists chiefly in the fact that it can 
never, practically, be used up. For if used in 
making a gate, for instance, when the gate is 
^ orn out, or banged to pieces by neglect, as m 
the usual fate of a gate, the bolts may be taken 
out and used for another gate, and so on as 
fig. 373. 
long as a man may live, and his children may 
use them after him. But a nail’s life is ended 
when it is once used, aud this fact may have 
given rise to the adage, whose origin is sup¬ 
posed to be shrouded in mystery, “ as dead as 
a door-nail.” For use on the farm there are 
few more convenient and useful things than 
these bolts. For putting together wagon boxep, 
hay-racks, feed-racks, gates, doors, portable 
fences, and for putting hinges ou, as well as 
for repairing almost every wooden thing of 
large size and heavy weight, carriage-bolts are 
indispensable. A gate put together with car¬ 
riage-bolts will out-last a dozen made with 
nails; a door fastening put on with a bolt is 
safe and permanent, aud so is a hinge, and 
they are cheap. lu short, when one has used 
a few bolts aud found their value, he will never 
be without them. Tho neck is made square, eo 
that it will not turn in any hole into which it is 
driven. 
At fig. 374 is a yard-gate made with fence- 
boards put together with carriage-bolts. Any 
one can make it and put on the hinges and 
hung it in one hour. To do this, take a piece 
of fence-board nine feet long and one four and 
a half feet; lay these on a barn floor or oil a 
level piece of ground. On these lay the four 
bars, 13 feet long; square them wilh a square 
and lay the brace on them as shown. With a 
qunrter-inch bit and a brace bore the holes 
as Bhown in the illustration and put the bolts 
through them- Then lay over the cross-bars a 
second upright for the head-post and another 
for the foot-post; mark these and bore tbern 
and put them in place. The bolts should be 
three and three-fourths inches long if thefcuce 
strips are “plump inch ;” if they are “scant 
inch" three and a half incheHwlll be long enough 
and three-sixteenths of an inch thick will bo 
strong enough. Put a washer over each bolt 
under the nut, and screw up the nuts. Put one 
hinge ou the gate at the lowest bar, to which it 
should be bolted, and the upper hinge shoald 
reach from the head-post to the brace near the 
top. The result will be a tia «* of the cheapest 
construction, light, strong, and one that can¬ 
not sag. A slide-bolt may be made to work 
between tho foot boards and between the brace, 
and a Bhort, upright piece which is bolted to 
the bars, as shown. Two pegs in the slide-bolt 
prevent it from going too far in either direc¬ 
tion. This is but one example of many in 
which light carriage-bolts may be made useful- 
A copper rivet and a burr are the best things 
to repair broken harness with. They will he 
found usefnl for making straps, for repairing 
iron hoops and for many other useful pur¬ 
poses. But for fixing harness they are inval¬ 
uable. To mend a trace, for instance, a hole, 
or two or three of them, may be made in the 
leather with a small blade of a penknife, a 
gimlet, or, which is best, with a punch, for the 
special purpose. A small, sharp knife-blade, 
twisted around in the leather, will cut a smooth 
bole. The rivet is inserted from the inside of 
the trace, the burr is placed over the end, and 
a few blows rightly directed will fasten the 
rivet permanently. It will not break or wear 
out. The hammer blows should be struck a 
little sidewise, so as to make a conical spread 
of the rivet, and not directly upon the end of 
it. The effect of this is shown Id the drawing. 
A roll of copper wire is also a baudy thing to 
have about a barn ; for with it oue may splice 
a cracked shaft, mend tho haudle of a tool, re¬ 
pair a broken cradle-finger, sew harness, and 
even fasten a button on to his clothes. For 
the last-mentioned purpose nothing else is so 
easy, ready or effective. 
-M-*-- 
Caro of Farm ImpleaientH. 
We often see, when passing along a country 
highway, mowing machines, hay rukes, wagons 
and other farming utensils lying out exposed 
to the weather. Sometimes this is because the 
owner has no conveLient place for them, and 
at other times it is through negligence, but 
whatever tbe cause it is always poor economy. 
The value of implements and machines neces¬ 
sary to use in the proper and successful man¬ 
agement of an ordiuary-sized farm, amounts 
to about |500, and the wear and tear of them 
is of necessity a great deal; but if allowed to 
remain out in all kinds of weather they will 
often receive more, detriment from the expo¬ 
sure than from actual use. The implements 
used on an ordiuary-sized farm can all be stored 
easily in a buildiug30x40 feet, the cost of which 
need be but little, not to exceed ®50. A little 
thought and computation will show to any far¬ 
mer the advantage of such a building for stor¬ 
ing farm implements. But a building, how¬ 
ever well built, will not protect from tho 
weather, implements that are left In the field. 
We must ex rcise some care in keeping them 
in their places. G. A. Goff, Jr. 
Jficlii Crop, 
MORE TESTIMONY CONCERNING THE 
WHITE ELEPHANT. 
The White Elephant Potato I believe to 
be an excellent variety as to produc.ivenets, 
quality and time of maturing, being a medium 
late, which is also a great consideration, as 
they can be housed for Winter use much earlier 
than the late varieties, thus freeing the land for 
Fall seeding or other purposes. Having so few 
to start with, I cut them to ouo eye to make 
them go as far as possible, aud planted in the 
same field with the Beauty of Hebron, giving 
both the same treatment. The early season 
was very drv here and affected the Beauties 
and Roses very much, but tbe Elephants, being 
6trong growers, did not suffer so much and 
turned out a much larger yield of good, salable 
tubers. Of course, the trial this seaeou in this 
locality was not a fair one, but I saw enough 
to convince me that they are a No, 1 potato for 
a general late crop. The Elephant is a good 
cooking, salable, well-shaped potato. I shall 
plant more of them next season. 
Bay Ridge, L. I. David C. Bennett. 
The members of my family, who are good 
judges of potatoes, pronounce the White Ele¬ 
phant as good as the Early Rose. It is large 
and productive. W. J. Beal. 
State Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich. 
The specimen tuber of the “White Elephant” 
sent to the President of the College was turn¬ 
ed over to me for planting. I out the potato 
to single eyes and planted them in my speci¬ 
men beds along with other kinds, but the sea¬ 
son proved so dry that potatoes of all kinds 
were with me a failure, f have Baved the few 
fair tubers gathered for what 1 hope will be a 
more satisfactory test next year. 
E. A. Popenob. 
State Agricultural College. Horticultural De¬ 
partment, Manhattan, Kansas. 
The White Elephant Potato I think an excel¬ 
lent variety, it matures early, grows to a 
good size, is prolific so far as tried, and when 
cooked is mealy and of fine taste or flavor. I 
r aised enough lromhalfof the oue you sent 
