2*3 
fertilizer as analyzed at the same station, the 
showing is more favorable as will be seen. 
Nitrogen,.5.90 per cent. Value §1.00 
Phos. acid,.9.34 “ “ “ .56 
Potash,.1....8.04 “ “ “ .40 
Total value in 100 pounds, .$1.96 
To equalize matters we will increase these 
amounts and the cost one-third and notice the 
results: we have therefore in the 
Com. fertilizer; nitrogen, 7.866; value, $1.33; 
phos. acid, 12 45; value $0.74; potash, 10.72 
value $0.53; total value $2.60. Stable manure, 
nitrogen, 10., value $1.70; phos. acid 5.2, value 
$0.31; potash 12.6, value $0.63; total value $2.64 
Estimating the stable manure at $3 per ton. 
and such a sample of the commercial at $45, 
we get in 133% pounds of the latter these three 
principal ingredients of the same money value 
that we do in the ton of stable manure, but in 
different proportions. Ino ther words, we get 
less nitrogen and potash, and more phosphoric 
acid—nearly 125 per cent, more iL the 133% 
pounds of the commercial article than in the 
ton of stable manure for the same money, with 
the ease of application and immediate avail¬ 
ability of these fertilizing elements all in favor 
of the commercial article. Now, if as claimed 
by some eminent authorities, but a small part 
of the nitrogen of the stable manure is im¬ 
mediately available, the disparity is still great¬ 
er. I would not be understood as deprecat¬ 
ing the use of stable manure. I advise using 
all that can be made profitably, and all that 
can be purchased at prices that will justify 
the investrtient; but it varies so in quality that 
little of it is worth more than the hauling, and 
the farmer's produce will not allow his spend¬ 
ing all it brings for manure to produce it. It 
would pay far better in many instances to 
husband and employ all the available resourc¬ 
es of the farm for the manufacture of home¬ 
made fertilizers, and prevent the wastes con¬ 
stantly occurring than to buy much of the 
strawy stuff called manure. 
The best and highest grades of commercial 
fertilizers are the cheapest to buy and most 
economical to use, and if their agricultural 
value was estimated at the same ratio as the 
profits on the farmers’ crops, the prices would 
be about 50 per cent, less than they are. It is 
this great disparity between their cost and the 
farmers’ ability to purchase, that prevents 
their use to a much greater extent. 
One should use all the stable manure avail¬ 
able and supplement it with all the high-grade 
commercial article he can buy. Eight hun¬ 
dred to 1,000 pounds per acre is a good fair 
application. 
Essex Co., N. J. 
FROM P. M. AUGUR. 
For small fruits commercial fertilizers should 
be used to supplement stable manures not to 
take their place. Stable manures have an im¬ 
portant value for their mechanical effect 
upon the soil, apart from their estimated val¬ 
ue as plant food. Let this be always borne in 
mind. For instance, a liberal dressing of prop¬ 
erly fermented stable manure not only adds 
so much nitrogen, potash, and phosphoric 
acid to the soil in their most digestible form, but 
also by being intermingled with the soil it 
gives greater tilth or porosity. In other 
words, it helps to aerate the soil and also adds 
to its absorptive power. Hence there is a 
practical value of stable manure that analysis 
does not show, but which is none the less real. 
And, again, I desire to emphasize the value 
of composting manures. The fermentation 
resulting from composting has an effect quite 
analogous to that of yeast in bread-making, 
the same amount of gluten and starch in flour 
is made more digestible and wholesome as food 
for man by the process of raising and cook¬ 
ing. So also the manure by being properly 
composted and fermented or bacteriaized, is in 
far better condition to aid plant growth and 
the proper development of fruit as a result. 
This also applies with more complete results 
on laud thoroughly aerated by complete un¬ 
derdrainage. 
With reference to commercial or, more 
properly,chemical manures, they have an im. 
portant place in supplementing the manure 
heaps. Just what and how much to use will 
depend much upon the rations previously 
given to the soil and the crops taken from it. 
i believe in treating laud so as to get heavy 
crops and at the same time have it gradually 
growing better. But we are not only to con¬ 
sider the rations heretofore given to the soil, 
but also the needs of the special crop to be 
taken from it. We will suppose it to be 
strawberries. Now, if the land has had a 
proper rotation of crops and has been judic¬ 
iously manured all along, a special strawoerry 
manure may be judiciously added to a good 
dressing of composted stable manure, the 
whole to be thoroughly intermixed by some 
good pulverizing harrow. Uuder such cir¬ 
cumstances with complete culture a maxi¬ 
mum crop of the best quality ought to be se¬ 
cured. In regard to kinds of fertilizers that 
are best for applying to any given piece of 
land, circustances vary so much that it is im¬ 
possible to give any rule that will be always 
applicable. As a rule, don’t pay much, if any, 
more for a manure than its estimated value 
by analysis. Again, do not give overdoses of 
highly concentrated fertilizers, “Enough is as 
good as a feast.” For instance, high-grade 
potash salts or nitrate of soda may be applied 
so liberally that the soil will be surcharged, 
and thus instead of being beneficial the fertil¬ 
izers may be injurious. Generally from 500 
to 600 pounds of some complete fruit manure 
of reliable composition spread broadcast and 
thoroughly mixed with the soil, would be ju¬ 
dicious and safe. This should be applied just 
before planting. I would not replant the land 
with the same fruit until a lapse of a few 
years. 
Middlesex Co., Conn. 
FROM CHARLES A. GREEN. 
We have used Bradley’s, Lister’s and Bow- 
ker’s phosphates on small fruits with appar- 
ently good results, and shall continue to use 
them, but simply for the purpose of supple 
menting the supply of yard manure, of which 
we often cannot secure enough. We have 
sown the phosphate before planting with a 
grain drill,_ all spouts ruoning, which with 
after cultivation was equal to broadcast sow¬ 
ing, and have also scattered it about the 
plants at various seasons after planting, and 
worked it in with subsequent hoeing. We 
have also sowed it broadcast by hand before 
and after planting. While all these methods 
give good results (apparently) I prefer to 
sow with a grain drill before planting in order 
to secure more even distribution. “We buy 
all the wood ashes we can pick up about the 
villages, and apply them, usually broadcast, 
before planting small fruits. We have used 
kainit and with good results, also nitrate of 
soda, but the nitrate does not give as remark¬ 
able results as we expected. We sprinkled it 
about strawberry plants a month after plant¬ 
ing, say, a teaspoonful per plant or less; no 
injury was done except where the leaves were 
burned by accidental contact, and where 
strawberries more recently planted were 
killed, apparently owing to the immaturity 
of the roots. 
We have never applied fertilizers in large 
quantity per acre, as our land is fertile, yet 
we believe we might have profitably used 
more. Could we get yard manure we would 
prefer that to any commercial fertilizer on 
account of its mechanical action on our heavy 
soil, and on account of its being more com¬ 
plete in all the elements needed. Commer¬ 
cial fertilizers are valuable to use in con¬ 
nection with yard manure, especially if the 
soil is' reduced in fertility. Many consider 
commercial fertilizers exhaustive to the soil. 
They are so only when they fail to supply all 
the needs of the plant. If they lack potash, 
for instance, the soil will be exhausted of 
potash by constant use. Hence they will 
be more beneficial when used with more com¬ 
plete fertilizers like yard manure. 
It should be remembered that on soil already 
rich enough to provide for all the wants of 
plants, no form of fertilizer will be beneficial, 
excepting the mechanical effect of yard man¬ 
ure on heavy soil. I have seen large brush 
piles burned and the ashes plowed under in 
bulk and then manure applied in excess with 
no effect owing to the previous fertile con¬ 
dition of the soil. 
Monroe Co., N. Y. 
FROM W. A. SMITH. 
As a rule, we have not employed commer¬ 
cial fertilizers in the production of small 
fruits, or fruits of any kind. This is just the 
question upon which we are now seeking all 
the information we can get. It is one, how¬ 
ever, that must be settled by actual trial, and 
careful experiment. So much depends upon 
soil, time and manner of application, the sea¬ 
son, rainfall and drought, that no general 
rule would be likely to be successful in all 
cases. 
Among the commercial fertilizers used here 
in past years, the Mapes’s Complete Manure 
or fertilizer and the Garden City Phosphate 
have given the best satisfaction, and will be 
more largely used than any other. Bone dust 
if properly used will be valuable upon most 
soils. As these fertilizers are all so finely di¬ 
vided that when applied to the soil, and well 
saturated with water, they are rapidly con¬ 
verted into plant-food, it is evident that the 
proper time to apply them is in the spring, 
after or about the time the soil is in good work¬ 
ing condition 
As nothing can take the place of red clover 
as a general fertilizer, so nothing can take the 
place of stable manure, where that can be 
procured in sufficient quantity. It is only 
from a lack of this home product that we 
are compelled to resort to the more costly and 
less satisfactory ones that are placed upon the 
market. Stable manures are adapted to all 
soils and about every one knows how to ap¬ 
ply them. If we use but little we get but lit¬ 
tle benefit; if we use a liberal quantity of 
good quality, and apply it in fall or winter, 
we reap a corresponding benefit, every thing 
being favorable. Last summer we received 
little or no benefit from stable manure or any 
other fertilizer through the drought-stricken 
West, as there was not moisture enough in the 
soil to convert them into plant food. In many 
cases, coarse manures were an undoubted 
damage to the crops, inasmuch as they ab¬ 
sorbed moisture from the soil and yet supplied 
no food for the crops. 
Berrien Co., Mich. 
ABOUT BEANS. 
When I was a child my mother had planted 
a red bean called Early Bunch. It was iden¬ 
tical with what the Rural sent out last year 
as Early Valentine; but one day a friend 
came visiting and said, “I have brought you 
seed of an earlier and better bunch bean than 
the old kind you have been raising, and once 
you try these you will throw the old kind 
away.” We did as she predicted, and have 
kept the kind she brought us for nearly 30 
years, trying and discarding new varieties 
from time to time. We never knew any vame 
for our beans, nor did we see any like them 
except where we distributed seed to our 
friends, until last spring, when we received a 
package of seed beans from Washington, 
marked Early Refugee Beans. We opened it and 
found the same kind that we had raised and 
valued for so long. We planted on April 11, 
1886, our own seed of Early Refugee, the Ru¬ 
ral’s Early Valentine and Early Six Weeks, 
all in the same soil, and they had the same 
care. We gathered for table, on June 18, 
Early Refugee. The other two kinds were 
not ready for table until six days later” The 
Early Refugee continued in bearing later than 
the others. Tne pods of Early Refugee are 
not so large as those of the other kinds, but 
there are more of them, and we think them 
more tender, and the flavor better. It con¬ 
tinues in bearing longer than they do. 
Don’t seedsmen impose on us a good deal by 
putting out old kinds with new names? Now 
the Early Valentine is the very same bean 
that was grown 40 years ago in rrty mother's 
garden, being neither earlier nor better than 
that; yet a seedsman told me that I was mis¬ 
taken—that the Early Valentine was a new 
variety, just originated. He was also so polite 
as to say that common people—that is,farm¬ 
ers—-knew nothing about such things; that 
seedsmen were the only ones who knew any¬ 
thing about the different varieties. Yet in 
spite of his laying down the law so emphati¬ 
cally, I think we do learn something, for we 
always have a large garden, and try to have 
an abundance of good vegetables. We exper¬ 
iment with different varieties, keep a record 
of plantings and bearings, and retaiu those 
that do best with our soil and cultivation. 
We try new varieties every year. Among 
those we shall try this year are Canadian Won¬ 
der Beans and New Perpetual Peas. j. f. h. 
^ontological, 
‘THE THREE BEST.” 
Among the special enterprises which the 
Rural is undertaking for the information 
and benefit of its readers, the designation of 
the “Three best varieties” of different kinds of 
fruits by leading pomologists throughout the 
country,- is not only of unusual interest, but 
of positive value to every thinking grower. 
Comparing these preferences, a notable fact 
appears—the fact that a wide difference of 
opinion and experience exists in different 
parts of the country; or, perhaps, it may be 
more accurately stated as a wide difference in 
climatic influences and soil conditions,render¬ 
ing it impossible to grow to perfection, in 
some sections, varieties that thrive well in 
other parts. It will be observed that this is 
true of most kinds of fruits, and of the differ¬ 
ent varieties. Possibly some growers may 
think this condition of things might be im¬ 
proved by having a fjgw varieties that would 
thrive in all sections aud resist all adverse 
influences, But if such condition could be 
attained, how long would it be before growers 
would limit cultivation to these varieties, 
overstocking the market to their own damage 
and perhaps ruin. It is a beneficent Provi¬ 
dence that limits the production of any varie¬ 
ty-beneficent not only to growers, but to 
consumers as well as to propagators and 
originators of different varieties. This ex¬ 
pression of widely varying preferences and 
experiences affirms a fact that growers may 
profitably heed—the fact that they must exper¬ 
iment for themselves, test different varieties 
on their own soils, in the climates of their own 
farms, if they would succeed in the highest 
measure. Radically different soils and at¬ 
mospheric conditions often exist on the 
same farms, and to use these conditions to 
the best advantage the grower must be wide¬ 
awake, not so much to understand his neigh¬ 
bors’ processes, as to get a knowledge of the 
capacity and requirements of his own land. 
Doing this, and going to work on that line, he 
will effectually solve the problem that has so 
long, and does still, vex the horticultural 
heart—“What shall I plant?” 
In reference to these expressions of choice, 
E. P. P., of Clinton, N. Y„ in a late Rural 
(page 58) states that some of these preferences 
are “palpable efforts to boom certain fruits 
for sale by the writers.” Possibly; but allow 
me to dissent from such conclusion from the 
premises, as well as from a public knowledge 
of the reputation of many of the pomologists 
referred to. An intimation of a lack of in¬ 
tegrity in these preferences should have bet¬ 
ter basis than a difference of opinion or ex¬ 
perience; otherwise some vineyardists in the 
Hudson Valley might doubt the integrity of 
E. P. P.’s opinion of the Brighton grape 
when he writes: “Think of a list of red grapes 
in these days with Brighton left out!” No 
doubt Mr. P. is honest in this opinion, but he 
should know that the variety named is one 
of the most variable in its caprices or moods, 
so to speak—being fine in one place aud faulty 
in another, nearby. In some vineyards in the 
Hudson Valley it does well, in limited area, 
while in others it fails to meet expectations, 
and in some instances hundreds have been 
grafted to other varieties, the principal reason 
being that the grapes were unsalable after 
the first shipments, as the color grew darker, 
the flavor changed, and they do not grow bet¬ 
ter as they become riper.” No question is 
here made of the correctness of Mr. P.’s view 
for Oneida County, but there is as much rea¬ 
son to think he is booming the Brighton as to 
think other pomologists are booming certain 
fruits in expressing their choice of the “three 
best,” which is no reason at all; and if he will 
some day stop at Highland, Ulster Co. (where 
they grow grapes for market) he may ascer¬ 
tain why that variety is omitted from the 
“three best” list in other sections; and this 
information may induce a more reasonable 
and charitable view of some of the prefer¬ 
ences referred to. Nothwithstanding, if I 
should plant three reds for market, Brighton 
would be one. ward d. gunn. 
j-v ♦ 
PACKING TREES AND PLANTS FOR 
SHIPMENT. 
T. H. HOSKINS, M. D. 
Heavy losses due to bad packing and rough 
handling in the mails-, package of dormant 
deciduous pevennials-, package of ever¬ 
greens must be very caref ul ; package of 
growing plants. 
The Rural sends me the request of a cor¬ 
respondent for an article on this subject. He 
very truly says that thousands of dollars are 
lost aunuaily, to say nothing of the vexation 
occasioned by poor packing. It is a fact that 
otherwise reliable nurserymen and plant 
growers are often neglectful and careless in 
this matter. No other branch of the business 
requires more skill and experience, or better 
judgment, than the preparation of plants, 
cuttings, and especially of growing plants, for 
transmission to purchasers by freight, mail 
or express. There has been a great advance 
in average skill in this kind of work within 
a comparatively short period. Many of our 
first-class houses now send not only cuttings 
rooted and unrooted, but cut flowers, long 
distances by express with very uniform suc¬ 
cess; and by mail also, except so far as this 
work is nullified by the rough and unjustifiable 
handling of the mail bags. There is yet much 
to be desired in this respect,- and it ought to 
be insisted upon by the heads of the Post Of¬ 
fice Department that mail bags should always 
be handled with the care their known contents 
require. Of course the mails have to be han¬ 
dled quickly, and injury is perhaps unavoid¬ 
able; but any one who has the chance for au 
ins.ide view can testify to a use of mail bags 
in transportation, utterly incompatible with 
the safety of their contents. The recent in¬ 
creased complaint of such injury indicates 
the evils still extant in our civil service, 
whereby old and careful employes have been 
replaced by those of less or no experience, 
aud with an undeveloped sense of official 
duty, not alone to superiors, but to the pub¬ 
lic. If my own experience is to be taken as 
a test, not only plants, but other merchan¬ 
dise, photographs, books, and even papers and 
periodicals, come to hand in bad ordor far 
more frequently of late than formerly. 
The packing of dormant vegetation, such as 
the ordinary run of deciduous perennials, 
bulbs, tubers, aud the like, is comparatively 
