THE RURAL HEW-YGBKfft 
farm topics. 
NECESSITY OF EXPERIMENTS WITH 
FERTILIZERS. 
JOSEPH HARRIS. 
By different fertilizers is not meant differ¬ 
ent brands of fertilizers made by different 
manufacturers. We do not want experiments 
with these. 
We want experiments with the different in¬ 
gredients of plant-food. For the present we 
might confine the experiments mainly to only 
three of the ingredients of plants, nitrogen, 
phosphoric acid and potash. 
We have, perhaps, 500 different brands of 
commercial fertilizers made and sold in the 
United States, and nine-tenths of them con¬ 
tain nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, 
and the manufacturers, and many of our 
agricultural writers frequently call them 
“complete manures.” Many of these fertil¬ 
izers contain less than two per cent, of nitro¬ 
gen, 15 per cent of phosphoric acid and five 
per cent, of potash. A few contain more 
nitrogen and less phosphoric acid and potash. 
The manufacturers mix them in such propor¬ 
tions as suit their notions and convenience. If 
any one thinks the manufacturers have any 
special knowledge as to the requirements of 
plants they are mistaken; such knowledge 
does not exist. It is all guess-work. Liebig’s 
patent manure was based on what was called 
the “mineral manure theory,” and it was a 
conspicuous failure. Lawes’s patent man¬ 
ures for different crops were compounded in 
such proportions of nitrogen, phosphoric acid 
and potash as the field experiments at Roth- 
amsted showed to be best, and for the last 40 
years they have held the first rank among the 
commercial fertilizers of Great Britain. We 
know of no manufacturer who has troubled 
himself with similar experiments in this 
country. And so far as this question is con¬ 
cerned, we know little more than we did 30 
years ago. Our knowledge comes from ex¬ 
periments made in countries with different 
climates and conditions from ours. 
Now that we are to have experiment sta¬ 
tions in every State, supported by the Gov¬ 
ernment, we may hope that this deplorable 
state of things will soon pass away. 
Perhaps the best-known experiments in the 
United States are those made by the editor of 
the Rural New-Yorker. I should like to 
see them made on larger plots of ground, but 
otherwise they are admirable so far as they 
have gone. Others may have made similar 
experiments, but I do not recollect them. Dr. 
Sturtevant was an enthusiastic advocate of 
commercial fertilizers, so much so that at one 
time he recommended farmers to sell their 
manure and buy commercial fertilizers. After 
he had been in charge of the N. Y. Experi¬ 
ment Station several years I asked him what 
was the best manure for beans. “Don’t ask 
me,” he said, “I know nothing about man¬ 
ures.” He had gathered from all over the 
United States several hundred samples of 
beans, which he had in bottles, but when I 
wanted to know what kind of fertilizer I 
should use on beans—whether one containing 
nitrogen and how much, or phosphoric acid 
or potash—he could not tell, and I do not think 
any one else can tell. The manufacturers pub¬ 
lish testimonials from farmers saying: “I 
sowed 200 pounds of your fertilizer on beans 
and had a splendid crop”—but what does this 
tell us? The Editor of the Rural New- 
Yorker in 1886 used 800 pounds of Mapes’s 
potato manure per acre, and it increased the 
yield 102 bushels per acre. He put on 1,200 
pounds of it, increasing the yield 199 bushels 
per acre. But what can we learn from such 
an experiment? Fortunately he made other 
experiments which throw much light on the 
subject. 
Let us look at some of these experiments 
made the same year and in the same field, 
with the following average results: 
No manure. 
of potatoes 
per acre. 
. 74 Bush. 
550 lbs superphosphate. 
.106% 
it 
300 lbs sulphate of potash... 
. 95 
(l 
200 lbs nitrate of soda . 
141 
it 
200 lbs nitrate of soda and an j 
abundance of superphos¬ 
phate and potash., 
[ 120 
it 
ammonia, 500 pounds of it would furnish the 
same amount of nitrogen as the 120 pounds of 
sulphate of ammonia, and 58 bushels of the 
increased crop should be credited to the sul¬ 
phate of ammonia. 
As before stated, 800 pounds of Mapes’s po¬ 
tato manure gave a crop of 176 bushels per 
acre, or an increase over the no-manure plots 
of 102 bushels per acre. Deducting the 58 
bushels, which are proved to have been pro¬ 
duced by the 25 pounds of nitrogen, we have 
44 bushels of potatoes produced by the re¬ 
maining 15 pounds of nitrogen. Of course, 
we do not know that these 44 bushels were 
produced by the 15 pounds of nitrogen alone 
as in the experiment with sulphate of ammo¬ 
nia only 120 pounds were used per acre. But 
at any rate, it is perfectly clear that there 
was a great waste of phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash, and of the money which they cost, m 
using 800 pounds of the Mapes’s mixture. The 
experiments prove this beyond controversy, 
and all the manufacturers of fertilizers should 
be grateful to the Rural for the information. 
If one of the many brands of fertilizers had 
been used, of which thousands and tens of 
thousands of tons are sold, containing, say, 
two per cent, of nitrogen, 15 per cent, of phos¬ 
phoric acid and five per cent, of potash, ad¬ 
mitting, which is seldom the case, that the 
nitrogen was in a soluble condition, in order 
to get the 25 pounds of nitrogen contained in 
the 120 pounds of sulphate of ammonia it 
would have been necessary to use 1,250 pounds 
of these fertilizers per acre; or to get the 30 
pounds in the 200 pounds of nitrate of soda it 
would have been necessary to apply 1,500 
pounds of the fertilizer—and the experiments 
prove that the 1,500 pounds would have pro¬ 
duced no larger crop than the 200 pounds of 
nitrate of soda, costing $6.00. 
So much for the value of such experiments. 
P. S.—Since the above was written we have 
received the Rural New-Yorker of Feb. 11, 
containing an account of last year’s experi¬ 
ments on potatoes with a commercial fertil¬ 
izer containing a guaranteed minimum of 
four per cent, of ammonia. Assuming that 
the fertilizer contained 4% per cent, of nitro¬ 
gen, and taking the six plots together, we 
have the following average results: 
No manures, mean of two plots, 238% bush¬ 
els per acre. 
1,540 pounds fertilizer, mean of six plots, 
388% bushels per acre. 
From this it will be seen that 1,540 pounds 
of fertilizer, containing 69% pounds of nitro 
gen, give an increase of 150 bushels per acre. 
In the experiments of 1886, 25 pounds of 
nitrogen, with 120 pounds of sulphate of am¬ 
monia, gave an increase of 58 bushels per 
acre. With the sulphate of ammonia 10 
pounds of nitrogen gave an increase of a 
little over 22 bushels—certainly a very close 
agreement and indicating, what I think is 
generally true, that with an abundant supply 
of all the other constituents of plants, the 
measure of production up to the limits of the 
season, is the supply of available nitrogen. 
Possibly the same may be said of any other 
ingredient of plant-food. But theory, prac¬ 
tice, experience and experiment all point to 
nitrogen as the one ingredient of plant-food 
most likely to be needed to increase the yield 
of potatoes, wheat, barley, oats, cabbages, 
beets and the majority of garden crops. 
But why put on 1,540 pounds of fertilizer, 
costing $40 per ton, to get less than 70 pounds 
of nitrogen? The other ingredients are 
clearly in excess of the wants of the crop. 
White Dutch, which are equally desirable for 
the table or for stock. I have never found 
rutabagas to surpass the Improved Purple 
Top and Laing’s Improved Swede. When the 
rows are distinguishable, be sure to use the 
hoe carefully, if you have no patent weeder. 
When once hoed and nicely started the work 
is comparatively easy, as a horse and cultiva¬ 
tor should be made to do most of it. Should 
turnip beetle trouble, be not sparing of fine 
ashes or land plaster when the leaves are di y. 
A little Paris-green would help to effectually 
rid them of this pest. The thinning should 
take place as early as possible after they have 
begun to grow. 
Should drought threaten you, if you have 
it, run a sub-soil plow as deep as two horses 
can pull it through between the rows, one 
horse walking in each row. A better way is 
to lead the horses, so that they will not step 
on the roots. If a subsoil plow cannot be had 
keep the cultivator at work as early in the 
day as possible when dew is on. Always be 
sure to use flat culture unless the ground is 
clayey, when ridging may be advisable. One 
can hardly realize the amount of roots one acre 
will produce if he is diligent and faithful in his 
culture. I have no positive knowledge of en¬ 
silage, but I am of the opinion that I would 
prefer the roots to it. 
Very many are of the opinion that in 
milch cows the flavor of the roots, especially 
turnips,may be tasted in the milk. For some 
15 years I have fed my milch cows during 
winter liberally with roots, and I never have 
been able to detect any unpleasant taste in 
the milk or butter made from it—and never 
have I had any one complain of any foreign 
taste in the butter, and I am supplying some 
of the best families in our town with winter- 
made butter. * * * * 
R. N.-Y.—In growing mangels a word 
might be said about the harvesting. They 
are quite sensitive to a hard frost and ought 
to be harvested before there is danger of cold 
sharp enough to cause their skins to blister. 
It is best to remove them on dry days. In 
pits or cellars they must be kept from the 
frost as they are about as easily injured as 
are potatoes. 
TOO MUCH CANNOT BE SAID IN FAVOR 
OF ROOT CULTURE. 
These experiments teach us something. Up 
to a yield of 141 bushels per acre, all the soil 
needed was nitrogen. The 200 pounds of 
nitrate of soda contained 30 pounds of nitro¬ 
gen. This increased the crop 67 bushels per 
acre. On adjoining plots an addition of phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash did no good. The in¬ 
creased crop was due to nitrogen alone. 
A plot dressed with 120 pounds of sulphate 
of ammonia, containing 25 pounds of nitro¬ 
gen, produced 132 bushels per acre—an in¬ 
crease of 58 bushels per acre. 
If Mapes’s potato manure contains five per 
cent, of nitrogen in the form of sulphate of 
mi DRESS ROODS AID HOSIERY. 
JAMES McCREERY & CO. 
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75 cents per yard. 
2,200 yards, 54 inches wide, at 
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2,500 yards, 54 inches wide,$l. 
These goods are in small and 
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and are very desirable. 
500 pieces, 21-inch colored Su¬ 
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300 pieces, 24-inch figured all¬ 
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Fast Black IJsle Thread Hose, 
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Samples will be sent on applica¬ 
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attended to. 
ROOTING GRAPE VINES. 
Many neglect it because the idea is preva¬ 
lent that it requires a great amount of labor, 
and much of it of a back-aching kind. With 
proper forethought and preparation, however, 
roots can be raised very cheaply, and general¬ 
ly very successfully. First select a piece of 
sod, if possible, out of black muck or rich, al¬ 
luvial soil—but any will do if properly pre¬ 
pared. The fall before give it a heavy coat¬ 
ing of barnyard manure—you need not be 
afraid of giving it too much. When the 
ground is dry, and the grass has well started 
in the spring (it will start on this early) plow 
as deeply as possible, and turn all grass and 
manure under. Apply at least 400 pounds of 
some high-grade fertilizer, or, say, 20 bushels 
of hard-wood ashes per acre. Let it lie one 
day, then harrow until in perfect tilth. Leave 
it one day to warm. Use a garden drill, and 
sow in rows 28 inches apart. For beets I use 
as a main crop Yellow Ovoid, Norbiton’s Gi¬ 
ant, Golden Tankard, Mammoth Prize, Long 
Red. For carrots, for the main crop, I use 
Large White Belgian and Long Orange, with a 
few Altringham- 
For turnips I use Yellow Aberdeen and 
Broadway and 11th St., 
New York. 
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w 
INGER’S 
ROYAIj 
WIND MILL. 
I grafted grape-vines last month in a way 
which may be original with me. I take a cion 
New Holland 
Power Wind Mill. 
WINGER'S 
FEED GRINDER. 
All Indispensable to Farmers, Dairy¬ 
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Tanks, Cylinders, Pipe, etc. Write for 
Catalogue, and mention this paper. 
JE. B. WINGER, Freeport, Ill. 
ground and one out of it. Tf it is successful am¬ 
ateurs can raise three new kinds easily. Of 
course this is not for professionals; they have 
propagating houses. It is shown at Fig. 145. 
Here is another way; string four-inch flower¬ 
pots on a cane, leaving one or two buds between 
the pots. Fill the pots with soil; keep it moist. 
Cut in July, each will have roots; the pots 
must be tied to a post, and mine rest on nails 
in a post. See Fig. 146. This method can be 
used with other plants, such as roses, tyro. 
XUaman’s XPutrK. 
CONDUCTED BY EMILY LOUISE TAPLIN. 
CHAT BY THE WAY. 
with three buds and whip-graft it on a cane, 
that I lay on the ground, with two buds in the 
W E shall all be putting away our winter 
clothes now. It is just as well to re¬ 
member that tar paper is quite as effective as 
camphor in keeping away insects, and the 
odor is less objectionable to many. Furriers 
recommend this paper, especially in the case 
of sealskin; they say that camphor is very apt 
to make it streaky in color. If one has a 
roomy closet, the clothes may be well beaten 
and aired, pasted up in paper bags, so as to 
effectually exclude insects, and hung here; it 
is preferable to packing them in a trunk. 
Last season the Rural gave directions for a 
camphor varnish, which is most useful in pre¬ 
paring wardrobes for the reception of woolen 
clothes. 
* * * 
The Boston Traveler says that Pundita 
Ramabai, who delivered an address at the 
Women’s Conference on the condition of wo¬ 
men in India, did not startle her hearers 
greatly by explaining that in India a woman’s 
religion is gauged chiefly by the extent to 
which she absorbs herself in the interests and 
comfort of her husband, who often desires her 
to regard him as a god. To many of them 
the thing had a familiar and homelike aspect. 
* * * 
One of the new public gardens in London is 
being laid out by a feminine landscape gar¬ 
dener—Miss Wilkinson, who has been very 
successful in this work. Assuredly there is no 
reason why women should not take up this 
occupation. We may very appropriately put 
it under the head of fresh fields for women. 
It requires artistic taste, which most women 
already possess, and, of course, it must be 
enriched by technical knowledge. There are 
so many women, now engaged successfully in 
