VOL. XLVIII. NO. 2067. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 7, 1889. 
PRICE FIVE CENTS, 
*2.00 PER YEAR. 
(Entered according to Act of Congress, In the Year 1889, by the Rural New-Yorker, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.) 
TESTING FERTILIZERS FOR WHEAT. 
HE time has ar¬ 
rived when we 
muse consider 
what fertilizer we 
will use on our 
wheat. If we have 
tried, in seasons 
past, different 
kinds and found 
one that gives sat- 
isfaction, we 
should use that 
again; but many farmers who use a drill for 
putting in their wheat and fertilizer, neglect 
to test the fertilizer by the simple plan of 
shutting it off in one or two places while 
drilling, so as to show exactly what the fer¬ 
tilizer does for the wheat and the succeed¬ 
ing grass and clover. Without this precau¬ 
tion, if the crop is a good one, all the credit is 
given to the fertilizer, and if it is a poor one 
it gets all the blame. No crop should be fer¬ 
tilized or manured without leaving a few 
rows or a small area unfertilized for compari¬ 
son. 
The engraving (see Figure 224) shows a 
part ot one of my wheat fields where the fer¬ 
tilizer was shut off, the strip being just the 
width of the drill. The fertilizer used—raw 
and dissolved bone, equal weights, mixed and 
applied at'the rate of 310 pounds per acre—in 
this case certainly paid.well, as the crop with¬ 
out it would not have paid for the cutting; in 
fact, as nearly as I could judge, there were 
no sound grains at all in the unfertilized strip. 
This test surprised me very much, as I thought 
the condition of the soil was such as to give a 
fair crop of wheat without any fertilizer. The 
effect on the grass and clover is on a par with 
that on the wheat. A farmer, who has spent 
mauy thousands of dollars for fertilizers for 
wheat, was looking at this field and, of course, 
noticed the poor strip and asked what was 
the matter with it. I explained, and asked 
him if he did not always shut off the]fertilizer 
at least once in drilling his wheat. He replied 
that be did not, but that he generally could 
see the effect of the fertilizer where the drill 
put it in unevenly. 1 thought that a poor 
way to test’fertilizers, and have no doubt that 
he has lost the price’ofjmany tons oCfertilizer 
by not adopting this simple expedient. 
My other field of wheat followed a crop of 
cow-peas which were pastured and then 
plowed under. , The same .mixed fertilizer 
was used and, strange to say, it was very dif¬ 
ficult to find the strips where no fertilizer had 
been applied they would not have been no¬ 
ticed at all were it not that on the unfertilized 
strips the heads of wheat stood up straight, 
while on the rest of the field they were inclined 
to hang down. This made a shade of difference 
in the color of the strips; the heads were the 
same in other respects. Now, if I had not 
tested.the fertilizer'I should have given it all 
the credit on both fields, whereas, in fact, the 
cow-peas should be^credited with most of the 
good crop on one of them. 
Moral: When you are putting in your 
wheat, spend 10 minutes in testing your fer¬ 
tilizer. A. L. CROSBY. 
Catonsville, Md. 
Pomo Logical. 
A WALK AMONG THE PEARS. 
Manning’s Elizabeth has a fair setting of 
fruit now ripe of about half the usual size. 
Catharine : tree thrifty ; crop moderate. 
One fatal fault of this variety is that the 
fruit is so hard to pick when ripe that the 
stems are broken off and *it costs all the fruit 
is worth to pick it, as a rule. 
Boussock was thought, a few years back, 
to be valuable. Now the fruit cracks and the 
tree is unproductive, though a fair grower. 
Tne leaves blight. One tree is enough to 
start with. 
Bartlett, the great pear, is the one to plant 
if one has but one tree. There has been more 
money in it for us than in any other we have 
tried. 
Buffum : tree, a strong, upright grower, 
fruit too small. Not usually profitable, al¬ 
though productive. 
Sheldon has never borne fruit here that 
held to the tree long enough to get ripe. This 
is its only fault: but it is a bad one. 
Clairgeau is a beautiful variety on the 
right soil ; but it is not certain ; the leaves 
drop when the tree is in wet or low ground. 1 
Oswego ^worthless here, though fine on 
someiland. 
Duchesse, 'fruit]large; quality uncertain. 
Probably a large proportion of the blossoms 
do not get fertilized, as the stamens are too 
short. It is best on the quince. 
Rostiezer is an amateur fruit; quality 
high. 
Washington is of slow growth. The leaves 
are apt to drop. It wants rich land, and is 
suitable for an amateur. 
Kirtland is usually hardy. The wet 
weather has been too much for it this year. 
The fruit is all cracked. 
Clapp’s Favorite is a profitable and good 
variety in every way except that the fruit 
must be picked early or it will rot at the core. 
Seckel, the standard of high quality, is 
generally hardy in all respects; but the leaves 
have been dropping badly this year. It is not 
profitable here. It will only pay where the 
fruit will attain the size of a Guinea egg. In 
all other sections one had better plant some 
other kind. 
Anjou, like the Bartlett, is the best of its 
season. In fact, I think Clapp’s Favorite, 
Bartlett and Anjou are all worth planting 
for market in this section. It may be the 
Vicar ought to be included. 
URBANiSTEis nearly good enough to enter 
the list. 
Louise Bonne de Jersey is almost good: 
the leaves are apt to fall toojsoon. 
Keiffer has been much talked about, con¬ 
demned and praised. It is a good grower and 
heavy bearer and appears to be hardy. The 
PHOTOGRAPH OF A WHEAT FIELD, SHOWING THE EFFECT OF FERTILIZERS Fig. 224. 
