1903 
67 
ULKS ABOUT FERTILIZERS. 
Value of Tobacco Stems. 
If it pays me to buy manure at $1 per ton, what can I 
afford to pay for tobacco stems (leaf stems) per ton to 
broadcast this Winter and plow under next Spring for 
growing tomatoes, cabbage and strawberries? 
Calla, Ohio. s. c. m. 
Such stems vary considerably in composition, but 
the following statement gives a fair comparison. 
Pounds In One Ton. 
Nitro- Phos. Pot- 
gen. acid. ash. 
Ordinary manure . 10 6 13 
Tobacco steins . 40 12 80 
This is probably too high for average tobacco stems, 
but we consider it fair to estimate the stems are worth 
four times as much as ordinary manure. The stems 
are also good for destroying or driving away insects. 
What to Do with Slaughterhouse Refuse. 
How shall I treat slaughterhouse refuse on the farm 
(no bones in it) so as to make it available for manure as 
soon as possible? f. w. 
Philipsburg, Pa. 
Does this refuse include the blood, or is it merely 
the entrails and small pieces of meat? The blood is, 
of course, the most vaiuable part. The simplest way 
to handle such refuse is to compost it with manure. 
By mixing it in a pile with horse manure and forking 
it over twice during the Winter the slaughterhouse 
refuse will be ready for use in the Spring. It is some¬ 
times spread out under a shed and dusted over with 
plaster. This will dry it out until it may be chopped 
or crushed up roughly with a spade. Such refuse con¬ 
tains little if any potash and muriate should be used 
with it. 
Fertilizers for Small Fruits. 
I have about live acres in Marlboro raspberries that 
need fertilizing. 1 am unable to got stable manure. I 
have been using that other years between the rows after 
they were put down and covered in the Fall, as they 
would winterkill if left standing. My soil is a very heavy 
adobe clay entirely free from sand. What kind of com¬ 
mercial fertilizer would you advise? I have never used 
any, and know nothing about it. I would also like to 
know about how much per acre to use. m. s. l. 
I.,oveland, Col. 
This will depend on the cost of the chemicals. In 
the East the following mixture has given good re¬ 
sults on small fruit: One part by weight nitrate of 
soda, one part muriate of potash, one part fine ground 
bone and two parts acid phosphate. This will give 
good results on small fruits, using .500 pounds or more 
per acre. Another simple mixture is three parts fine 
bone to one of muriate This is not so good as the 
other, since it has less nitrogen, and that all in an 
organic form—still, it may be more profitable to use 
it in the West. The slaughterhouses sell “bone and 
blood” containing seven to eight per cent of nitrogen 
which, mixed with muriate of potash, ought to prove 
useful on fruit. Most western fertilizers are too low 
in potash. Never neglect this element in fruit 
growing. 
More About Mixing Hen Manure. 
I.ast Spring you gave me a formula for mixing a fer¬ 
tilizer with hen manure for a basis. It made my garden 
the wonder of these iiarls. There was only one objection 
to it—the bother and offensiveness of drying and break¬ 
ing up the hen manure. My gardener told me it took 
away his appetite, and on investigating I found that the 
fine dust not only took my appetite, but almost my breath 
as well. Now, couldn’t I take the 800 pounds of hen ma¬ 
nure, 600 pounds acid phosphate, 200 pounds muriate of 
potash, 100 pounds nitrate of soda, and 300 pounds bone 
meal—your formula—and make a compost of them on a 
cement floor, using earth or land plaster as a filler to 
hold the nitrogen, and sprinkling water enough on the 
mass to reduce the lumpy hen manure fine enough to 
broadcast? H. i. i. 
Swarthmore, Pa. 
Let US see what this mixture contains: 
Nitro- Phos. Pot- 
gen. acid. ash. 
800 pounds hen manure. 9% 15 13 
600 pounds acid phosphate. 84 
200 pounds muriate of potash. .. 100 
150 pounds nitrate of soda. 24 
250 pounds bone meal. 9 63 
Total . 421/2 162 113 
In proposing this mixture we assumed that garden 
soils are usually rich to begin with. It is also true 
that hen manure gives returns out of all proportion to 
the amount of soluble nitrogen which the chemists 
find in it. We suggested bone meal because it provides 
a third form of nitrogen in addition to that in the 
nitrate and hen manure, and also another form of 
phosphoric acid. The chief reason why this mixture 
made that garden a “wonder” was the fact that a 
heavy dressing of it was used. No damp compost will 
ever be equal to the fine, dry powder. It will not be 
possible to obtain such a perfect mixture of the chem¬ 
icals where they are put into a compost. As the ma¬ 
nure is \vatered there wdll be some loss of ammonia. 
The dry and sifted hen manure mixes well with the 
chemicals, and can be scattered evenly over the ground 
—still the compost will give good results, though you 
will be obliged to use more of it In order to obtain 
the results "whic^ the dry mixture gave you. There 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
can be no doubt about the bother of mixing any of the 
dry chemicals. That is one reason why “home mix¬ 
ing” is not likely to become more popular. We still 
believe, however, that the most economical way to 
handle hen manure is to dry and fine it and mix with 
the chemicals. The following statement is made by 
a Pennsylvania farmer who uses hen manure alone 
with good results: 
I scrape off the platforms every other day into an old 
potato crate with a scraper made of corner piece such as 
used in slatted potato crate, 18 Inches long, with a two- 
foot handle. The scraper has a wire nail driven every 
half inch, and the head cut off, leaving half an inch of 
the nail projecting. After the droppings are scraped off 
I sprinkle sand upon the roost platform; this form of 
scraper leaves the sand and it will have to be used only 
once a week. The sand prevents droppings from sticking 
to the platform. Land plaster or superphosphate would 
be better, but I cannot buy them here at figures that I 
think would pay. I spread the droppings evenly; that is, 
I do not make a conical heap in the manure shed. This 
prevents heating. Gypsum or dissolved rock in some 
form would be very beneficial if there is danger of heat¬ 
ing and these were needed by the soil. If they were not 
needed dry muck could be used to fix the ammonia that 
would be liberated in heating. Many use lime, but this 
shouid tu'vcr be used in connection with any manure un¬ 
less it is the day it gets mixed in the soil. In April, when 
the dry Spring winds biow hard, I take the manure fork 
and turn the droppings over every few days with the 
door and windows open. This gets rid of much moisture. 
Just before planting I sift the manure with a sieve 2)^ by 
four feet with the sides extending for handles. This is 
laid over a large box generally. The meshes of this sieve 
have 2% spaces to the inch. For the Eclipse corn drill 
or planter the meshes could be half an inch, but I use hen 
C.4CALIA TUBE ROSA. Fig. 30. 
Flowers White and Green. See Rm-alisms, Page 70. 
manure with my Empire grain driii and ithe meshes 
should be one-third inch, for the feed is in bottom and 
clogs up easier than the Eclipse, which feeds from the 
top. By the sifting the lumps and most of the feathers 
are removed. Any stray feathers that get through the 
sieve can be picked out w'hen filling up the hopper of 
drill. In buying these two impiements I searched out 
the ones that W'ould use hen manure as weil as com¬ 
mercial fertilizer. W- h. m. 
Do Not Leave Out Phosphoric Acid. 
I have a field that has been in sod for 10 years. Last 
year a crop of corn was taken from it. Two hundred 
pounds of fertilizer to the acre were used. It is a light 
soil with a not very stiff clay subsoil. Would a dressing 
of lime, nitrate of soda, and muriate of potash produce 
another crop of corn on this field? If so, how much of 
any of these? 
Chatham, N. J. 
We doubt it. The nitrate of soda furnishes nitrogen 
and the muriate furnishes potash, but you have not 
provided a supply of phosphoric acid. This element 
is very necessary in feeding all grain crops, and must 
be supplied in some way. The lime may or may not 
help the crop. As a rule, corn does not respond to 
lime as freely as the small grains or grass. Nitrate 
of soda is not the best form of nitrogen for corn. It 
is very soluble and available at once, while corn does 
not make its best growth until late in the season. The 
nitrate is better adapted to quick-growing crops like 
grass, small grain or vegetables. The following mix¬ 
ture will give far better results than your nitrate and 
muriate; 100 pounds nitrate of soda, 250 pounds tank¬ 
age, 200 pounds muriate of potash. 1,000 pounds acid 
phosphate. We would use at least 400 pounds per acre, 
SOWING FOR PASTURE. 
Will you give formula for seeding for permanent pas¬ 
ture without the use of Red clover, giving quantity of 
each kind per acre? The soil is river bottom and was 
formerly covered with pine timber. A part of the field 
is sandy loam; the rest Is lower ground and was swamp, 
which has been reclaimed over 40 years. A portion of 
the latter has clay subsoil and is subject to overflow. I 
would like to seed with beardless barley. What treat¬ 
ment would you give it after removing nurse crop, either 
mow or pasture, or leave entirely alone? G. e. m. 
Fillmore, N. Y. 
One could only guess on a question like this on ac¬ 
count of pecuiiar soil conditions. If the land over¬ 
flows grasses must be sown that will take kindly to 
such treatment. Red-top is probably the best adapted 
to withstand wet feet. It will be found growing nat¬ 
urally upon wet land. 1 am not 'sure whether it will 
stand pasturing as well as Blue grass, but should try 
it. Alslke clover will find a congenial home in this 
land. I would add Timothy to make sure of a crop 
the first two years until the grasses best adapted 
should assert themselves, and also a sprinkling of 
Blue grass. If it should take kindly to this land no 
doubt it would, together with the Red-top, soon take 
possession. Four quarts Alsike, four quarts Timothy, 
16 quarts Red-top and 16 quarts Blue grass per acre 
will make a fairly good mixture. We often lose sight 
of a most important feature of pasture reconstruc¬ 
tion, and take for granted that the grasses sown are 
alone to solve the problem. Fine mechanical soil con¬ 
dition and available plant food are rather to be chosen 
than any special grass mixture; both are to be con¬ 
sidered, however. There seems to be a difference of 
opinion about cutting off new seeding in the Fall. 
Personally I do not favor it. The grain stubble cut 
high forms a splendid protection to the young roots 
by reason of holding the snow, and preventing fre¬ 
quent freezing and thawing. When sown with Winter 
grain, and there is danger that the clover will head 
out, ii will pay to cut it off, but not close to the 
ground. Nature makes every effort to mulch and pro¬ 
tect plant roots. u. e. cook. 
PEAS FOR THE CANNERY. 
A re.-ider in New York is raising peas for a cannery. 
He wants to know what kind of fertilizer and how much 
of it he can use with profit, and whether it can be drilled 
in with the peas and not injure the seed. He says he can 
get $1.75 per 100 pounds from the factory. Last year he 
used a mixture of acid phosphate and potash, 160 pounds 
per acre, with fair resuKs. What seems to be the most 
economical fertilizer for peas, and how much can you 
afford to use? 
You asked farmers to tell what prices were offered 
by canners this year. 1 contracted for peas and corn. 
1 get $1 per bushel of 60 pounds for shelled peas and 
50 cents per 100 pounds for husked corn. I contract 
with the Geneva Preserving Company, Geneva, N. Y. 
Phelps, N. Y. H. A. 
The canners offer $1.75 per 100 pounds for peas and 
75 cents per 100 for corn, demanding that Country 
Gentleman be grown. They do not offer any advance 
In peas, but an advance in corn of 15 cents per 100. 
We have a very large factory here at Fayetteville 
owned by the Merrill Soule Company of Syracuse; 
they can several hundred acres of peas, corn, squash 
and pumpkins. o. b. a. 
Fayetteville, N. Y. 
We growers are looking for an increase of prices 
over last year, but we do not always get what we look 
far; maybe we will get less, as at this time last year 
contracts were already made. It was very wet here 
last season, and on low ground peas, beans and toma¬ 
toes were a failure. For two successive years we have 
been able to grow 400 bushels tomatoes to the acre, 
but last year we got under 250 bushels from nearly 
two acres, although we had a good stand of plants, 
but owing to excessive wet weather they did not do 
anything. J- b. 
Fenton, N. Y. 
If I were raising peas for a cannery I would put in 
enough nitrate of soda to make my fertilizer contain 
two to three per cent of nitrogen. Theoretically 
speaking, the pea largely gathers its nitrogen from 
the air; practical experience proves that a fertilizer 
containing three per cent of nitrogen pushes the crop 
forward and pays the grower handsomely. I would 
use at least 200 pounds per acre, and drill it in with 
the seed the same as I would if seeding wheat or bar¬ 
ley. So much for the man who thinks he can raise 
peas for $1.75 per 100 pounds and get pay for his 
labor. I am not in it; I dropped out several years ago. 
I couldn’t see any money in peas at $1.75 and corn 
at 50 cents per 100, and tomatoes at $6 per ton. They 
would be a fair paying crop at $2.25 per 100 pounds for 
peas, 70 cents per 100 for corn and 50 cents per 100 
pounds or $10 per ton for tomatoes. The canneries 
cannot keep up with the demand, and no doubt are 
making money, yet they are grinding down the prices 
to the grower every year. A few years ago they paid 
$1.50 per 100 pounds for peas in the pod—before the 
advent of the pea thrasher—and 30 cents per bushel 
or 50 cents per 100 pounds for tomatoes. Some of the 
growers in Oneida County have organized for the pur¬ 
pose of securing better prices. It would be a good 
thing if the organization would spread throughout the 
State and a uniform price be established. c. k. c. 
Newark, N. Y. 
