THK RURAL NKW-YORKER 
T22 
BRIEF TALKS ABOUT FERTILIZERS. 
Clover Thrives, Timothy Fails. 
What coinbinatioii of ferUlizei- would you suggest for 
land that grows clover and all the legumes easily, but 
is a shy cropper of Timothy and the fine stem grasses? 
Soil is called “grey pebble,” full of small stones, and 
naturally good corn and grain soil. H. 
Somerset Co., N. J. • ’ 
The fact that clover thrives while Timothy does not 
su.ggests the use of .soluble nitrogen. Clover, as is 
well known, has the power to secure part of its nitro¬ 
gen supp'ly from the air. On ground well supplied 
with potash and phosphoric acid clover can make a 
good growth. Timothy cannot “eat the air” as clover 
does, so that on a soil which would give good clover 
the grasses might fail for lack of nitrogen. We 
should use on such Timothy either 300 pounds of ni¬ 
trate of soda alone per acre or a complete fertilizer 
with at least four per cent of nitrogen. 
Shall I Buy Chemicals? 
Here Is a ferlilizer for which they ask .$.31 a ton at the 
factory, I pay the freight: Nitrogen, per cent, 3.70, avail¬ 
able phosphoric acid, 5.50; potash, 10. Do you think 1 
could buy the materials and make as high a grade for 
less money? m. c. 
Maine, N. Y. 
You are guaranteed 74 pounds of nitrogen, 110 of 
phosphoric acid and 200 of potash. See what the fol¬ 
lowing chemicals will cost: 
250 pounds nitrate of soda. 
350 “ dried blood . 
Nitro¬ 
gen. 
.40 
Phos 
acid 
Pot¬ 
ash. 
.35 
7 
• • • 
750 " acid phosphate _ 
105 
• . • 
400 “ nitrate of potash.. 
... 
200 
Total . 
112 
200 
Try imeien Sanderson, 
New Haven, Conn., 
for 
prices on chemicals. The cost of freight, hauling and 
mixing must be added. You will find the mixing a 
hard job, and you must attend to it yourself if you 
want to be sure of it. The saving will not be large in 
this case. Of course the manufacturer can make a 
more perfect mixture than you can. We would cer¬ 
tainly mix at home rather than buy low-grade goods. 
With high-grade goods from reputable manufacturers 
the case is different, for in buying their fertilizers you 
are quite sure to obtain what you need. 
• Using Nitrogen With Cow-Pea Vines. 
Do you think it necessary to add a fertilizer contain¬ 
ing nitrogen to a soil that has grown a heavy growth of 
cow peas? This applies to ordinary crops. I should think 
that cow peas would leave all the nitrogen necessary for 
ordinary purposes. o. t. 
Friendly, Md. 
It will depend on the crops you raise. The nitro¬ 
gen in the cow-pea vines is in the organic form. It 
must be changed first to ammonia and then to nitrates 
before it becomes fully available. These changes will 
not take place rapidly until hot weather. A crop like 
corn, which makes its strongest growth in late Sum¬ 
mer, will probably not need extra nitrogen, but pota¬ 
toes, early cabbage or other crops which must start 
and grow in cool weather will need available nitrogen 
at all times. For such crops therefore we should use 
a small quantity of nitrate of soda with the potash 
and phosphoric acid. 
Salt Water on a Field. 
During the Winter of 1901 a five-acre rye field was flood¬ 
ed by a very high tide, killing nearly all the rye In 
the Spring of 1902 this field was plowed and seeded to 
oats, and yielded a very good crop. In the Pall (August) 
of 1902 this field was seeded to Timothy and clover, but 
one-third of it is all that stands, the rest having died out, 
killed by the salt, I think. Can you tell me what remedies 
to apply to restore this field to its former condition? 
New Monmouth, N. J. j. o. 
We are not sure that the salt in the sea water is 
responsible for the seeding failure, since the oats gave 
a .good crop. It is true, though, that some crops can 
stand far more salt than others. The only way to get 
the salt out of the soil is to wash it out. Anything 
that will quicken the flow of water through it will 
help. Open ditches dug so as to give a rapid flow help 
by draining it rapidly. An application of lime might 
help, by changing part of the chlorine in the salt to 
chloride of lime. 
Soil Needs Lime and Drainage. 
My meadow and plow lands are very heavy and wet, 
with a hardpan subsoil about two feet underneath. The 
frost heaves the land considerably, and it is wet very late 
in Spring generally. We get good crops of potatoes and 
oats if we can get them in early in the Spring, and in 
dry years a good corn crop. Turf is very heavy. We 
plant corn on sod with about 15 loads stable manure per 
acre, then seed down next Spring w'ith oats In from 
two to five years from seeding moss and a kind of Wire 
grass runs out all other grasses, and on some pieces 
plantain comes in very thickly. Would Nova Scotia 
plaster help such land, and what would be the best mix¬ 
ture of fertilizer for corn and potatoes to give them a 
good quick start, as sometimes we have to plant late? 
Warren, Conn. d. g. 
This soil is damp and sour. Thorough drainage 
would help it. If possible to do.so dig ditches down 
through the subsoil, running them so that they will 
follow the slope of the land, and deep enough so that 
water will pass through them. Put tile at the bottom 
or fill partly with stones, putting llirec Hat oih's ai 
Ilia bottom—two at the sides and one across them so 
as to leave an open space. Fill above them with 
smaller stones. These ditches will carry off much 
water and let in the air. Ditches can sometimes be 
dug along the fence rows and left open so as to take 
off the surplus water. This drainage will enable you 
to w'ork the soil earlier, but to sweeten the soil and 
prevent the moss and Wire grass from coming in 
you should use lime. The plaster will not help such 
soil as lime does for the reasons given on page 34. 
We should use the lime when seeding to oats and 
grass—at least 1,500 pounds per acre, well harrowed 
in after plowing. As a fertilizer for corn to use with 
your manure on such land we suggest a mixture of 
100 pounds nitrate of soda, 200 muriate of potash and 
700 of acid phosphate—as much as you can afford. 
We add the nitrate to this mixture because this soil 
is cold and wet, and you will need soluble nitrogen 
to start your corn. For potatoes we would use a 
high-grade ready-mixed brand or the mixture sug¬ 
gested by Dr. Jordan on page 57. You should drain 
that land if you hope to make fertilizers succeed on it. 
Do Not Use Lime With Manure. 
We have a piece of old meadow land that we intend 
to break up next Spring for corn, then the following 
Spring we w'ant to put in oats and seed to grass again. 
We intend to put about 10 wagon-loads of stable manure 
per acre on this. W'e had also intended to put about 80 
bushels of unslaked lime per acre on this land, but we 
have concluded to ask your advice as to whether you 
would use the lime or chemicals in addition to manure. 
If chemicals, give us a formula as you would use it on 
this land for the best results for the two crops above 
mentioned, and to leave the land in the best condition 
for the grass. This land is a heavy clay with hardpan 
subsoil and has plenty of slope for good drainage. 
Newtonburg, Pa. a. b. 
We would not use the lime with the manure. Ex¬ 
periments have .shown that oats and grass respond to 
lime better than corn. When lime is used with ma¬ 
nure it is likely to set free much of the ammonia 
which may thus be lost. There would not be so much 
danger from this when the manure is plowed under, 
still, we consider it better practice to use chemicals 
with the manure and use the lime when seeding to 
oats and grass. Use chemicals which supply what 
the manure lacks. In an average ton of manure there 
are 10 pounds of nitrogen, six of phosphoric acid and 
13 of potash. To bring the proportion nearer that 
found in high-grade fertilizers we should use three 
parts by weight of acid phosphate to one part muriate 
of potash—40 pounds of the mixture to each load of 
manure. This should give a good corn crop and leave 
the soil in good condition for the lime when seeding 
to oats and grass. In our own practice we should sow 
rye or Crimson clover in the corn in August and let 
it cover the ground during the Winter. 
Using the Fertilizing Chemicals Separately. 
I wish to try chemical fertilizers on a small piece of 
ground for potatoes next Spring, and am undecided 
whether to buy complete fertilizers or to do my own 
mixing. Last August I drilled in bone meal among my 
strawberries with an ordinary hoe drill, closing up the 
feed cups I did not wish to use. Would the different 
chemicals used in making complete fertilizers feed as 
readily in an ordinary grain drill as bone meal, and if 
so, why not drill in each chemical by itself? I ain not 
sure the bone meal did the drill any good, and would like 
to know whether the different chemicals used in fertilizers 
.are liable to damage a grain drill to such an extent as 
Lo make a special fertilizer drill an economy. If you think 
the plan practical what chemicals would you advise to 
fairnish the needed elements? f. t. b. 
Edward.sburg, Mich. 
Your plan of using the grain drill for applying the 
different chemicals will not work. Take any of the 
]''etiruary 21 
complete fertilizers we have suggested, and unless 
you use a large quantity per acre you cannot put cadi 
ingredient on evenly. The nitrate of soda, muriate of 
potash and acid phosphate are liable to “cake” and 
clog the drill if used alone. Better mix the chemicals 
first and use plaster or some other “drier” so that 
the mixture will run evenly through the drill. Many 
eastern farmers use the grain drill for putting on 
fertilizers. It works well with the dry high-grade 
mixtures except that the hopper is too small and re¬ 
quires frequent filling. If you can buy a high-grade 
potato fertilizer of reliable dealers we doubt whether 
it will pay to try to mix at home for this small 
quantity. _ 
NOTES ON CRAPE TRAINING. 
During the past 30 years, many form or “systems” 
have come into existence, the merits of which it is not 
the purpose of this article to discuss, but to present 
the conclusions gathered from 20 years of active work 
in the growing of grapes for market. Beginning with 
the vine, as received from the nursery, it is best to 
cut back to one or two good buds, and plant the vine 
so these will be just above the surface of the 
ground. If the trellis has been built, which is always 
a good practice to follow, drive a small peg, about six 
inches long, into the ground close to the vine, and 
run a string of tarred hemp or some other waterproof 
cordage from this peg to the top wire of the trellis 
to act as a guide for the young vine, and to protect 
it against the influence of the wind and to insure an 
upright growth. This brings us to the end of the first 
year, and if the vine has made a fairly good growth, 
it is now ready to take some form of training. 
From long and practical experience with a number 
of the different methods of training in the same vine¬ 
yard, the writer has concluded, all things considered, 
that a modification of what is known as the Kniffen, 
or more properly speaking, a combination of the 
Kniffen and drooping methods is the simplest, cheap¬ 
est and by far the most practical. This consists in 
having two wires, one at the top and one 14 inches 
below it, strung on posts standing not less than 
feet out of the ground; and the vines are set eight 
feet apart, and with the wires drawn taut it will give 
room to pass under the trellis whenever it may be 
found convenient to do so. Assuming that the growth 
has reached the top of the trellis, tie the vine to the 
top wire with a piece of twine or raffia, just enough 
to hold it in place without injury, then cut it off 
above the wire. As soon as the buds have grown a 
few inches or before they have made too much 
growth, select the four strongest canes next under, 
and running parallel with the wires; tie them along 
their respective wires and remove all others. This 
brings us to the end of the second season, and all will 
admit that it is neither difficult nor complicated to 
grow a vine as represented in Fig. 47. 
At the beginning of the third season we have a 
vine consisting of an upright two years old, and four 
horizontal canes one year old respectively. As the 
fruit is produced on the current year’s growth, it is 
readily seen that as few or as many may be allowed 
to grow as are desired, according to the habit and 
vigor of the vine. On the free-growing varieties, such 
as the Concord, Brighton and Niagara, it is best to 
remove every other bud, while on the short-jointed 
sorts, as the Agawam and many other well-known 
kinds every third bud will give all the wood that the 
vine should grow and supply, with a proper balance 
between root and top. It must be understood that 
the canes selected for the fruiting ones are not to 
be allowed to grow at random, but after they have 
made three or four leaves besides the ones opposite 
the grape clusters, they are to be shortened in and 
kept so, and thus force the strength of the vine into 
the fruit, and not have it wasted in the production 
of useless wood. 
I am well aware that this practice has been ques¬ 
tioned, and by some is considered as useless labor, 
and by others as contrary to nature, but careful com¬ 
parison where results meant dollars and cents, leads 
me to prefer it to the slipshod method of letting the 
vines run at random, to say nothing of the extra 
amount of spraying compound wasted, or the annoy¬ 
ance at picking time. We ai-e now at the close of 
the third season, and our vine is assumed to be in 
full system, and probably has more wood than is 
required for the coming season. How to reduce this 
is the question that is confusing to many, but it is 
explained by simply cutting the vine back to where 
we found it at the beginning of the seas in, by reduc¬ 
ing each fruiting cane to its first bud. This places 
the vine as at the beginning of the season, except 
that the producing buds have taken the form of 
spurs. This may be repeated for a number of years, 
or until the horizontal cane becomes old, or the spurs 
become long and unsightly. When it is considered 
necessary to renew the horizontal cane, the one-year 
growth, or fruiting cane next to the upright or main 
part of the vine should not be cut away, but saved as 
a new horizontal, and the old or rejected cane cut out 
instead. This practice may, with care and judgment, 
be continued for a long term of years, or as long as 
it is probable one would care to have the same site 
occupied as a vineyard. o. i.. p. 
Lansing, ?Jicli. 
. J » . 
