THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
February B8 
142 
but when thoroughly fertilized, planted and worked 
they are always faithful, and we have never had a 
crop that did not more than pay expenses, but we 
have one of the best home markets in the country. 
PRUNING THE PEACH AT SETTING. Pio. 53. 
and as w'e are high on years of late-killing frosts very 
often have our best paying crops. There are just 
three things necessary to my mind to make straw'- 
berry growing profitable, the location, market and 
the man. w. A. KUEEn. 
Beaver Co., Pa. 
Below' is the cost of one acre of straw’berries under 
actual conditions. Of cour.se you are aware that this 
is a question that can never be answ'ered twice alike, 
nor yet could it be answ'ered the same for two con¬ 
secutive seasons. Contingencies have arisen in my ex¬ 
perience when the cost was doubled by a few' days' 
neglect in w'eeding; 
Plowing and preparing one acre one day with team.. JLOO 
7,2WJ piants at $3 per 1,000 . 21.7S 
I’lanting 1-6 by 4 feet, three men at $1.50; one boy. $1. 5.50 
Fertilizer. 500 lbs. muriate of potash at 2tl> cents. L...50 
“ 1,200 “ acid phosphate, 60 cents per loo... 7.20 
‘‘ 150 “ nitrate of soda at 21^ cents. 3.7.5 
“ 400 “ cotton-seed meal. S.oiJ 
Mixing same. $1. applying. $1.50. 2..5(l 
Cultivating with hor.se six times. 2.70 
Removing runners and blossoms, hoeing four times; 
thinning . 12.00 
Mulch in Winter, 30 loads refuse hops at $1.50. 45.0t) 
Drawing and apidying, team and tw'o men 7 days.... 35.00 
Setting iti missing plants. 1.50 
Total .$161.43 
M. G.VUH.VIIAX. 
Great Saving in Hoeing. 
I w'ould take a good*piPce of land that had corn or 
potatoes on the year before. On our jilace w'e have 
stopped plow'lng. On clay or .gravel T would plow, but 
not sand or loam. We .go over the land three times 
w'lth pulverizer, twice w'ith smoothing harrow', then 
mark both ways w'ith a corn marker, the row's being 
three feet each w'ay. We start cultivating as soon as 
done setting once a w'eek each way till the middle of 
July; then on one w'ay, letting the plants form in 
hedgerow'. After the row' gets a foot wide put on run¬ 
ner cutter and cut off surplus plants. It will cost more 
for one acre than three or five, as there is much more 
turning around. We ahvays want to finish setting 
before May 1. I prefer oat straw' for mulching, as 
there is less grass seed in it. We mix our ow'n ferti¬ 
lizer and use about one ton per acre in Spring before 
the plants start to grow. 
Pulverizing three time.'?. $2.00 
Harrowing twice. l.Oi) 
Marking both way.*?. 1.00 
Boy to dro)) plants and keep tliem wet.50 
Ma'n to make hole.s with spade. l.iiO 
Setting plants . 1.60 
4,.S25 i)lant.s at $2.50 pei’ 1,000. 12.06 
Cultivating IS times. 0.00 
Three times hoeing one da.v each time. $1.50_ 4.50 
Hoeing after runners start. 6.00 
Straw, two tons, $5 per ton. 10.00 
Putting on straw'. 1..50 
One ton of chemical fertilizer. 31.50 
Mixing fertilizer ..50 
Drawing fertilizer from freight house. 1.50 
Putting fertilize!' on. 1.00 
Total 
$.S5.06 
Onondaga Co., N. Y. 
CHA.s. sionoxi?. 
One-Fourth of First Year’s Sales. 
For plow'ing, $3; harrow'ing, ?3; marking, 50 cents; 
plants (8,000), $25, average price, plants are scarce 
this year. Trimming and preparing plants, $5; set¬ 
ting plants, $4; cultivating with horse, $7.50; hoeing 
six times, $18; fertilizer, half a ton. $15; four tons of 
straw', $20; applying straw', |5. This makes the cost 
about $100 for the first year. Of course the increase 
of plants can be used to set a new bed the following 
year, w'hich will make the cost one-fourth less. The 
straw is w'orth as much as it costs, almost, to the 
soil. In these figures we are actually giving what .t 
would cost the farmer to hire the w’ork done by men 
w'ho know' how to do it. If the farmer does the w'ork 
himself, he does not feel the cost any more than w'ere 
he putting in a crop of potatoes. We advise setting 
the straw'berry bed near the buildings, so it can be 
attended to w'ithout going so far. The usual gross 
sales from an acre of strawberries in this section are 
about four times the cost of the acre for the first year. 
Oswego Co., N. Y. L. J. FARMER. 
The Cost in Illinois. 
My estimate is low, but with an abundance of good 
tools, attending to eullivation at the proper time, and 
having plenty of tw'o-year-old straw at a convenient 
distance for mulching 1 think that an acre of straw¬ 
berries may be kept in a good condition for next 
year’s fruiting, I have not said anything about ma¬ 
nure, as I do not use a great deal on straw'berries. 
Plowing twice, harrowing and rolling. $4.00 
7.000 plants at $3 per 1,000.. :.'f.00 
Planting, two men 21^ days each. 7..50 
Cultivating six times, one man and horse at $2. 12.00 
Hoeing 12 days at $1.50. IS.OO 
Mulching, five loads at $1. 5.00 
Two men and team two davs. o.tKl 
Total .S76..50 
Illinois. WM. JACKSON. 
BRIEF TALKS ABOUT FERTILIZERS. 
Facts About Crimson Clover. 
I have been trying to learn something about Crimson 
clover. Could I raise a crop of it in Cortland County, N. 
Y.? Would it make good iiasture for cattle during the 
Autumn months if sowed alone early in Spring? Would 
it make a cro]> the following year? E. F. w. 
Hastings, Minn. 
The chances are against Crimson clover on most 
soils of Cortland County, N. Y. Crimson does best in 
the South, though good crops have been grow'n on the 
lighter soils as far north as the lakes. It is an an- 
CU'TTING BACK THE APPLE. FlU. .53. 
nual, and does not live over like the common Red 
clover. Sow it in Spring and you are sure to fail, 
because warm weather drives it to seed and it will 
head out and die though only a few' inches high. 
When seeded in late Summer or early Fall on fairly 
good soil W'ith sufficient moisture in the ground it w'ill 
make a quick strong growth through the Autumn, 
affording fair pasture. The most critical time w'ith 
this clover is during March, w'hen the freeze and thaw' 
of the soil’s crust are likely to lift the clover out and 
kill it. We have had best success with it w’hen seed¬ 
ed in the corn, at the last cultivation, w'ith rye, rape ., 
or turnips sowed with it. One year w'e sow'ed a mix¬ 
ture of rye. Crimson clover and Winter oats in early 
September. It made a fine Fall pasture—the oats 
dying in Winter and the rye and clover making a 
good growth in Spring. 
Sheep or Stockyards Manure. 
T have a very large orchard here, and w’lsh to know 
which is belter for fruit trees in general, trees being 
from one to six ye.ars old, stock-yai'ds manure or sheep 
manure where sheep have been fattened, and costing me 
twice as much as stock-yards manure? j. e. k. 
Denver. Col. 
For such young trees w'e w'ould use the sheep ma¬ 
nure. Of course such manures vary in composition, 
but on the average good sheep manure is worth per 
ton three times as much as cattle manure. Thus, if 
you pay only tw'ice as much for it, you obtain cheaper 
plant food in the sheep manure, and also save in cost 
of hauling. This is much the same as the difference 
in buying hi.gh-grade or low'-grade fertilizers. With 
few exceptions it ahvays pays to buy the most con¬ 
centrated mixtures. By doing this the cost of hauling 
and handling is reduced, and you obtain more plant 
food for a dollar in the better mixtures. 
A Fertilizer Mixture for Potatoes. 
I have some agricultural chemicals on hand that I 
wish to make into a fertilizer for potatoes. Will you give 
me the analysis of the following mixture: 250 pounds ni¬ 
tride of soda, 250 pounds dried blood, iK)0 pounds acid phos¬ 
phate, 600 pounds sulphate of potash? Can you give me 
a better combination for potatoes? J. t. 
Chester, N. J. 
The chemicals you mention w'ill give the follow'ing; 
Nitro- 
Phos. 
Pot- 
gen. 
acid. 
ash. 
250 lbs. nitrate of soda. 
. 40 
. . . 
. . . 
250 '• dried blood . 
. 25 
5 
• . • 
HK! " acid phosphate . 
126 
• • • 
Gt!0 " sulphate of jjotash_ 
* * * * * ' 
... 
800 
'I'otal .. 
131 
300 
This means 344 per cent of nitrogen, C14 of phos¬ 
phoric acid and 15 of potash. We do not know' the 
character of the soil, but you do not need so much pot¬ 
ash as this. We consider it poor economy to use so 
much of the sulphate in one ton. If you will substi¬ 
tute 300 pounds of fine ground bone for 300 pounds of 
potash, you will have a much better mixture for po¬ 
tatoes. 
An Expensive Corn Fertilizer. 
How does the following analyze: 1,000 pounds bone meal, 
700 pounds bone black, 300 pounds muriate of ))otash? It 
is intended for a field that is partly inclined to be wet 
during the Spring months; the field is for corn, and will 
receive five loads of good manure per acre. The soil is 
somewhat thin. How much fertilizer ought to be used 
per acre to get an extra yield? i. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
Assuming that these materials are of average com- 
position you will have: 
Nitro- 
Phos. 
Pot- 
gen. 
acid. 
ash. 
1,000 lbs. bone. 
2.50 
• . . 
7(KI " bone bhick . 
. 
112 
1.50 
Total . 
. 35 
362 
150 
This means less than two per cent of nitrogen, 18 
I)er cent of phosphoric acid and lYz of potash. What 
is your object in using so much phosphoric acid, and 
also why do you buy it in the most expensive forms'/ 
While 500 pounds of this mixture w'ith the five loads 
of manure ought to give a good yield, we believe that 
a mixture w'ith half this per cent of phosphoric acid 
W'ould do as well. A mixture of 500 pounds of tank¬ 
age. 300 of bone, 700 of bone black and 300 of muriate 
W'ill prove a more economical fertilizer for corn. 
Preparing Bone as a Fertilizer. 
How is bone prepared for use as a fertilizer? j. a. o. 
Antigo, Wis. 
The bones are steamed under high pressure. This 
takes out most of the fat and greatly softens the 
hones, w'hich are then ground in pow'erful mills, 
screened and reground. In some cases the ground 
l)one is mixed with sulphuric acid. Sucli hone is 
colled "dissolved.” Pow'erful machinery is required 
to make a satisfactory bone meal. Farmers are some¬ 
times advised to use sulphuri(‘ acid at home, or to 
pack the bones in layers of w'ood ashes to soften 
them. We do not consider either plan very practical. 
Fertilizers with Cow Peas. 
In your opinion can a per.son plow' under a crop of cow’ 
peas in September and raise a good crop of corn the fol¬ 
lowing Spring without any manure or fertilizer on a jioor 
lot? Has it ever been done in your experience? t. f. k. 
Carmel, N. Y. 
This may possibly be done—in fact has been done 
in Delaw'are and Maryland—w'here the cow pea makes 
a heavier grow'th than it does in New York. We have 
always used some fertilizer in addition to the cow 
peas, and w'ould not consider it economical to do with¬ 
out it. It is expecting too much of the cow pea to 
look for a (jood corn crop on a poor soil. If you will 
TREES LACKING CENTRAL STEM. Fig. 54. 
use 400 pounds per acre of muriate and acid phos¬ 
phate on the poor soil when you sow' the cow' peas 
you may get a good crop of corn, but why expect this 
excellent plant to do the impo.ssil)le? 
