262 
April 14 
out of them in the nursery row. The only danger I 
eee is that arising from the probability of mice eat¬ 
ing them in the trench, but they won’t do it if straw 
and litter be kept away, and the snow is firmly trod¬ 
den about them after each deep snow. e. p. 
Uriah, Pa. 
THE SCAB ON POTATOES. 
Curious and Conflicting Results- 
WAS IT THE LIME?—The issue of Tiie R. N.-Y. 
for March 24 contains so much that is helpful that I 
cannot refrain from complimenting the management 
because of its intrinsic worth. I am especially in¬ 
terested in the Hope Farm Notes regarding scab on 
potatoes. Some personal experience in this direction 
may possibly be of interest to others. Two pieces of 
ground were planted with potatoes last season, both 
of which had been previously used for growing 
onions. One of these pieces had been somewhat 
heavily manured with stable manure annually for the 
last five years, growing a crop of onions every year. 
The other nad grown two crops of onions, and pre¬ 
vious to the first crop, had grown a crop of cabbage, 
at which time a light dressing of stable manure was 
applied, and also a coat of lime. The two crops of 
onions following this crop of cabbage had been grown 
by the aid of fertilizers alone. Last Spring those two 
pieces were planted with the same variety of potatoes, 
New Queen, from Aroostook County, Me. The soil 
was perfectly free from scab, but at digging time the 
discovery was soon made that on the piece manured 
with stable manure for five consecutive years the 
tubers had no trace of scab, while the other piece, 
with only one light dressing in that time, had 
scarcely a bushel of good potatoes, free from scab, in 
the Whole field. The seed and soil were the same iu 
both cases, in fact there was only a 12-foot drive-way 
between the two fields. How are we to account for the 
great difference in results, if, as generally supposed, 
stable manure is such a great promoter of scab? I 
present the facts as they are in the hope that abler 
minds than mine may solve the problem, I will only 
add that the manure used was the same in both cases, 
having been got from the same source. My own con¬ 
viction is, however, that the dressing of lime applied 
in the rotation had probably neutralized the acid 
conditions of soil to such an extent that the develop¬ 
ment of such germs became a possibility, for it ap¬ 
pears to be an established fact, in the minds of those 
best informed on such matters, that an acid condition 
of soil 'is fatal to the scab germs. 
A GREEN CROP HELPS.—I have in a small way 
experimented with green crops plowed under while 
still green, and as far as I have gone, it seems highly 
encouraging, inasmuch as the litmus test shows de¬ 
cided acid conditions. We think a crop of 300 bush¬ 
els, once in two years, more profitable than half that 
quantity every year. The area of available soil being 
somewhat limited, we sow a potato field with rye as 
soon as the crop is removed, say, during the month of 
August. The following Spring, the latter part of May, 
after planting is done, this crop is turned under and 
cow peas sown, two bushels per acre, with sufficient 
fertilizer applied to grow a crop of potatoes. The 
variety of cow peas sown is the Wonderful. I have 
wondered why it is that the people at Hope Farm 
prefer the Black, when the Wonderful makes so much 
more growth to turn under. Just before the frost cuts 
the Vines, the whole crop is turned under with an 
Oliver Chilled No. 70, and a rolling coulter and chain. 
Rye is sown at this time and turned under the fol¬ 
lowing Spring for potatoes. As I have already stated, 
the experiment as far as I have gone promises to be 
highly successful in more respects than one. An im¬ 
mense supply of humus being formed in the soil that 
last season, enabled us to harvest a fine crop without 
a soaking rain from start to finish. Another season 
I shall be able to speak more positively regarding the 
matter. The sulphur cure has been a disappointment 
with me. m. garrahan. 
Pennsylvani . 
R. N.-Y.—Mr. Garrahan is partly responsible for the 
fact that The R. N.-Y. “took” the cow-pea fever. 
His success With that plant after trying Crimson 
clover was quite remarkable. We prefer the Early 
Black for several reasons. We like its upright habit 
of growth. We can often seed to Crimson clover 
and other crops with it. It matures seed in our lati¬ 
tude, is, we think, easier to cut for hay, and, on the 
whole is better suited to the average farmer’s condi¬ 
tions than any other variety we have tried. The 
truth is that we feel surer of the Early Black be¬ 
cause we know more about it. 
Pine Needles.— In Oregon, so It Is said, pine needles 
or pine hay are being utilized. The needles are boiled 
and then run through horizontal wooden rollers which 
extract the juice. This is called pine-needle oil, which 
is supposed to possess medical properties. The pulp is 
used as a medicated material for upholstering, and is also 
said to be a good substitute for horsehair. It is said that 
Insect pests will not live in furniture that has been up- 
^lst^red with pine needles. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
FERTILIZERS MADE FROM GARBAGE. 
A Western reader sends us a circular of a fer¬ 
tilizer firm offering fertilizers made from garbage. 
As these garbage fertilizers are being offered in many 
places it may be well to discuss them. The circular 
says: 
Our fertilizers are made from the product of our garb¬ 
age works. The garbage of the city of St. Louis, amount¬ 
ing to about 300 tons a day, consists of everything that 
is raised on the farm or in the garden. We treat this 
garbage by a patent process and the aid of expensive 
machinery and reduce it to a sanitary, convenient and 
concentrated form. To this product are added high- 
grade chemicals to make the fertilizers contain all that 
is necessary for plants to feed upon. 
That is probably all true. The best fertilizer of¬ 
fered contains only about 1 y 2 per cent of nitrogen, 
nine of phosphoric acid and two of potash. The gar¬ 
bage was probably dried by heat or pressure, then 
ground up and mixed with muriate of potash, acid 
phosphate and a little tankage. That is about all 
there is in this fertilizer. If a farmer will use 400 
pounds of acid phosphate and 100 pounds of muriate 
of potash per acre and sow cow peas, he will have in 
that acre next Spring at least two tons of fertilizer 
analyzing as high as the garbage mixture does. The 
circular goes on to say: 
If all the ammonia, phosphoric acid and potash were 
taken out of our fertilizers they would still be as good as 
most of the fertilizers on the market. We make this 
statement because our fertilizers contain about 60 per 
cent of humus-making material in the form of carbon 
from vegetable matter, which is a natural source of plant 
nourishment. The fertilizer that contains the most actual 
plant food is the one that can be depended upon to feed 
the crop to maturity. The soil never received a more 
natural stimulant than ours, made from the very things 
that are taken from the earth in the shape of crops. 
It would be hard for a grown-up man to make a 
more absurd statement than that. They cnarge $20 
GERMINATOR FOR SEED TESTING. Fig. 81. 
a ton for this fertilizer. The same money put into 
stable manure would give more humus or “bulk,” 
more nitrogen and more potash! The object in buy¬ 
ing a fertilizer is to obtain plant food in a concen¬ 
trated form, so as to avoid useless bulk or weight. 
How silly a farmer would be to pay freight on 1,200 
pounds of “humus-making material” when he can 
produce it right on his own field with no labor after 
sowing the seed! It is a wonder that this circular 
doesn’t say right out that a fertilizer made from 
parings will grow better potatoes than any other. 
As well expect a man to fit himself for an angel 
by eating chicken, because chickens have wings. 
ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS. 
TESTING CLOVER SEED.—A bulletin from the 
Agricultural Department at Washington gives some 
good advice about Red-clover seed. The high price 
this Spring has led to more or less adulteration. The 
most frequent fraud 'is the addition of seed of Yellow 
trefoil. This seed looks so much like clover that 30 
per cent of it may be mixed in without being de¬ 
tected by the usual examination. Great quan¬ 
tities of this cheap seed were imported into this 
country—probably all of it used for adulterating 
clover. Low-grade clover seed contains many brown, 
dead seeds which will never grow. More than the 
usual quantity of such seed must be used in order to 
get a fair catch. It is a good plan, therefore, to test 
average samples. Mr. Pieters, who writes the bul¬ 
letin, says that a good test may be made by using 
the apparatus shown at Fig. 81. This “germinator” 
can be made of two dinner plates and a folded piece 
of flannel cloth. The seeds should be placed between 
the folds of the dampened cloth, which is then laid 
on one plate, while the second plate is 'inverted over 
the first. When tests are made during the Winter, 
the plates should be put in a warm place, so that the 
temperature will not fall much below 50 degrees at 
night and 60 to 70 degrees during the day. The 
sprouts shoula be counted and removed from day to 
day until the conclusion of the test. If the seed is 
good and the conditions are right, Red clover should 
begin sprouting vigorously the second or third day, 
and in four or five days nearly all the good seeds 
will have germinated. A few will come on later, and 
seed-testing establishments generally allow 10 days as 
the limit for Red clover. In case many seeds remain 
hard at the end of 10 days, it is fair to consider that 
one-third of them would grow after a reasonable time 
in the field. 
AWNLESS BROME GRASS.—We have had many 
questions referring to Awn less Brome grass or 
Bromus inermis. This grass has been praised ex¬ 
travagantly by some seedsmen and many farmers 
think it may prove superior to Timothy. The In¬ 
diana Experiment Station has tried this grass. It 
produces in the Far West from 1% to 1% ton of hay 
per acre. It starts early in the Spring, and usually 
gives a second crop in that country. In Indiana, how¬ 
ever, this grass has not been successful. When sown 
alongside of Timotny, Red-top or Orchard grass, this 
Brome grass has not compared with them in any 
way. Its growth the first year is quite feeble, but in 
two or three years it makes too dense a sod for a 
good meadow. For these reasons, Prof. Latta thinks 
it a better pasture than a hay crop. He says it is 
best to sow it alone in the Spring. He would use the 
mower from time to time the first year, to Keep the 
weeds down. Tne second year it will probably hold 
its own. ror hay, he says, sow two bushels, and for 
pasture three bushels. He says it is not a good crop 
to be grown in a rotation, its chief value being as a 
grazing grass on soils which for some reason will not 
give a good growth of common grasses. He thinks 
that those on whose farms clover, Timothy, Orchard 
grass or Blue grass do not grow well, might find it 
to their auvantage to try this Brome grass in a small 
way. That seems to be a fair statement of the mat¬ 
ter, and now much better advice this is to practical 
farmers than >t*.e extravagant stories with which some 
of the catalogues are filled! After all, when you come 
to think oi it, it takes a wonderful plant to prove 
more valuable than our old friends, clover, Timothy 
and Red-top. 
QUESTIONS ANSWERED. 
A Fertilizer for Pumpkins. 
Can you give a formula for a fertilizer better adapted 
to growing pumpkins on river bottom lands, that are 
overflowed nearly every Spring, than the following: 100 
pounds dry tankage, 100 pounds acid phosphate, 20 pounds 
muriate of potasty, per acre? We have been using the 
above with fairly good results, mixing it In the hill when 
seed is put in; hills seven feet apart each way, thinned 
to one plant when! danger from Striped bug is past. Have 
tried it also on sandy and gravelly soils, but can see no 
benefit. We usually sow rye and Crimson clover to¬ 
gether in our pumpkin fields just before the last cultiva¬ 
tion, about July 20 to 25; this gives a heavy green crop to 
turn under the next season, about June 1. c. e. 
Conneaut, O. 
We should add at least 25 pounds of nitrate of soda. 
On the lighter soils 10 pounds more muriate of potash 
would pay. We presume that you use tankage be¬ 
cause it is the cheapest source of organic nitrogen. 
Nitrate seems to be especially useful on melons and 
similar plants which are required to grow rapidly 
during a short season. 
A Case of Cabbage Rot. 
A piece of cabbage I had last year grew well until 
heads were half-grown, when blight struck it. The leaves 
became brown, dry and soon fell off, and the half-formed 
heads almost disappeared in a short time. The variety 
was the Holland. Is this variety more subject to blight 
than others? Would Bordeaux Mixture, applied when the 
disease is first seen, prevent it? Would there be added 
risk in planting the same ground to cabbage this year? 
It was my first experience with this disease in cabbage, 
and I confess that it blighted more than the cabbage. 
Perrysville, Pa. j R 8 
It is reasonable to suppose that one variety is more 
susceptible to a bacterial disease than another, but 
we are often ueceived in our conclusions based upon 
one experiment. The Holland cabbage is one of the 
varieties which are known to have been badly dis¬ 
eased, and yet of two fields in the same community, 
one may be attacked while the other is free. In such 
cases the infe tion is likely to have come from the 
soil. Bordeaux Mixture is no remedy for this disease. 
The only practical remedy lies in guarding against at¬ 
tack, choosing a seedbed free from the disease, and 
practicing a wide rotation of crops. There is a de¬ 
cided risk In planting to cabbage a neld in which the 
disease occurred the previous year. Any plants of 
the mustard family, as turnips, cauliflower, rape or 
mustard, should not be planted m such a field for at 
least two years. geo. c. butz. 
