“FERTILIZER FARMING” TO DATE. 
Some Changes in Crops and Rotation. 
Part II. 
In a former article I referred to the most remark¬ 
able features o f 
the system of 
farming on the 
Hewlett farm. The 
soil is light and 
easily wo rked. 
F e r t i 1 i zers are 
used at the rate of 
3,000 pounds per 
acre on potatoes. I 
refer to these fea- 
t u r e s again and 
again because they 
seem to me out of 
line with the ad¬ 
vice general ly 
given to farmers. 
We have been 
taught to avoid 
light soils for gen¬ 
eral farming, since 
it is said that they 
lack “body” and 
s t r e n gt h. 
Hewlett’s experi¬ 
ence shows that 
these light soils 
are not to be de¬ 
spised. They are 
quick and warm, 
easily worked and 
may be tilled in a 
wet season within 
a few hours after 
a storm. While 
not naturally as 
fertile as the soils 
that contain clay 
they give up fer¬ 
tility quicker. As 
a trough or feed¬ 
ing place they give 
the plant a better 
chance to reach its 
dinner. It is 
claimed that one 
great value of 
stable manure is 
that it introduces 
bacteria to the soil 
—thus filling it 
with n e c e s s ary 
life. On my own 
heavy and cold 
soil I am satisfied 
that this is true, 
but the returns 
from the Hewlett 
farm seem to indi¬ 
cate that this bac¬ 
terial action is not 
so necessary on 
the light loams. It 
must be remem¬ 
bered that Mr. 
Hewlett’s plan is not to get all the natural fertility 
out of the soil. Farming has been carried on for two 
centuries on that part of Long Island. He plans to 
put nitrogen, potash, phosphoric acid and lime into 
the soil, so that the plant can make them over into 
new combinations, which are worth more money. For 
example, a ton of potatoes will take out of uie soil 
about seven pounds of nitrogen, 12 of potash and three 
of phosphoric acid, worth a little over $2, and pack 
around this “plant food” water and starch enough to 
sell for from $15 to $25. When a manufacturer is 
capable of showing that difference between raw ma¬ 
terial and finished product it pays to house him well 
and keep him supplied with the best of material. 
Hewlett & Smith do both. They grow 8,000 or more 
bushels of potatoes each year. Mr. Lewis always 
plants potatoes after corn, but on this farm there is 
no definite rotation, and the potatoes may follow corn 
or rye or turnips, or another crop of potatoes if de¬ 
sired. The ground is thoroughly plowed and fitted, 
and the potatoes 
are planted i n 
drills, n o r t hern 
seed now being 
used. I asked Mr. 
Hewlett how 
much fertilizer he 
would put in the 
drill. He said that 
about 1,600 pounds 
per acre seems to 
be the limit in the 
drill—the remain¬ 
der is spread from 
the wagon with a 
shovel and har- 
rowed in. Of 
course where land 
is rented for a 
short time only 
they do not use 
the full 3,0 0 0 
pounds per acre, 
for a fair share of 
that heavy dress¬ 
ing is intended 
for the grain and 
grass which fol¬ 
low. In fact, this 
application does 
not seem so heavy 
when we realize 
that it covers four 
or even five years! 
At the time of my 
visit the vines 
were very thrifty. 
Mr. Hewlett uses 
the dry Bordeaux 
Mixture andParis- 
green, applying 
them with Paris- 
green guns, two 
or more men sit¬ 
ting at the back 
end of a wagon, 
each covering two 
rows as the wagon 
is driven through 
the field. Mr.Hew- 
lett feels sure 
that the dry Bor¬ 
deaux Mixture has 
prevented the 
spread of blight 
and increased the 
vigor of the vines. 
The tubers are 
plowed out with a 
Planet Jr. potato 
plow, and picked 
up by the bushel 
—two cents being 
the usual price. 
The crop is work¬ 
ed entirely by one-horse cultivators, as Mr. Hewlett 
believes that they do better work than the riders. 
We have heard so-called authorities say that the 
corn crop is a “back number” on light-soil farms at 
the East. Mr. Hewlett finds it one of his most pro- 
