34 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
January 16 
wode-whistle. Cases of poisoning have occurred from 
eating the seeds for anise, the roots for parsnip and 
the leaves for parsley. It is a dangerous foreigner, 
unfortunately now naturalized in this country. 
A High Per Cent of Nitrogen. 
Make a formula for a high-grade complete fertilizer 
that will suit a light soil and analyze 10 per cent am¬ 
monia; phosphoric acid, five to six per cent; potash, 
three per cent. J. E. w. 
Churchland, Ya. 
You must remember the difference between “am¬ 
monia” and “nitrogen.” The former is a combination 
of nitrogen and another substance called hydrogen— 
the latter having no value as plant food. A pound of 
“ammonia” is 14-17 or 82.35 per cent pure nitrogen. 
A pound therefore contains 13.17 ounces of nitrogen. 
You want in your ton of fertilizer therefore 165 
pounds of nitrogen, 120 of phosphoric acid and 60 of 
potash. This is an unusual combination for light 
soils for they are usually deficient in potash. You 
may choose from the following: 
Pounds in 100. 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash 
Nitrate of soda. 16 
Sulphate of ammonia. 20 
Ground bone . 3(4 25 
Dried blood . 10 
Acid phosphate . 14 
Muriate of potash. •• 50 
We can supply the potash in 125 pounds of muriate. 
We may easily see that if we depended on acid phos¬ 
phate alone for our supply of phosphoric acid and 
nitrate alone for nitrogen we could not provide all 
the nitrogen required. We would use bone and blood 
in such a mixture because these substances help dry 
out the other chemicals and supply a large amount of 
phosphoric acid. In order to make a mixture so high 
in nitrogen it will be necessary to use sulphate of 
ammonia. By figuring at the table you will see that 
the following combination will give what you want: 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash 
35) lbs. 
nitrate of soda. 
. • 
200 “ 
sulphate of ammonia.. 
.. 40 
• • 
621 “ 
dried blood. 
50 
200 “ 
ground bone . 
500 “ 
acid phosphate . 
70 
125 “ 
muriate of potash. 
*• 
Total 
..165 
120 
14 
fertilizer 
50 
80 
62 
62 
You might obtain dried blood with a guaranteed 
analysis of 14 per cent nitrogen or use dissolved bone 
black with 16 per cent of phosphoric acid. This would 
reduce the amount of sulphate of ammonia required. 
A Simple Fertilizer Mixture. 
How much nitrate of soda, sulphate of potash and 
phosphoric acid (14 per cent goods) will I have to buy 
to mix up a fertilizer analyzing 4-6-10? s. c. 
Elmira, N. Y. 
The chemicals you name will analyze about as fol¬ 
lows: 
Pounds in 100. 
Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash. 
Nitrate of soda. 16 
Sulphate of potash. 
Acid phosphate . 
Now you want in one ton of your 
pounds of nitrogen, 120 of phosphoric 
acid and 200 of potash. Nitrate of soda is 
the only thing you mention containing 
nitrogen, and you must use 500 pounds of 
it to give you the desired amount. To ob¬ 
tain the 120 pounds of phosphoric acid 
you must use 850 pounds of the phosphate 
while 400 pounds of sulphate of potash 
will supply the needed potash. Thus 1,750 
pounds will give you the desired plant 
food. You will be surer of your analysis 
if you use 1,000 pounds of phosphate, 550 
pounds nitrate and 450 pounds sulphate. 
This is not a desirable mixture for all 
crops. These chemicals will “cake” or 
harden after standing a short time so that 
they cannot be drilled easily. The plant 
food is all soluble and at once available. 
This is a good thing for very early crops 
on cold ground and also good when small 
quantities of fertilizer are used at a time. 
The way to use such a mixture would be 
to make three or four applications during 
the growing season, otherwise some of the 
nitrogen might be wasted. In fertilizing 
fruits it would be practical to put all pot¬ 
ash and acid phosphate on at one time in 
late Summer or Fall, then use the nitro¬ 
gen in three applications during growing 
season. For a mixture to be used on potatoes or simi¬ 
lar crops all at one time this is not the best. We 
would use less nitrate of soda and acid phosphate and 
add dried blood and fine ground bone enough to make 
up the required amount. This would give nitrogen 
from three different sources which would feed the 
plant all through its growth. 
Nitrate of Soda and Clover. 
Would nitrate of soda applied to a new clover 
next Spring be profitable? Would South Carolina 
do to scatter over the hen manure on the roosts? 
Kinzers, Pa. J - E 
No, we would not put nitrate of soda on clover. The 
nitrate contains no fertilizing element but nitrogen, 
and that is what we want the clover to obtain for us. 
Clover has the ability to take nitrogen from the air— 
that is, the little bacteria which live on its root? can 
obtain it. Suppose you had a cat capable of hunting 
and willing to catch rats and mice, and a watch dog 
which you kept tied so that he could not run about. 
If you had to buy meat to feed one of these animals 
you would not feed it to the cat, because she can get 
out and hunt her meat. The dog cannot do this, and 
so he should have the meat. The clover is like the 
cat. It can under proper conditions get a supply of 
nitrogen. Grain, grass, potatoes and similar crops 
cannot do this, therefore it is better practice to put 
the nitrate of soda on these crops. Put acid phos¬ 
phate and potash on the clover if need be. The South 
Carolina rock is good to use under the hen roosts. 
Hen Manure for Drilling. 
How can we treat hen manure in order to have it dry 
and fine enough to sow with a fertilizer distributor or 
grain drill? m. l. 
Byfield, Mass. 
Keep the manure under the perches well dusted 
with land plaster or acid phosphate. The plaster is 
best for drying the manure and the phosphate best 
for holding the ammonia. Scrape off the manure fre¬ 
quently and store it in a dry place. By Spring it will 
be mostly in dry hard chunks. Put these on a solid 
floor and beat them up with a heavy spade or maul. 
Sift the manure through a fine sieve and either crush 
the screenings with the spade or grind them through 
a bone mill. When made fine in this way either use 
alone or mixed about as follows: 1,000 pounds hen 
manure, 300 pounds muriate of potash, 300 pounds 
fine ground bone and 400 pounds acid phosphate. 
BURNING LIME ON THE FARM. 
We find lime is a great benefit to our sot', but we have 
to draw it about 12 miles, which is too far. Less than 
two miles from our farm is a large ledge of fine quality 
limestone, and on our farm we have thousands of cords 
of wood. Can this lime be burned profitably for agri¬ 
cultural purposes? Is it necessary to have a regular 
kiln, which would be quite an expense, I expect, or 
could one fit up a temporary affair that would answer 
the purpose? G. G. w\ 
Williamstown, Mass. 
Old-Time Kilns. 
Lime burning on the farm is one of the lost arts 
throughout all our region of country. Fifty years ago 
EULALIA HEDGE, THIRD YEAR. Fig. 16. See Rubalisms, Page 38. 
skill built an arched chamber at the bottom as a fire¬ 
place, a projection a foot from the ground in the wall 
served as a base for the arch. On this arch the lime¬ 
stone was packed with some care, sometimes inter¬ 
spersed with stone coal. This was not a necessity, as 
hundreds of thousands of bushels were burned en¬ 
tirely without it. These kilns were somewhat egg- 
shaped, flaring from the bottom half way up, then con¬ 
tracting towards the top, which was about the size at 
starting. The remains of a small one stand within 
sight where I am writing. Perhaps I should have 
said that these kilns should be built of some soft 
stone as sandstone. Flint or iron stone breaks up 
with the fire. The best of all is a soapstone forma¬ 
tion entirely free from quartz. No size can be given 
as to capacity, only the width should not be over 10 
feet, as the arch would have to be Coo high. Better 
make it oval from eye to back. wm. t. s medley. 
Chester Co., Pa. 
How They Do in Maine. 
It is entirely practicable to burn lime on a farm. 
The best place to locate a kiln is on the side of a 
bank of earth, that the road may be near the top of 
the kiln to put the rock in easily. A kiln may be one, 
two or three arches, according to size, the walls 
should be perfectly tight to hold heat. At least one 
arch should be four feet wide. The rock, when put in 
the kiln, should be set up edgewise, that the fuel may 
be evenly distributed up through the rock. On top 
of the kiln the rock may be built up above the walls 
three feet, and must be broken to about the size above 
the kiln of a quart measure. It will take about four 
days’ constant attendance before such a kiln is done 
with good dry wood. A three-arch kiln will produce 
lime cheaper than one arch. o. Gardner. 
Rockland, Me. 
In Kiln or in Heap. 
Limekilns are built from 20 to 30 feet high on the 
side of a hill, as high as convenient to get up to, 
similar to a cave or root cellar, the top coming up 
level on the back to drive there and then fill it from 
that point, the front of the kiln to be built perpen¬ 
dicular the full height of limestone or any other stone 
about 18 or 24 inches thick. On the back or bank side 
12 or 15 inches is sufficient thickness. The inside is 
lined with fire brick or red rock, or of such material 
as will not burn; the opening should be eight to 10 
feet in diameter and in funnel shape, the throat of it 
not too small so as to choke. The opening at the bot¬ 
tom on the face side is made the shape of an inverted 
V, running to the back of the opening. They build 
two of these side by side, only having a partition 
between them; then draw one while the other is 
burning, and that keeps the men employed all the 
time. One single arch costs about $175, or a double, 
one $300. There is wood laid in the throat sufficient 
to start the fire; then put in a layer of coal and then 
of limestone, continuing until it gets to 
the top of opening. This is worked in 
this way when it is done for a general 
business, but if it is only for a farmer 
who owns his own stone and wants lime 
for his own use he can do it much cheap¬ 
er and without building the kiln by lay¬ 
ing upon the ground a floor of logs and 
timber, enough to make a good bed; then 
lay on the w T ood and stone the same as 
in the kiln and build it up as a hay stack 
but flatter at the top, as you get in more 
stone in that way, or it can be built long 
and not round as wished. This is the 
way for home use; 5,000 to 10,000 bush¬ 
els can be burnt in a heap of this kind. 
People use coal (buckwheat) here for the 
purpose, but I suppose the same can be 
accomplished in using wood and will be 
cheaper if wood is handy. Fig. 15 shows 
the mode of building. The kiln built as I 
describe will furnish its own draft and 
regulate itself. It takes about two or 
three days and nights to burn it and 
needs little attention if burned in a heap. 
It is saving of the stone, or burns up 
more of the stone by covering the entire 
heap with clay or soil of some kind ex¬ 
cept the extreme top. c. s. n. 
field 
rock 
w. 
almost every farm had its kiln, with capacity for 
from 300 to 1,000 bushels or more. These kilns at 
that time would cost from $50 to $150, besides the ex¬ 
cavations and stone hauling. They were built on the 
side of a pretty steep bank, so that the limestone 
could be hauled to the top and the wood fed through 
the “eye,” which was an opening on the lower level, 
1 y 2 foot wide by from four to 4% feet high. Through 
this opening the burned lime was drawn. A flue 
starting on each side of the eye at bottom ran around 
the kiln with three openings into it, one opposite 
the eye at the back and one on each side. These ad¬ 
mitted the air for draft. In filling a man with some 
Espy, Pa. 
TENANTS AND OWNERS.—Only about one-tenth of 
the farms in this section are operated by tenants, about 
equally divided between cash and shares. Shares vary 
according to value of land, improvements and things 
found by land-owner, but mostly one-half; renter fur¬ 
nishing tools, teams, etc., or one-third where land- 
owner furnishes same and tenant simply furnishes 
muscle. Cash rent varies owing to value of land, im¬ 
provements, etc., from $2 to $10 per acre. The tenant 
aims to get value received from his investment, so ho 
does not in any way compare with owners as far as 
land is concerned for a term of years. A farm leased 
to tenant after a short term of years decreases in value, 
so that a farmer leasing his farm seldom cares to re¬ 
turn to it. 
Alexandria, O. 
h. w. M. 
