Vol. LVI. No. 2455. 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 13, 1897. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
ROCK, POTASH AND CRIMSON CLOVER. 
CHEAP PLANT FOOD FOR THE DELAWARE FARMERS. 
How Shall We Buy Phosphoric Acid? 
[editorial correspondence.] 
Part I. 
It is not pretended that the following' notes on fer¬ 
tilizing are suited to the practice of all farmers. You 
will make a mistake if you assume that the methods 
which have proved successful in Delaware must, of 
necessity, prove equally successful on your own farm. 
The soil, the climate, the moisture supply, the mar¬ 
ket, the tools and “ lay of the land ”, and the farmer 
himself have much to do in determining the most 
profitable system of fertilizing. We are now refer¬ 
ring to what is done on the Peninsula composed of 
Delaware and 
the eastern 
shore of Mary¬ 
land. In many 
ways, this sec¬ 
tion is most 
highly favored 
by Nature. The 
fields are mostly 
smooth and 
level. The soil 
is light and 
easily worked. 
Labor is cheap 
and abundant. 
Best of all, Crim¬ 
son clover grows 
t o perfection. 
With late au¬ 
tumn, mild win¬ 
ter and early 
spring, it hardly 
stops growing 
from the day the 
seed is sown 
until it is 
plowed or cut. 
For these rea¬ 
sons, it is safe to 
say that the 
more progress¬ 
ive Peninsula 
farmers have 
been able to re¬ 
duce the cost of 
fertilizing a n 
acre to about 
the lowest point 
yet obtained for 
a full meal of 
plant food. The 
object of these 
articles--is to 
show how this is 
done and leave 
the reader to decide whether the same plan could be 
practiced on his own farm. 
The farmers of whom I speak, are mostly engaged 
in growing fruit or truck—tomatoes, asparagus, etc.— 
or corn for the silo or dry stock food. The chief food 
for these plants is Crimson clover—the chief food of 
the Crimson clover is muriate of potash and dissolved 
phosphate rock. Remember that the rock and pot¬ 
ash are not applied to the fruit or the truck, but every 
effort is made to secure the largest possible growth 
of clover. As is now pretty well understood, this 
Crimson clover is an annual. It is as much a winter 
crop as rye. The Delaware farmers sow it in late 
July or early August, among other crops like corn, 
tomatoes, fruit, etc., wnieh have finished their pro¬ 
duction of leaf. If supplied with sufficient moisture, 
the Crimson continues to grow. The other crops are 
harvested, but the clover grows along. In the climate 
and soil of Delaware, it is doubtful whether it stops 
growing at all until the following May, when it is 
either plowed under or cut for ensilage or hay. The 
top may not show much indication of growth, but the 
roots are developing and spreading out all through 
the winter. This accounts for the marvellous growth 
this clover frequently makes as soon as the weather 
becomes warm in the spring. Its root system has be¬ 
come fully perfected during the winter, and when 
spring really comes in earnest, it is all ready for busi¬ 
ness. The best Delaware farmers recognize this 
habit and take advantage of it by applying the rock 
and potash during the fall and winter. For example, 
at this writing, all the fertilizing for the year has 
FRIENDS 
been done. In January or in December, the rock and 
potash were broadcasted right on the clover, and by 
this time, those industrious little roots, down in 
the soil, are laying hold of it and storing it up for 
spring use. 
S. H. Derby of Woodside, has worked Crimson 
clover with rock and potash about as skillfully as 
any one. His crops are chiefly truck and fruit, and 
he is working considerable of his farm into apples. 
It would be a dull man who would not enthuse at the 
evidence of what Crimson clover has done for the soil 
of this farm. Mr. Derby uses no nitrogen whatever, 
except what the clover takes out of the air for him. 
He has tried nitrate of soda, tankage, cotton-seed 
meal and other forms of nitrogen, but they have never 
given profitable returns over the Crimson clover alone. 
The chief object of Mr. Derb/’s fertilizing is to boom 
the Crimson clover crop and plow it all into the soil. 
You will understand that Crimson clover is prac¬ 
tically the only manure used on this farm ; that the 
chemicals are all applied with a view of increasing 
the crop of clover. A ton of green Crimson clover 
contains somewhat less phosphoric acid than a ton of 
average barnyard manure, and has more water in it. 
On the average, it will contain just as much nitrogen 
and a little more potash than the manure. Let us see 
what that means. With such crops of Crimson clover 
as Mr. Derby grows, he obtains plant food-equal to, 
at least 15 tons of rich stable manure per acre ! I 
think that it is gemerally admitted by scientists, that 
the plant food in green clover is even a little more 
available than that in average stable manure. So 
far as the potash 
is concerned, Mr. 
Derby has satis¬ 
fied himself that 
with his soil and 
climate condi¬ 
tions, he obtains 
better results by 
putting the 
muriate on the 
clover than by 
direct applica¬ 
tion to the fol¬ 
lowing crop. On 
this dry soil, one 
will often find 
the potash at 
the end of the 
season practical¬ 
ly undissolved 
in the soil. The 
crop of green 
clover, contain¬ 
ing nearly as 
much water as 
milk of average 
quality, when 
turned under 
and well packed 
down, furnishes 
not only soluble 
plant food, but 
the needed 
moisture as'well. 
What does 
such manuring 
cost ? 
Mr. Derby’s 
average yearly 
application per 
acre is 50 pounds 
muriate of pot¬ 
ash and from 150 
to 200 pounds of 
dissolved rock. 
The potash costs about 81 and the rock about 75 cents. 
Add the value of the clover seed and the cost of sow¬ 
ing and broadcasting fertilizer, and you have about 
the cheapest manure that you can think of. We some¬ 
times envy the western men who tell us of unlimited 
supplies of manure to be had for the hauling. These 
Delaware farmers can put the Crimson clover on their 
farms cheaper even than that. Furthermore, they 
can sow it along the roadside, where most of us grow 
a crop of weeds, and thus laise seed enough for the 
whole farm. 
We have said that Mr. Derby has tried purchased 
forms of nitrogen, but after careful experiment, he 
can see no increase in his crops from using it. He 
buys nothing but potash and phosphoric acid. Some 
farmers buy nitrogen in the form of bone, cotton-seed 
1897 
Fig. 
