1896 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
last spring, a bone is a porous, organic body, giving 
access to the roots of plants, while the ground rock 
is a solid grain—the roots feeding, if at all, only on 
its outer surface. Thus, while chemically the same as 
the rock, the bone, if as finely ground, may be the 
more “ available ” since the roots can make a better 
use of it. When experiment stations rank ground 
bone that will not dissolve in water or weak acid, as 
no more valuable than ground rock that will not thus 
dissolve, they make a mistake, because that is not a 
fair test of its availability. The plants themselves 
know better, and will show a vast difference when 
fed a given amount of phosphoric acid in fine, raw 
bone, and the same amount of “ bone phosphate ” in 
the form of fine rock. We went all through this mat¬ 
ter last spring. It is enough to say that practically 
all the phosphoric acid in finely-ground bone is 
available. In a sample of raw bones, the test of the 
chemist might show that much of the phosphoric acid 
was insoluble. This might be because of the fat or 
animal matter which surrounds it. After being put in 
the ground, this animal matter will decay, and then 
the bone itself would show a much greater solubility. 
As a matter of fact, the “ availability ” of the bone 
depends largely on its fineness. A coarse, lumpy 
sample is far less suitable for immediate use than one 
that is ground to a fine powder. In the case given, 
we have in one ton, 79 pounds of nitrogen and 509 
pounds of phosphoric acid, which is a good sample of 
bone. The chemist at the station would not only test 
this bone with water and weak vinegar, to see how 
much will dissolve, but he will also give it a mechani¬ 
cal test, and see what proportion of it will sift 
through a sieve with 50 meshes to the inch, or 25, or 
12. Then, if it is pure bone, his valuation will be 
made up largely by the fineness of the samples. Pos¬ 
sibly in the sample you mention, the bone would be 
fine enough to give a valuation of 14 cents a pound, 
or $11.06 for the nitrogen. This will leave $19.94 as 
the value of 509 pounds of phosphoric acid. 
Some Facts About Using Lime. 
H. S., Marlboro, O.—l wish to put lime on a certain field before 
sowing to clover again. When shall I apply it ? The field was 
an old Timothy sod, plowed last August and sowed to Timothy 
which failed; hence I purpose planting to potatoes next spring, 
to be followed by wheat and clover. I would like to put the lime 
on this winter, as I shall have more time to haul and distribute, if 
it will do as well. My method of planting potatoes is to cut the 
surface fine with a disc harrow, then plow the potatoes in, to a 
depth of about four or five inches, which will bring the lime in 
direct contact with them. 
V. E. 11., Lakeport, N. II. —In the discussion in regard to using 
lime for curing the acidity of a sour soil, no formula is given 
as to the way the lime is to be prepared, except to use airslaked 
lime. It is generally supposed that airslaked lime is worthless 
except, perhaps, to put on land. To get the full benefit of the 
caustic properties of the lime, it should not be allowed to airslake. 
I know of no better way of preparing the lime than the following: 
For one cask of lime, have a box four feet wide and six feet long 
from 12 to 15 inches deep, with a tight cover. Spread the lime 
evenly in the box, and sprinkle water ever it till it commences to 
slake; cover, and let it stand 15 minutes or more. Then, with a 
hoe, stir the lime thoroughly. If there are a few lumps that have 
not slaked, a little more water may be put on, or they may be 
sifted out, only be careful not to use too much water. As compared 
with air-slaked lime, where one ton of the latter is used, one-half 
ton prepared as above, will give good or better results. 
Ans. —We think that you will make a mistake in 
using the lime on the surface this winter, almost im¬ 
mediately before the crop of potatoes. As explained 
on page 834, we advise the use of lime after the potato 
crop, and would hai'row —not plow—it in. The chances 
are that such a practice will help the wheat and the 
clover that follow the potatoes. 
As to the method of preparing lime suggested by 
V. E. H., there is no doubt that such lime will “go 
further.” That is, half a ton of lime prepared in tha^ 
way will produce as great an effect as a larger amount 
of airslaked lime, for it is in a better condition to 
overcome readily any sourness in the soil. While this 
is true, it would be a mistake to use too much lime in 
this form*for that might cause a case of “too much 
of a good thing.” If the soil become too alkaline, the 
process of nitrification is liable to be delayed. At the 
Rhode Island Station, in one case where four tons 
of airslaked lime were used on an acre, this nitrifica¬ 
tion in the soil was stopped for about 17 days. The 
plants showed every evidence of suffering from a lack 
of available nitrogen ud til this alkaline condition was 
changed. Most farmers, however, will not be likely 
to use too much of this lime ; but a point to remember 
is that, while too much sourness in the soil is bad, so, 
also, is the opposite condition, or too much alkaline. 
Another thing is that lime prepared in this way, will 
not “ last ” as long as the airslaked lime; while less 
of it will “ sweeten ” the soil in a given time, the soil 
will need another application sooner than if the air¬ 
slaked lime were used. 
Raw Cotton Seed for Fertilizer. 
J. P- P., Texas .— When is the best time, and what the best 
method, to apply raw cotton seed on onion ground ? How much 
per acre ? I wish to sow the onion seed in the spring. Will raw 
cotton seed do just as well as any other fei’tilizer for asparagus ? 
Ans. —With an oil mill located at almost every rail¬ 
road center in, the South, advanced agriculture has 
progressed beyond the use of raw cotton seed as a 
fertilizer. The seed should be exchanged, wherever 
possible, for an equivalent in cotton-seed meal. This 
holds its nitrogen in a much more assimilable form 
than the raw seeds, which must decay before they 
become available for plant food, and are, hence, un¬ 
suited to crops that require rapid pushing. Apply the 
meal broadcast at the time of preparation, at the rate 
of from 600 to 800 pounds per acre for onions. Yet 
cotton-seed meal is itself a slow fertilizer, though its 
nitrogen is steadily and continuously available through 
the season. Hence, it would be well to supplement by 
intercultural application of a more soluble form of 
nitrogen—say, 150 pounds nitrate of soda,t wo or three 
times during the spring. Raw cotton seed would be 
better for asparagus than for onions, since this crop 
should be fertilized one year in advance, as the size of 
the stalks of next year’s crop depends, in large meas¬ 
ure, upon the growth attained by this year’s tops, and 
the consequent expansion of the root system, which is 
thus enabled to push up more lusty sprouts from 
every crown the next season. Stable manure, how¬ 
ever, is to be preferred to cotton seed. h. n. starnes. 
Georgia Experiment Station. 
Corn Fertilizer From Hen Manure. 
F. W. II., Savannah, N. Y .—Can I make a good fertilizer for 
corn and potatoes, by mixing potash and hen manure? What 
kind of potash shall I use, and how much to the bushel of manure? 
Ans. —You can make a fairly good corn fertilizer in 
this way, though it would be better to use some form 
of phosphoric acid with it. If the manure has been 
saved with plaster, in a sheltered place, as it should 
have been, it is now in dry, hard lumps. Crush them 
as fine as possible with a spade or heavy shovel. Sift 
with a fine sieve, and recrush the larger lumps. A 
mixture of 700 pounds of this fine and dry manure, 
and 150 pounds each of ground bone and muriate of 
potash, will be very sure to give good results on corn. 
If used on a sod, we would use 400 pounds or more of 
this mixture to the acre—broadcasted and harrowed in. 
The Use of Lime on Wheat. 
J. C., Chicago, III .—On a clay farm iu Ohio, I have been unable 
to get a “catch” of clover for several years. Can I sow lime on a 
piece now in wheat, and on which I wish to sow clover in the 
spring, without injury to the wheat? How much lime should I 
use, and in what condition ? What is the best time to sow it ? 
Ans. —The failure to obtain a catch of clover, may 
not be due to the lack of lime entirely. We would 
not advise the use of lime this winter on the wheat, 
except in a small way as an experiment. We do not 
know enough about the matter yet to state any exact 
rules, but we would always aim to use lime with a 
crop like corn, that would enable us to harrow it well 
in after plowing. 
The Farmer as a Chemist. 
O. B., Milan, Ohio.—I have recently come Into possession of 
about 50 tons of wood ashes, part of which are under cover, and 
the rest have been exposed to the weather, during the past sum¬ 
mer and fall. They are of hickory and oak, about three feet deep 
on level ground, with few showers during the summer. Under 
the above conditions, is it likely that much potash is lost? Are 
there not some works on chemistry that could teach fairly intel¬ 
ligent farmers how to analyze their own fertilizer materials? 
Ans. —No. We do not think that the ashes have 
leached much in that condition. We suggest that you 
send lair samples of the ashes to the director of the 
Ohio Experiment Station, Wooster, Ohio, with a re¬ 
quest for an analysis. We could tell you how ashes 
and fertilizers are analyzed, but even then you could 
not do satisfactory work without fitting up a small 
laboratory at more or less expense. You might read 
books on wood turning or blacksmithing, but the 
knowledge would not be of much use until you bought 
a lathe or forge, and all needed tools. The theory of 
analyzing a fertilizer is simple enough, but skill, ex¬ 
perience and costly apparatus are needed in order to 
do accurate work. At some time during the summer, 
we hope to give a few articles in Primer Science tell¬ 
ing how the chemist picks a food or a fertilizer apart. 
“ Stiff Gray” Southern Soil for Potatoes. 
J. J. K., Kernersville, K. C .—I have a piece of stiff gray soil that 
I wish to plant to potatoes next year. What manure, fertilizer, 
and treatment shall I use to get the greatest yield ? 
Ans. —“A piece of stiff gray soil” is too indefinite a 
description for any one to advise intelligently. Noth¬ 
ing is said as to its condition as to fertility, not a word 
as to what crop has been on it the past year. I would 
say, then, at the start, that a piece of stiff gray soil 
that had no clover on it last season, or any cow peas, 
and is simply a piece of land worn as much of our 
land is, is a bad place for a potato crop. There is no 
vegetable crop grown that so imperatively requires 
plenty of humus or decaying vegetable matter in the 
soil as the potato, and no amount of fertilization will 
atone for the lack of it. It is one of the hardest 
things to convince our farmers, not in the South 
alone, but all over the country, that good crops 
depend as much and more on the previous treatment 
of the land, as on the amount of fertilizer that a man 
is willing to put on it. No amount of fertilization 
will make a first-class crop of potatoes, especially on 
a piece of land destitute of vegetable matter, and this 
2 I 
vegetable matter is best obtained by the systematic 
culture of leguminous crops. On a soil well filled 
with decayed clover or pea-vine roots, the cheaper 
forms of plant food in potash salts and acid phosphate, 
give their best results, and no fertilizer will have 
its best effect on land destitute of this vegetable 
matter. If J. J. K. has a piece of land in clover, that 
is the place to put the potatoes. If the land in ques¬ 
tion is bare of vegetation, I would advise him to go 
to work at once, and if practicable, to haul during 
the winter all the pine straw and rotted leaves 
he can from the woods, and spread them on the land. 
He cannot haul too much. Let them lie on the sur¬ 
face all winter, but get them there as soon as possible, 
so that they may have the effect of the frost. When 
planting time comes, plow this covering under, and 
put the land in as fine order as possible. Make a mix¬ 
ture of 1,200 pounds of acid phosphate, 300 pounds of 
cotton-seed meal, 100 pounds of nitrate of soda, and 
400 pounds of muriate of potash. Use this mixture 
freely. Our growers for the northern market in the 
eastern part of the State, would use the whole ton on 
an acre of better land ; but such fertilizing would 
hardly pay J. J. K., unless he could do as they do, get 
two or three crops in a season from the land. In his 
colder part of the State, I would advise growing a 
later variety than those usually grown in the eastern 
part. The Rural New-Yorker No. 2 will be better 
than the earliest sorts. Of course, this hauling of 
humus from the forest is a laborious method ; but as 
humus has, probably, not been growing cheaply all 
over the land, it is the next best. As the land is stiff, 
the pine leaves will be of the greatest value in light¬ 
ening it. Get the bulletin of the North Carolina Sta¬ 
tion on Truck Farming in the South, w. F. MASSEY. 
North Carolina Experiment Station. 
How to Start Celery Seed. 
W. B. F., Kirkwood, Ohio. —We sow several pounds of celery 
seed annually. How would it do to stratify them, say, about six 
weeks before sowing ? I shall try a portion this spring, using 
sand with the seed. 
Ans.—S tratification is usually employed to soften 
the integuments of such seeds as are hard and woody— 
such as tree seeds and small fruit seeds—the action of 
frost often being thought beneficial in hastening the 
desired condition. Stratification, in the manner sug¬ 
gested, would, in effect, be merely sowing the seed 
six weeks earlier than usual, and “ trusting to luck ” 
that they be improved. The value of the treatment 
is doubted. There is little doubt that much of the 
unevenness in the germination of celery and other 
delicate seeds, is due to irregular or superfluous 
watering. Some careful experiments covering this 
point were conducted at Cornell University a few 
years ago, and with celery it was found that when 
the soil was kept only moderately moist, “ sprouting 
was much more rapid and regular, and the per cent 
of sprouting was nearly three times greater.” I 
would suggest that the seeds be soaked in water for 
about 12 hours before sowing, and then that the soil 
be watered more sparingly than is usually practiced. 
Maine State College. w. m. munson. 
Children That Breathe Through the Mouth. 
I. M. II., Siycamore, Ind.—ln advising home treatment for 
catarrh, you urged the necessity of breathing through the nose. 
How is this to be accomplished with children ? I have a little boy, 
live years old, who is troubled with the malady, and we have 
long endeavored to break his habit of mouth-breathing while 
sleeping, but to no avail. I realize the importance of this, but 
how is the desired result to be attained in the case of children 
unable to comprehend the evil effects of month-breathing? 
Ans. —The chances are more than even that the 
child cannot breathe properly through the nose be¬ 
cause of some obstruction in the nostrils. This 
trouble is often found in children, some having the 
difficulty from birth, while with others a growth has 
formed in the nose. Such children may acquire the 
habit of nose breathing while awake, if repeatedly re¬ 
minded of its importance; but while asleep, the 
mouth will open, and they will breathe in what, to 
them, is the most natural way until relieved by a 
surgical operation. 
Use of Carbon-bisulphide. 
J. E. W ., Uhurchland, Va. —Is it safe to handle Taylor’s Furna 
Carbon-bisulphide ? Is it effectual to kill rats and moles ? 
Ans. —Yes, if directions are followed. You must, 
of course, avoid breathing the fumes, or bringing a 
light close to them. If the rats or moles are in holes 
or other air-tight places, the fumes will kill them. 
This material is excellent for killing insects in stored 
grain. 
Magnolia Grandiflora as a Pot Plant. 
J. M. M., Wellburn, Ont.— Can the Magnolia grandiflora or the 
rhododendron be grown as a pot plant, set out in the garden in 
the summer, and wintered in a cold pit in the winter ? If so, what 
sized pots would be required ? 
Ans. —No, Magnolia grandiflora is too fast a grower. 
It could not be confined in this way. Rhododendrons 
could be grown in pots the same as are azaleas, chang¬ 
ing to large pots as required. 
A dollar book as premium for a new subscription ! 
See page 28. 
