Vol. LV. No. 2440. 
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 31, 1896. 
*1.00 PER YEAR. 
THE NEW JERSEY EXPERIMENT STATION. 
Dr. B. D. Halsted FOUR CHOICE EVERGREENS. From a Photograph. Fig. 232. See Page 720. 
of this station has 
a national reputa¬ 
tion as a botanist. He has a five-acre plot known as 
the “ plant hospital ” in which he is cultivating all 
the rots, blights, scabs, mildews, and other plant dis¬ 
eases be can learn of, in the hope of obtaining reme¬ 
dies for them. For example, a part of this soil is so 
filled with potato scab that it is impossible to grow 
clean potatoes in it without using something in the 
soil to protect the potatoes. Some six years ago, it 
was proved that, if the seed potatoes were soaked in 
a solution of corrosive sublimate before planting, the 
germs of the scab existing on those potatoes would be 
destroyed, and the chances were that the crop would 
be smooth. This point was soon raised: “Suppose 
that the scab germs arc in the soil, how^is soaking th§ 
valuable work with a dairy herd. 
A “ Hospital ” for Sick Plants. 
[editorial correspondence.J 
One of the most interesting experiment stations in 
the country is the one located on the New Jersey 
Agricultural College farm at New Brunswick. The 
station director, Prof. E. B. Voorhees, is a very con¬ 
servative man, and he does not print any reports of 
his experiments until he is sure of the facts. Instead 
of attempting a great number of small experiments, 
Prof. Voorhees has decided to concentrate the work 
upon a few more * 
important prob- $ 
lems that confront 
New Jersey farm- ’ 
ers. This station 
does not make a 1 
specialty of tests 
of varieties, but 
rather takes the 
plant and tries to 
learn how to feed 
it, how to cure it 
in sickness, and 
how to protect it 
against insect 
enemies. In the 
horticultural de¬ 
partment, an ex¬ 
cellent selection 
of varieties of 
fruits and vegeta¬ 
bles has been 
made for compari¬ 
son, but the chief 
aim is to learn 
how the crop may 
be increased by 
irrigation, by feed¬ 
ing different com¬ 
binations of ferti¬ 
lizer, or by differ¬ 
ences in pruning 
or cultivation. The 
amount of ferti¬ 
lizer applied is ac¬ 
curately weighed. 
The crop and the 
growth of leaf and 
stem are, also, 
weighed and sam¬ 
pled for analysis 
so that accurate 
records of plant 
feeding may be 
kept. 
Curing Sick Plants 
seed going to prevent their work ? ” This is a very 
important point, for some farmers have found that, 
with the best of soaking, they still had scabby pota¬ 
toes. The trouble was that the scab germs were 
already in the soil. When the conditions were right, 
they developed and spread unless there was something 
right close at hand to destroy them just as the cor¬ 
rosive sublimate killed those on the seed. Turn back 
and read the article about “ boils”, on page 689, for 
an illustration of this scab treatment. You may kill 
the boil by outside application, but others will surely 
come unless you do something to strengthen and tone 
up the system. Some internal treatment is needed. 
Years ago, before the corrosive sublimate was men¬ 
tioned, The R. N.-Y. iound that sulphur would pre¬ 
vent or diminish scab in potatoes. Prof. Halsted has 
used sulphur on his scabby ground, and finds it a 
complete remedy for what we shall call “internal” 
scab. Years ago, in the spring after a winter of salt 
pork and beans, the whole family used to be troubled 
with “ring worm” and other face eruptions. We 
would use a salve to heal the skin, and sulphur and 
molasses to “ purify the blood”. Now, this potato 
scab is a “skin disease”, and the results in this 
“ plant hospital ” show that, with corrosive sublimate 
solution on the seed pieces, and sulphur in the hill or 
drill, we may insure smooth potatoes. On parts of 
this “hospital ” plot, the scabbiest potatoes that could 
be obtained have been left year after year, in order 
to give the worst possible conditions. Right in the 
worst of this “ scab factory ”, smooth and clean pota¬ 
toes are grown by the use of sulphur, while in rows 
on either side, the potatoes are so scabby that one can 
hardly tell what they are. This certainly seems to 
give the farmer a chance to master the scab problem. 
On another part of the field, I noticed a “ seeding ” 
for blight and rot in the bean. Diseased vines had 
been fairly piled on a small area so that, next year, 
that soil will be full of the germs. Then they will 
grow beans on it again, and use their remedies to try 
to cure the disease. 
Prof. Voorhees 
tells me of a new 
way of preparing 
the Bordeaux Mix¬ 
ture that has given 
excellent satisfac¬ 
tion when used in 
this “ plant hospi¬ 
tal”. Instead of 
using lime to neu¬ 
tralize the acid in 
the sulphate of 
copper, they use a 
solution of potash 
hydrate. This 
comes in cans and 
is readily soluble 
in water. It acts 
as well as the lime, 
is easier to mix, 
while the potash 
adds something in 
the way of fertil¬ 
ity. There are 
dozens of other in¬ 
teresting experi¬ 
ments going on in 
this “ plant hospi¬ 
tal ”. The public 
will learn about 
them when they 
have been carried 
far enough to war¬ 
rant some positive 
statements. 
Experiments with 
a Dairy Herd. 
The farm com¬ 
prises nearly 100 
acres and is chiefly 
devoted to grow¬ 
ing forage for a 
herd of dairy cows. 
Prof. Voorhees be¬ 
lieves that the 
dairy interests of 
New Jersey need 
attention. He has, 
therefore, undertaken to show how to produce pure, 
clean, rich milk at a reasonable profit. He has a milk 
trade of 200 quarts per day, and this trade is increas¬ 
ing without any attempt at advertising. Take a herd 
of 40 milch cows and go through the process from 
growing the feed to selling the milk, and one can see 
how many things the chemist, the botanist and the 
veterinarian can find out. What does the cow eat, 
and how much does she return in her manure ? What 
changes take place in the mitk, and how can we pre¬ 
vent such changes ? How do different foods affect the 
flavor or composition of milk, and why ? What effect 
does tuberculosis or other diseases have upon the 
cow and her product, What, dairy crops can the New 
