1905. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
337 
“CHEMICALS AND CLOVER” UP- 
TO-DATE. 
Development of a Fertilizer Farm. 
Part V. 
A number of interesting questions have 
been received concerning this fertilizer 
farming. Here is one from Massachu¬ 
setts : 
If I understand the article corerctly the 
enclosed would be the true plan of work for 
the five years’ rotation. Will you advise me 
if I am correct ? 
Spring Work—1st year, plowing and plant¬ 
ing potatoes; 2d year, seeding clover; 3d 
year, none; 4th year, none; 5th year, plow¬ 
ing and planting corn. 
Harvest—1st year, potatoes; 2d year, 
wheat; 3d year, clover; 4th year, Timothy; 
5th year, corn. 
Fall Work—1st year, plowing and seeding 
wheat and Timothy ; 2d year, none ; 3d year, 
none; 4th year, plowing; 5th year, plowing 
(for potatoes.) 
The item of Fall work is wrong. We 
have explained that Mr. Lewis does not 
plow in the Fall. The manure is hauled 
out in August and spread on the Timothy 
sod, but this is not plowed until Spring. 
The same is true of the corn ground. It 
is seeded to Crimson clover at the last cul¬ 
tivation of the corn, and left with this 
crop until Spring. The only working of 
the ground in the Fall is fitting the potato 
ground for wheat and grass. It is a part 
of this rotation to keep the soil constantly 
covered as far as possible with some 
growing crop. Thus two-fifths of the 
farm is plowed every Spring. 
This same rotation would not be profit¬ 
able or even possible in some more north¬ 
ern latitudes, because in such places wheat 
seeding comes before potatoes are ready 
to harvest. Mr. Lewis is obliged to raise 
early varieties in order to follow them 
with wheat. The early varieties are not 
usually the heaviest yielders, and one year 
with another they do not bring the best 
prices. Under this system there is less 
opportunity to hold potatoes for a higher 
price than there would be with the later 
crop. 
Under this system the direct loss of 
plant food from the farm is heavy. The 
potatoes, grain and hay take away large 
quantities of fertility. Practically nothing 
except the cornstalks and some of the 
clover hay remain on the farm as manure. 
We get a new idea of what Alfalfa can do 
for a farm when it is said that if Alfalfa 
will thrive it will enable Mr. Lewis to sell 
more hay than ever, and still add fertility 
to the farm. This loss of plant food is 
made up by the use of fertilizers. As we 
have seen, the farm grows more produc¬ 
tive with each round of the rotation. The 
value of the crop sold is more than three 
times the value of the purchased fertiliz¬ 
ers, with a balance of plant food always 
in favor of the farm. This is the keynote 
of this rotation—the purchase of plant 
food in one form and the selling of it in 
another. 
This system is the reverse of that fol¬ 
lowed by many good farmers. They be¬ 
lieve in feeding all that is grown upon the 
farm, and using the manure to keep up 
the soil. Such men aim to sell the crops 
which take least away from the farm, such 
as milk, meat, butter or fruit. Those two 
systems are coming closer together. For 
example, Mr. Lewis has found it profit¬ 
able to cut up and feed the cornstalks in 
order to save their feeding value. On the 
other hand, many stockmen or dairymen 
find it profitable to sell their Timothy hay 
and use fertilizers to offset the loss to the 
farm. Thus it is becoming more and 
more a matter of calculation, because it 
has been demonstrated that fertilizers 
wisely used in a rotation will make a 
profitable, substitute for manure. A farmer 
who is obliged to feed and care for a large 
number of stock may well consider what 
this chemicals and clover system saves in 
labor. With modern machinery this sys¬ 
tem could be arranged so that a man and 
a boy, with extra help in haying and po¬ 
tato harvest, could do practically all of the 
work on a fair-sized farm. On many 
farms a large share of the labor is de¬ 
voted to saving and handling the manure 
which is to keep up the farm fertility. 
Suppose this labor were largely eliminat¬ 
ed. It is easy to see how the cost of 
farming could be reduced. 
Mr. Jamison, of Ohio, has told us how 
he saves much of this bill by turning hogs, 
sheep or other- stock into the fields to har¬ 
vest his grain and grass for him. It 
would not pay him to do this if he could 
obtain the prices for hay which eastern 
farmers receive, and it would not pay Mr. 
Lewis to feed all his hay crop at home. 
Thus it will be seen that no cast-iron rule 
can be laid down for farmers, and Mr. 
Lewis’s experience has done as much as 
anything to show that the old rule of sell¬ 
ing nothing away from the farm is not 
absolute. 
This chemicals and clover system could 
be so carried out that two men, each with 
only one leg, could do all the work of 
growing 20 acres of potatoes up to the 
point of picking up the tubers. They 
could do this year after year, and leave 
the soil better than they found it! 
_ h. w. c. 
White Oak Starves Grass. 
IF. J. J., Johnson City, Tenn .—Why is it 
that nothing will grow under a White oak 
tree? Could we do anything to improve this 
condition short of cutting down the tree? 
A Black walnut appears to have an opposite 
effect on soil, the best grass is sometimes 
found under this tree. 
Ans. —1 he White oak. Soft maple and 
some other forest trees have many feeding 
roots near the surface and few plants are 
able to grow under them. It is quite use¬ 
less to apply fertilizer under trees of this 
kind—the tree roots soon appropriate it, 
and the grass starves out. Very frequent 
top-dressing may keep up a show of 
herbage, but the main effect is to stimulate 
the trees. The best plan is to cut down 
the trees where they can be spared and 
replant with deeper rooting kinds like the 
Pin oak or Norway maple. Black walnut 
roots run rather deep, and grass usually 
grows well under the trees if headed rea¬ 
sonably high, but farm crops seldom 
amount to much even in Black walnut 
shade. 
Go Slow! 
Do not think of buying a. machine 
for drilling for water, oil or any 
other purpose without first inves¬ 
tigating our great 
« 
CLIPPER 
and 
“Advance” 
Machines. 
They are by far 
the greatest 
Drills overpro¬ 
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LOOMIS 
MACHINE CO., 
TIFFIN, OHIO. 
AGENTS FINE SAMPLE SENT ANYWHERE, 
ON RECEIPT OF 
41.50 
/O 
_ to; 
-"7 
^ oL y £ ^ > 5 ]; 
1JU LU LU d t: 2 : Q/ Ct- 
T0 0i 
is 
flATi Tool co. 
THREE RIVERS. MICH. 
Harrows $ 5.80 Up 
Cut this out and send to ua 
with the price as printed. We 
will at once ship you this well 
knownKalainazoo manufactured 
high grade Spring Tooth Harrow. 
Prlcel6Tooth Not Lined, *5.80 
“ 18 “ “ 6.30 
“ 20 “ “ 6.80 
24 “ » 8.75 
Price, Lined 
. S 6.40 
. 7.00 
. 7.60 
10.75 
Extra Harrow Teeth, each, 20c; Channel Steel Clips 
2c each, or 22c per dozen. 
Lined Harrows are used on stony land InN. Y.,Pa.. 
y> .V a., and all through New England. Ours are lined 
full length and tooth bolts are protected by Channel 
Steel Clips. Every Harrow has stump guard. Full 
length oil-tempered spring teeth. Oak frames. A 
better Harrow cannot be bought at any price. 
,, Can ship an 18-tooth Harrow to Portland, Maine, or 
Baltimore, Md., for *1.00. Points at a less distance 
proportionately less. Send now; have the harrow 
on hand ready for spring work. At this low price you 
can t afford to bother with the old one. We have man¬ 
ufactured Spring Tooth Harrows for 25 years. It was 
originally Invented by a Kalamazoo man. We are 
neadff uarters. Also get a copy of our big catalogue 
No. 86, showing everything used on the farm- It’s 
free. CASH S ||p PL Y & MFG. CO. 
406 5-awrence Sqr. Kalamazoo, Mich. 
The name Keen Kutter 
eliminates all uncertainty in tool buying. 
As this brand covers a complete line of tools, all you need remem¬ 
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Keen Kutter Tools are without reserve or qualification the 
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of tool, you cannot get any tool, anywhere, better 
than those sold under the name of Keen Kutter. 
If your dealer doesn't keep Keen Kutter tools 
write us and we will see that you are supplied. 
Tools received the Grand Prize at the St. Louis Exposition—the only such award ever oiven a complete 
line of tools. 
^Some kinds of Keen'Kutter Tools 
Chisels, Knivesof all kinds, 
Hair Clippers, Scissors, 
Shears, Adzes, Axes, 
Brush Hooks, Chop¬ 
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Cleavers, Hay 
Knives, Scythes, 
Sans, H orse 
Shears, Tool 
Cabinets, 
Etc. 
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SIMMOrJS HARDWARE COMPANY 
"The 
Recollection 
of Quality 
Remains Long 
After the 
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Trade Mark Registered. 
St. Louis, Mo. 298 Broadway, N. Y. 
A Never Failing Water Supply, 
with absolute safety, at small cost may be had by using the 
Improved Rider Hot Air Pumping Engine and 
Improved Ericsson Hot Air Pumping Engine. 
Built by us for more than 30 years and sold in every country in the world Exclu¬ 
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So well built that their durability is yet to be determined, engines which were sold 
30 years ago being still in active service. 
Send stamp for “ C4 ’ Catalogue to nearest office 
RIDER-ERICSSON ENGINE CO., 
S 5 Warren St., New York. 539 Franklin St., Boston 
40 Dearborn St., Chicago. 692 Craig St., Montreal, P. 
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EASY WAY TO HANDLE HAY 
The heavy crops of tame hay most farmers raise nowadays make 
the handling proposition an important one. There’s an easy 
way—a money-saving, time-saving way to handle hay. We 
would like to tell you about it, and how cheap you can buy it. 
HANDLES 
HAY 
'Sfljdd&i 
The Strickler way is worth knowing. Our catalog tells you how—tells 
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—it describes the Strickler way to handle hay. J 
Strickler Hay Tool Co., Box l OO, Janesville, Wis. 
izj 
DoIjOACTI 
Avoid imitators and infringers and buy the Genuine. 
Catalog Free of Saw Mills. 4 II. P. and up. Shingle 
planing, Lath and Corn Mills: four Stroke Hay j 
k Presses. Water Wheels. We pay freight,^ 
DeLoach Mill Mfg. Co., Box 1002, Atlanta,Ga- * 
Look at 
Sprocket 
Drive 
the Big 
and Chain 
below. 
Ours is the only Manure 
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v* 
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is the one to buy. These are among the reasons why: It is the result of 26 years of continuous Manure 
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KEMP A BURPEE MANUFACTURING CO., Box 38, SYRACUSE, N. V. 
