1906. 
389 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
CHEMICALS AND WORN-OUT SOIL 
WILL SUCH FERTILIZERS FERTILIZE ? 
The Plain Story of a Practical Farmer. 
Part V. 
Cow Peas. —From the New Jersey Sta¬ 
tion, about the same time I had a report 
of cow peas following Crimson clover 
that yielded 14,400 pounds green matter 
per acre. The vines contained 2,278 
pounds dry matter, 70.6 pounds nitrogen, 
17.3 pounds phosphoric acid and 50.4 
pounds potash. The roots on one acre 
weighed 1,080 pounds and contained 295.2 
pounds dry matter, 2.4 pounds nitrogen, 
1.5 pounds phosphoric acid, 4.4 pounds 
potash per acre. The same authority 
says that the nitrogen in the vines waa 
equivalent to that contained in 437 l / 2 
pounds nitrate of soda, which at present 
prices would be not far from $13, to say 
nothing of the phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash. Without going too closely into the 
details of the case, I calculated to my own 
satisfaction at least, that my crop of 
35,695 pounds per acre with the roots 
added, left more than $30 worth of plant 
food on the ground; how much of this 
result was brought about by the applica¬ 
tion of fertilizers, and how much to the 
increased tillage would be difficult to say. 
The ground was pretty thoroughly stirred 
20 inches deep by the two plowings, plen¬ 
ty of vines of the cow peas could be 
found nine feet long. This immense 
growth of vines was allowed to lie on 
the surface all Winter and was turned 
under in the Spring for potatoes. 
Potato Preparation and Yield. —Be¬ 
fore plowing the ground was pretty well 
chopped up with a Cutaway harrow— 
fitted after plowing with Cutaway and 
Acme harrows, then fertilized broadcast 
with 1,000 pounds following mixture per 
acre: 200 pounds nitrate of soda, 200 
pounds dried blood, 200 pounds tankage, 
400 pounds muriate of potash, 1,000 
pounds acid phosphate. The ground was 
marked both ways 2j^ x 2/ 2 and planted 
April 23. Cultivation began, as I dis¬ 
cover by the notes taken at the time, May 
1, and was pretty well kept up as long as 
we could get through the rows. Digging 
began for market July 15; at an average 
rate of 100 bushels a day, that being about 
all we could handle nicely in connection 
with other stuff. I had sold potatoes the 
year before for 35 cents per bushel, and I 
take it for granted that I tried hard to 
unload this crop while the market was 
firm at $1, as I find by my sales book 
for that year, we cleared up that patch 
of four acres in a little over a week, 
and the field had a credit of a trifle over 
$900. Now jump right up, the whole 
bunch of you and declare emphatically 
that it was the price, and not the crop, 
that saved the day; no such thing, wait 
till I explain. 
A Dry Time. —To begin with, that was 
one of the driest Summers we ever ex¬ 
perienced (I have a record of the whole 
business). I was making history for my¬ 
self in those days—and I mistrust it must 
have been equally dry elsewhere, or po¬ 
tatoes would not have reached those fig¬ 
ures in our market. To explain the con¬ 
ditions as they were, I may say that my 
record shows there was not one good 
shower to make a half-inch rainfall. Dur¬ 
ing the time the crop was making its 
growth, passing showers frequently struck 
the back part of the farm, but here, a 
half mile away, the dust was hardly set¬ 
tled in the road any of the time, and yet 
in face of such conditions men who were 
qualified to judge looked that field over 
the middle of June, and without any hesi¬ 
tation pronounced it good for 500 bushels 
to the acre. I have reason to believe 
that this particular crop suffered as much 
in proportion as other people’s. The 
latter part of June we were visited by a 
wave of hot weather that caused the 
thermometer to make a record of 90 de¬ 
grees and upwards in the shade for days 
together. I guess growers are generally 
agreed that a week of that kind of 
weather at so critical a time, usually re¬ 
sults in the undoing of a potato crop. 
Varieties and Their Actions. —There 
were several different varieties planted 
and the yield was in proportion to their 
earliness. The White Bliss Triumph was 
planted on a portion of the field that 
sagged a little; of course they had more 
moisture, and being earlier, second crop 
southern seed, they were fit 'to dig about 
10 days ahead of the others. This kind 
gave us a bushel of marketable tubers 
from 17 hills. As they were planted 2 l / 2 
feet each way there was more than 6,900 
hills per acre. This sort could be de¬ 
pended on for 400 bushels per acre, but 
the other kinds fell short, especially the 
Maggie Murphy, the tops just simply 
dried up; it wasn’t blight, drought caught 
the crop too soon. 
Figuring Up.—N ow let’s stop and fig¬ 
ure up a little. To take out those stones, 
I find I charged the field $2.50 for each 
team and driver, and the extra hands I 
paid at that .time, after Fall work was 
done, $1 per day; counting up these 
charges with 69 pounds dynamite, fuse, 
caps, etc., it cost me $127.50 to stone the 
field. Then we put fertilizer on those 
cow peas: for the four acres 400 pounds 
nitrate of soda, $9; 400 pounds muriate 
of potash, $9; 1,600 pounds acid phos¬ 
phate, $12; total, $30. On the potatoes 
we put a half ton the acre that cost me 
at that time $28 per ton, $14 per acre, 
for four acres, $56 plus $30 equals $S6 
for fertilizers; add the cost of removing 
stone, $127.50, and we have $213.50, more 
than $50 per acre. I suppose some criti¬ 
cal reader is getting ready to have an 
injunction issued restraining me from 
any further effort until I have charged 
the potato crop with all the plowing, har¬ 
rowing, cultivating generally for a couple 
of years. Well, there is something in 
that I know, but it wouldn’t be fair to 
charge a lifetime’s improvement to one 
single crop; besides, who can estimate 
the possibilities of such a field in its 
present condition as compared with what 
it was before? I have seen a good cut¬ 
ting of clover on that field since, from 
wheat harvest till Fall. I have dwelt at 
some length on the treatment accorded 
this particular field, and the outcome of 
the crop that grew thereon, partly because 
I am fortunate in having the data at hand 
to supply the information, but mainly be¬ 
cause I wanted to dwell at greater length 
on the characteristics of the different fer¬ 
tilizer ingredients, their adaptability to 
some leading crops, and the part that de¬ 
caying vegetable matter has in enabling 
the crop to assimilate the plant food fur¬ 
nished, as well as some inert compounds 
always found in the soil. 
Next week I will burn up a load of hay 
and see where it came from—its compo¬ 
nent parts—and make an effort to supply 
its needs from the standpoint of the 
chemist, as well as the farmer. 
M. CARRAHAN. 
Why Grow the Clinton Grape? —It is of 
a wild nature, will grow and produce big 
crops on any soil adapted to fruit culture, 
can be trained to stakes, doing away with the 
expense of posts and wire, can be planted six 
feet apart each way, thereby getting more 
vines to the acre, being absolutely hardy, 
almost mildew and rot proof; requires no 
nursing: frosts that damage other varieties 
do not injure it; requires one-half the fertil¬ 
izer of other varieties; can be produced at 
one-half the expense, and brings from one- 
third to one-half more for wine In the mar¬ 
kets. OLD FRUIT GROWER. 
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