1906. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
583 
GROWING PLANTS IN OREGON. 
One cannot learn all there is in one year, neither can 
he learn it all by reading the experiences of others; he 
must work at it himself. 
Fig. 59, on page 147, shows the frame of a building 
that I use for growing plants. I cover it with cloth 
when I need it for protection. December 15 I com¬ 
menced putting plants in it; they were some I had 
grown under glass till they were large enough to set out 
in the garden, but did not want to use them till in 
February, so I put them outside to keep. I did not 
cover them with cloth until January 4, and then com¬ 
menced selling them the last part of January. I found 
the better way to grow my plants was to commence 
work under glass in October, and as soon as I got the 
plants large enough for the open field, if there was not 
a demand for all I had, to take the surplus anjl prick 
them out under the cloth, where they would keep 
growing slowly, and would be fine plants when I wanted 
them. I had a difficulty this year more than ever before 
with my cabbage and cauliflower plants; after the plants 
got up and before the first true leaves appeared the 
white mold would commence growing on the under side 
of the seed leaf, and in a short time take the life of 
the plant so it would die. The mold has attacked the 
plants under the glass, under the cloth and out in the 
open ground nearly all the time since the first of Feb¬ 
ruary. I am not sure just now how to destroy the 
mold, but I am building another house 24 x 40, covering 
it with glass, and I shall use it exclusively for plants; 
then I shall commence fighting the mold and every other 
parasite that makes its appearance. 
I had better success with tomato plants this year than 
common. I commenced sowing the seed in the beds in 
the greenhouse February 24; in two weeks it was up 
well. About the middle of March we 
had a cold spell, so that two mornings 1 
found there was a slight frost in the 
greenhouse, but I had taken the precau¬ 
tion to cover the bed of tomato plants 
with cloth, so it did not hurt any of them. 
The latter part of March we commenced 
pricking out the small plants. We did 
not want to spare the room for the to¬ 
mato plants alone, as we were raising all 
the lettuce we could, so when we were 
setting the lettuce (rows 10 inches apart), 
we would put in three rows of tomato 
plants between every two rows of lettuce, 
putting the tomato plants about two inches 
apart each way, and in from two to three 
weeks the tomato plants were large 
enough for market; we took them out, 
and in a short time the lettuce was ready 
for market. We grew the tomato plants 
faster than the market would take them, 
commenced selling April 20, and the sur¬ 
plus we heeled in under the cloth, where 
they kept in prime shape. We also 
pricked out under the cloth a large num¬ 
ber of the small tomato plants, and while 
they grew somewhat slower than under the 
glass they were more hardy and made very fine plants 
for later setting, from the middle of May on. In grow¬ 
ing celery plants I sow the seed in my plant boxes, 
size 9 x 10 inches and 2/ inches deep. I sow the seed 
thick enough so from 600 to 1,000 plants will be in a 
box. When I get the seed sown I set the box in a dish 
of water, so it will get soaked full of water, having 
the dish deep enough so the water will cover the box. 
The first seed I sow in January, and as it is colder, and 
I want the seed to come quicker, I wet the boxes of 
seed with hot water. I take the tea kettle from the 
stove, throw an old sack over the boxes so it will not 
wash the seed out, and then pour the hot water over it 
until it is well soaked; then pile the boxes up one on the 
other 8 or 10 high in the warmest place in the green¬ 
house, throw a cloth over them so they will not dry out' 
and let them be. In about two weeks the seed is sprout¬ 
ed, so I spread them out so they can have the light. 
When the plants are two inches high they are ready to 
prick out, and I set them two inches apart in the beds. 
In two or three weeks they arc nicely rooted and fine 
plants for planting out. T sowed seed this way in boxes 
the first of May, and the first of July was selling as 
good plants as anyone would want. The celery plants 
are all grown under glass; I can do it easier and 
quicker . My sales this season have been 22,000 lettuce, 
80,000 cabbage plants, early varieties, 50,000 tomato 
plants and 30,000 celery plants. I am now (July 4) 
marketing cucumbers. dexter field. 
Oregon. 
EXPERIENCE IN SOILING CATTLE. 
Nitrate of soda used on grain and grass has given me 
very marked results, more noticeable, of course, early 
in the season than at present writing. The ideal wea¬ 
ther has given natural resources every opportunity to do 
their best. The extra growth, however, has cost about 
its full value, and a question of doubt arises whether 
nitrate of soda at $52 a ton can be made to yield more 
than cost value upon general dairy farm crops. On the 
farm where I use it the cows are kept almost wholly 
upon soiling crops, and I feel the necessity of pushing 
a small acreage for early feeding. Rye and wheat came 
first. I had three acres, and the cows were turned into 
it. My plan was that they would waste some of it, but 
that would make it possible to plow the land sooner and 
put in another crop. They did not waste a pound. The 
mistake that was made was in having the rye and wheat 
in the same field; they ate the wheat first, and rye when 
nothing else remained. The order should have been re¬ 
versed. Whenever I have fed Winter wheat, either as 
green feed or hay, it has always been with most grati¬ 
fying results. We had 15 cows in milk at the time, and 
they had been living for two weeks on the first growth 
in the three-acre pasture when we changed to wheat. 
There was a small gain in milk, not, l am sure, because 
it was better than fresh grass, but the supply was more 
liberal. Following the wheat and rye came Alfalfa, 
and now we are feeding clover, Red and Alsike, with 
some Timothy. The milk flow has held under the last 
change. There is some other grass in the Alfalfa, which 
may account for the lack of noticeable change. 
We fed for a week, June 28 to July 4, partly upon oats 
and peas sowed thin with Alfalfa early in May. The 
crop had not then showed heads, although standing three 
feet high. We could not get enough of this immature 
stuff into them to maintain flow and so have discontin¬ 
ued. It does seem a bit strange that cows feeding upon 
the rapid, fresh-growing grass will do their best, and 
yet I find, when cutting Timothy, Orchard grass, clovers 
and the cereal grains, including corn, means more milk 
when nearly mature. Last year we used about nine 
acres pasture, this year three acres. Now we shall grow 
more feeding stuff by the change, but whether with more 
net profit is doubtful. This soiling system has been 
running three years, and at present it seems that for 
best results with price of milk and value of land about 
25 per cent of the coarse feed should be pasture grass. 
In my own case this would mean a half acre pasture to 
each cow. There is something wonderfully stimulating 
about the soiling of cattle. It puts the whole system 
of dairying on to a system, and yet thousands of acres 
of rough land are yielding some return that would cost 
several times its value to make sufficiently productive 
for soiling. Land must, for profitable soiling, be very 
productive, capable at least of four tons of hay and 
other crops proportionate either in one crop or two or 
with Alfalfa three. h. e. cook. 
DO “FAIRY RINGS” POISON THE SOIL? 
Does not the theory that some plants poison the ground 
find confirmation in the behavior of those peculiar mush¬ 
rooms causing what are known as fairy rings? For sev¬ 
eral years I have had the undesirable opportunity of ob¬ 
serving them on my lawn. These rings, as is well known, 
are da used by a certain species of mushroom, beginning at 
the center and growing outward. One in front of my door 
began at the foot of a maple tree 10 or more years ago, 
and has progressed at the rate of about a foot a year, now 
forming a half circle, with a radius of eight or 10 feet. 
First there is a circle of brown turf, dead and dry, repre¬ 
senting last year’s growth, five fungi, about one foot in 
width. On the outer edge of this the present season’s crop 
springs up. Within the ring the grass has nowhere re¬ 
covered its original vigor, but remains poor and weak, 
though no mushrooms grow there, and the mycelium has 
evidently all died out. One might expect that their decay 
would favor the growth of grass, and I have seen it so 
stated. But this is certainly not the case. Curiously 
enough just outside the ring and partly within the band 
of growing mushrooms the grass does show unusual vigor, 
being decidedly darker and ranker, as though supplied 
with an excess of nitrogen, but I have never seen this 
effect within the circle. What kills the grass? The ex¬ 
haustion of plant food would hardly account for it. nor 
for its refusal to grow for some years after the fungi have 
disappeared. I have sometimes had to returf patches to 
get a decent sward. The appearance is similar to that 
produced by an excess of salt or some substance poisonous 
to vegetation, and its persistence indicates that there is 
something wrong with the soil. k. g. hunt. 
Vermont. 
Mr. Hunt’s observations agree, on the whole, with 
those of others, and with the results obtained by this 
Bureau in studying soil fertility. The existence of 
fairy rings is a well-known fact; their cause is not well 
known. Wc cannot assume that the circle of mush¬ 
rooms grows ever wider because the nutrient substances 
in the center are depleted, since the facts do not bear 
out this assumption. The underground portion of the 
mushroom (the mycelium) dies and, decaying, returns 
to the soil the material of which it was composed. The 
same thing is true for the smaller amount of substance 
which went to form the mushrooms above ground. It 
is therefore difficult to believe that the removal of nu¬ 
trient material is the cause of the fairy ring formation 
and growth. If, on the other hand, we assume that in 
the life processes of the mushroom there are produced 
small amounts of substances deleterious to growth, the 
explanation of fairy rings is not so difficult. The myce¬ 
lium is killed on the soil which has produced mush¬ 
rooms, but grows well around the edge on soil which 
has not up to that time produced mushrooms. Mr. 
Hunt’s observation that the soil inside of the fairy ring 
is unsuited for the growth of grass appears to be 
unique, but may be explained upon the above assump¬ 
tion. The Report for 1903 issued by the Experimental 
Fruit Farm at Woburn, England, contains some very 
striking evidence on this whole question. The experi¬ 
menters found an unusually harmful effect of grass upon 
orchard trees. They are satisfied themselves by careful 
•experiments that the bad effect- was not 
due to lack of food supply, of water, of 
air, nor to an accumulation of carbon 
dioxide (carbonic acid gas). They con¬ 
cluded that the harmful effect was due to 
deleterious substances given off by the 
grasses in course of their life processes. 
While we are generally ignorant as to 
the nature of such toxic substances, there 
is a gradually accumulating mass of evi¬ 
dence for believing that they actually are 
formed, and in some cases accumulate 
to a harmful extent. As a usual thing 
thorough tillage and intelligent manage¬ 
ment keep the soil in such a condition 
that these substances do not accumulate 
in harmful amounts. milton whitney. 
BUCKWHEAT AND SOIL POI¬ 
SONING.—On page 503 is an article on 
“Plants Poisoning Ground.” I was 
much interested in Prof. Whitney’s let¬ 
ter. I give you my experience with 
buckwheat as follows: I have been in 
the habit for a number of years of plow¬ 
ing sod ground as soon as hay was cut. 
in June, then about July 10 sow buck¬ 
wheat and Crimson clover, using 200 
pounds nitrate of soda per acre. The following April plow 
under the clover and plant corn or potatoes, using from 
1,000 to 2,000 pounds of a good commercial fertilizer, 
and have never failed to get a good crop of the latter, 
although the clover does not always stand the Winter 
very well. The buckwheat seems to rot and break up 
the sod, and leave the land in a fine mechanical condi¬ 
tion for the following crop. w. E. W. 
Bridgeport, Conn. 
RENOVATING OLD ASPARAGUS. 
This Spring I purchased a place on which there was at 
one time a fine bed of asparagus; now the bed is grown 
up to a thick bed of grass. Here and there a stalk came 
up and shows a good deal of vigor. A family of six has had 
four good messes this season. Can you tell me what to do 
with the old bed? Can I dig up to advantage the old roots 
and replant as a new bed? Some of my neighbors tell me 
such old roots are no good. Is this true? When should I 
replant if that is the thing to do? J. H. H. 
Darlington, Md. 
We would not recommend you to dig up the old 
roots of asparagus and replant. If it is not practicable 
thoroughly to weed out the old beds, getting rid of the 
grass, etc., it would be best to dig up when the cutting 
season is over and throw the old roots away. They 
seldom start well when replanted. It will be too late 
this year to replant with young roots, but the bed may be 
frequently hoed and cultivated and one or two-year-old 
roots replanted next Spring, first thoroughly enriching 
the soil with a heavy coating of fine old manure, and 
possibly an addition of chemical potato fertilizer at the 
rate of one pound to each three or four square yards. 
On the whole, your best plan would be to weed out and 
rejuvenate the old bed by frequent and careful cultiva¬ 
tion, accompanied with liberal fertilization throughout 
the coming Summer. 
Is protein a "muscle maker"? Yes, when some hard 
work goes with it. 
SHIPPING TOMATOES AT A SOUTH JERSEY LANDING. Fig. 240. 
>1 
