1906. 
6i7 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
CHEMICALS AND WORN-OUT SOIL 
Story of a Ton of Hay. 
Sources of Nitrogen. —We were speak¬ 
ing last of the necessity of nitrogen in 
growing crops of hay, or any crops where 
foliage is the principal object in view, 
the atmospheric supply, as well as the 
commercial sources. Then we referred 
to the possibility of a mistake being made 
in buying inferior forms, or substances 
containing nitrogen in forms that decom¬ 
pose so slowly as to exert little or no in¬ 
fluence on the present crop. Of course if 
a man is seeding a piece of ground to 
grass that is expected to remain as a 
meadow, and from which a crop of hay 
will be taken for some years, he must 
of necessity furnish a fair proportion of 
the nitrogen content, in something that 
will become more slowly available than ni¬ 
trate of soda or blood; tankage, for in¬ 
stance, or bone, that will continue to feed 
the crop for some time, but no leather 
waste. After all. the reputation of the 
dealer from whom you buy is the best 
safeguard outside of a chemical analysis 
by a competent person. 
Phosphoric Acid and Potash. —As 
farmers we have accustomed ourselves to 
place stable manure before our mind’s eye 
as the standard of quality, and yet some 
people know very well that the manure 
that conies from the cow stable where the 
animals are fed a well-balanced ration is 
very likely to be a very poorly balanced 
manure, from the fact that the nitrogen 
content is too graat. Standing by the side 
of the little pile of ashes awhile ago, we 
were impressed with the fact that mineral 
elements had something to do in the for¬ 
mation of plants and crops, as well as 
trees. Men who are qualified to speak 
with authority on this subject have no hes¬ 
itation in saying that the soil is abund¬ 
antly supplied with the mineral elements, 
and all that is necessary from their point 
of view is to supply the soil with liberal 
quantities of organic matter, which by its 
decay, aided perhaps by an application of 
lime, will liberate the essential mineral ele¬ 
ments. There can be no doubts as to the 
correctness of this reasoning up to a cer¬ 
tain point. But the man who takes up 
the growing of crops as a business propo¬ 
sition will find, if he is looking for imme¬ 
diate results, that he would consult his 
financial interest by making an application 
of some of the mineral elements, phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash, in the most solu¬ 
ble forms to be found. The first of these, 
phosphoric acid, is now obtained almost 
entirely from South Carolina rock, known 
as acid phosphate, which is really the re¬ 
mains of prehistoric animals, ground, 
mixed with certain proportions of sul¬ 
phuric acid to cut it, so that it will dis¬ 
solve more quickly in the soil and be more 
readily assimilated bv growing crops. 
This ground rock is called floats, in its 
raw or untreated state. There is quite a 
diversity of opinion as to its value as plant 
food in this shape. As floats it can be 
bought for about half the price of the fin¬ 
ished product, and some people say that 
excellent results are obtained from the raw 
stuff. Some years ago animal bone was 
the most important source of phosphoric 
acid, as well as the low-grade guano from 
South American islands, and a prejudice 
rose in the minds of farmers against the 
use of rock, claiming that bone was supe¬ 
rior; from the fact that bone contained 
from two to five per cent of nitrogen, it is 
worth a great deal more on that account. 
The element phosphorus enters very large¬ 
ly into all plant life, but not without com¬ 
bining with oxygen; thus combined, 
“phosphoric acid’’ is found. This again 
taking up certain proportions of lime fur¬ 
nishes the phosphate of lime needed in plant 
life. It is very useful in the development 
of seed and grain. As a consequence of 
this peculiarity, acid phosphate is being 
used largely by many of my neighbors on 
their wheat crop. They say they get just 
as much wheat as when they applied the 
higher-priced complete fertilizer. But I 
have the statement of a great many 
farmers in this, and the neighboring 
county of Columbia, Pa., that grass does 
not do so well, as formerly; that clover is 
not so sure as it used to be, and that there 
is a noticeable diminution of soil fertility. 
Yes, there is no denying the fact, that ni¬ 
trogen will grow lots of straw, that phos¬ 
phoric acid will quite materially assist in 
the formation of grain or seeds, but it is 
equally clear that the continued use of one 
or two of the elements of plant life at the 
expense of the others, will, sooner or 
later, result in the decreased fertility of 
the soil. 
Potash. —The only remaining element 
we have to consider is potash, or to be 
more exact potassium. This, in combina¬ 
tion again with oxygen, forms the potash 
of the soil, from which plants get the ma¬ 
terial to build up a good strong frame and 
powers of resistance to disease. I know 
this last statement will be questioned by 
the doctors. They can say there is noth¬ 
ing in the books to prove it. This is un¬ 
doubtedly true. Nevertheless, there is 
abundant evidence in my own experience 
that a large proportion of potash in' the 
fertilizer rations and not too much nitro¬ 
gen results in greater freedom from blights, 
fungus, etc., while the opposite, lots of ni¬ 
trogen, little potash especially if combined 
with warmth and moisture, invariably is 
followed by trouble with fungus. We now 
begin to see, if we had not known before, 
that each separate element has its partic¬ 
ular function to perform. Nitrogen can¬ 
not take the place of phosphoric acid, no 
more can phosphoric acid take the place 
of potash. The United States Year Book 
of 1894 gave us to understand that in a 
ton of average hay we would find practi¬ 
cally 25 pounds nitrogen, 10 J /2 pounds 
phosphoric acid and about 18 pounds pot¬ 
ash. Can we reasonably expect that every 
time we make the application we may 
confidently expect another ton of hay? If 
such were the case agriculture would soon 
be reduced, or rather advanced, to an 
exact science. m. garrahan. 
FOR GETTING BRUSH OUT OF THE 
ORCHARD. 
Everybody knows what a tiresome and 
slow task it is to clean the brush out of 
an orchard with any kind of a convey¬ 
ance. When it has to be picked up it is 
about the worst work on the farm. It 
is even worse than churning with an old- 
fashioned dash churn. But one of our 
new men on the farm has made an im¬ 
plement with which two men and a team 
can get it out easily and ten times as 
fast as with any other contrivance I have 
ever seen. He went to the woods and 
cut a small tree with a crotch, as shown, 
of tough wood. The limbs he left six 
feet long and the body part 12 feet. It 
was about four inches in diameter at the 
tletree to this at each end, all of which is 
shown in the cut. To use it one man 
drives the team and the other takes hold 
of long end with the slant of limbs point¬ 
ing up. The team is driven slowly, and 
the brush is gathered by the limbs under 
the chain until as much as team can draw 
is accumulated. The load is then driven 
up to the fire, where it is burning, and 
when a little past is swung off, and the 
man holding long pole lifts it up. The 
ends of the short posts or limbs catch 
into the ground, and the whole load is 
rolled over on top of the fire in the best 
possible position for burning. If prop¬ 
erly made and handled this takes the 
brush absolutely clean and without touch¬ 
ing once by the hands. If a wood lot is 
not accessible it can be made by bolting 
three pieces of scantling together as 
shown, being careful to use good, tough, 
straight-grained timber, and the operator 
will find it as great a labor saver as the 
horse rake in the hayfield. 
j. s. woodward. 
STRAWBERRIES AND TRUCK IN 
ARKANSAS. 
We had a rainy season, but the late va¬ 
rieties did finely. The Brandywine is our 
late berry, and f never saw finer berries 
than they were this season; gross receipts 
were over $500 per acre. If we could only 
get an early berry as good as Brandywine 
is for late all would be smooth sailing so far 
as varieties are concerned. I am trying the 
Goldsborough for an early berry next season; 
it originated with A. T. Goldsborough, Wash¬ 
ington. D. C. The plant looks very much 
like Brandywine. My neighbors told me 
when I came on the farm three years ago, 
that we would have to give our berries away 
In our local market (I do not ship anything) 
as nearly every one was putting out a bed. 
I am glad to say I find this is not the case. 
My berries were grown under a high state 
of cultivation, picked with short stems, 
graded No. 1 and No. 2. No. 1 was put up 
in the most attractive style, and brought 15 
to 20 cents per quart the entire season, 
while my neighbors’ berries sold for from 
8 to 10 cents per quart. My berries were 
strictly in a class by themselves, and had 
no competition whatever. My two years in 
the trucking business tell me there is more- 
in packing your produce in a neat attrac¬ 
tive style than there is in growing it. 
Next year I intend to label all of my No. 1 
berries. I gloss my tomatoes before pack¬ 
ing; I never put large and small tomatoes 
together. The result is they sell at fancy 
prices when others are a drug on the 
market. I give credit to my success to read¬ 
ing first-class agricultural journals, such as 
The It. N.-Y. I have a large number of 
catalogues coming to me, and I study them 
closely. I came to the farm three years ago 
from the railroad, seeking a more quiet, 
healthful, independent occupation; I am glad 
to say I am well pleased with the change, 
and no amount of persuasion would induce 
me to return to railroading again. While 
I am not stout, I keep so busy I have no 
time to think about my unhealthful condi¬ 
tion and so I am mending in health all the 
while. a. b. c. 
Arkansas. 
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HARDER MFG. CO., Box 11, CoUaskUl, H. Y. 
crotch, and he hewed the straight part 
down, so it was about two and a half or 
three inches at the other end. He then 
cut the ends of the limbs a little slanting 
on the under side, so as to run smoothly 
along and not catch in the ground. 
Across the crotch he bolted a piece of 
plank \ x /z inch thick and six inches wide 
firmly to each limb, and far enough from 
the crotch so lie could put a heavy clevis 
on it in the middle, to which he could 
fasten a long chain (the chain should be 
at least 12 feet long). To the other ends 
of the chain lie attached a long evetier 
six or seven feet long, and a single wliif- 
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TTwI .Munnvmwy 
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I Abenaque Machine Works, S ,! ii 
If you have wood to saw get prices on our sawing 
outfits. 
