944 
TIIH RURAL NEW-YORKER 
December 22, 
FARMERS’ CLUB 
[Every query must be accompanied by 
the name and address of the writer to in¬ 
sure attention. Before asking a question, 
please see whether it is not answered in 
our advertising columns. Ask only a few 
questions at one time. Put questions on a 
separate piece of paper. 1 
Sour Soil Under a Stack. 
V. N. C., Franklin, Pa .—Last harvest a 
neighbor mowed a held and stacked the hay 
near the middle of the field. This Spring the 
stack was removed and the entire field was 
manured, plowed and planted to corn. There 
is now a splendid crop of corn growing on 
the field excepting where the stack stood, 
and here the crop is almost an entire failure, 
not being more than 1 % foot high. How can 
this be accounted for? 
Ans.— This question was sent to Prof. 
J. G. Lipman. soil chemist of the New 
Jersey Experiment Station. His reply 
was as follows: 
It would appear from the facts that the 
unproductive condition of the soil, where the 
large stack of wheat straw had stood, is due 
to bacterial causes. A comparatively large 
amount of organic substances had been 
leached out of the straw and washed into the 
soil. This organic matter, because of its 
solubility, and large proportion,has created 
conditions, in that particular spot, quite in¬ 
imical to the development of the nitrifying 
bacteria. Moreover, the denitrifying bacteria 
have probably been encouraged in their de¬ 
velopment. Hence, with no nitrates, or but 
a slight amount of nitrates formed in the 
soil, and the destruction of that originally 
present, the plants on that particular piece 
of soil have starved for want of nitrogen 
food. It is quite safe to assume that the 
plants on that spot are small and yellow. 
In extreme cases, the germinafion of the seed 
may be entirely suppressed in such soils; 
namely, where the amounts of organic matter 
introduced are very large, and where the soil 
is too fine-grained and compact to allow its 
rapid oxidation. In this case molds and bac¬ 
teria would develop in great numbers, and 
attack the seed and destroy the embryo, thus 
preventing germination. Some lime and a 
good coat of manure, or a liberal application 
of a nitrogenous fertilizer, will remedy the 
difficulty. 
Thus it scents that with mulching, as 
with everything else, we may have “too 
much of a good thing.” We have often 
been told that the original nitrogen in 
organic matter is not available as plant 
food. Il is when made over into nitrates 
that plants are able to use it. These ni¬ 
trates can only be made by bacteria. As 
we shall see further on, the conditions in 
the soil under that stack were such that 
these tiny useful bacteria could not do 
their work properly. Not only this, but 
denitrifying bacteria did their work. 
The nitrifying bacteria are useful, because 
they change over the humus in the soil 
and make the nitrogen ready for plant 
feeding. The denitrifying bacteria undo 
the work of the other. They take the 
oxygen out of the nitrates, leaving them 
in an unavailable form, or else keeping 
up their work until the nitrogen is left 
free as a gas so that it passes out of the 
soil and is lost to plants. Thus, under 
this stack, few nitrates were formed and 
many of these were made useless by the 
denitrifying bacteria, so that that soil was 
really not as ready to grow a crop as the 
average soil of the field. In our exper¬ 
iments with the mulch method of growing 
fruit we have found the use of lime very 
helpful and we have thought that a heavy 
mulching may help to sour the soil. Ask¬ 
ing Prof. Lipman about this, he replies as 
follows: 
You are quite correct in surmising that 
heavy mulching of the ground, and the incor¬ 
poration into it of large quantities of organic 
matter, would tend to render the soil acid. 
The danger would be greatest on soils poor 
in lime carbonate. We should remember, at 
the same time, that soil acidity in itself, pro¬ 
vided it is not too excessive, need not in¬ 
juriously affect the crop. The decreased 
yields (at times resulting in a total failure 
of the harvest), are due rather to the effect 
which this acidity produces on the soil bac¬ 
teria. The plants, as you know, depend on 
the latter for their supply of nitrogen, for 
without the soil bacteria there would be no 
decay or nitrification. It happens, at the 
same time, that most of these bacteria caus¬ 
ing decay, and also the bacteria which pro¬ 
duce nitrates in the soil, are checked in their 
development by acid conditions. On the other 
hand, certain other bacteria and molds, 
which can convert the soluble ammonia com¬ 
pounds and nitrates into insoluble combina¬ 
tions, are 'favored in their growth by soil 
acidity. Hence, in a sour soil, the crop is 
actually starved for want of soluble, that is 
available, nitrogen. Hie difficulty can be rem¬ 
edied either by liming, that is, the neutraliza¬ 
tion of the soil acids by lime., and the crea¬ 
tion, therefore, of conditions favorable for 
the proper growth of the desirable bacteria ; 
or, by the application of immediately avail¬ 
able nitrogen compounds, particularly ni¬ 
trates. In the latter case, the plants became 
independent of the nitrifying bacteria, since 
they have their nitrogen food furnished to 
them in a form which they can utilize. This 
fact accounts for the great value of nitrate 
for top-dressing purposes in the early Spring, 
when the work of the nitrate-forming bac¬ 
teria in the soil is not yet sufficiently ex¬ 
tensive to furnish the plants with all of the 
nitrogen needed__ 
PRODUCTS , PRICES, AND TRADE. 
Potatoes. —The market is disappointing, 
and indications are that prices may drop 
below the present low mark. Bermudas are 
selling slowly. 
Big Dose of Mail. —The steamer Celtic, 
from Liverpool, recently landed 2.G50 sacks 
of mail from Europe, which is nearly a rec¬ 
ord amount for one steamer. There were 
over 500,000 letters, about one-half for de¬ 
livery in New York. The same steamer 
took 4,000 sacks on its return trip. 
Butter. —-Supplies of fresh stock are very 
short, and price on best creamery has ad¬ 
vanced three cents, with fancy lots selling 
one-half cent above this. The advance affects 
the lower grades, though to a less extent, 
and even very ordinary factory and packing 
stock has sold up to 20 cents. 
American Tea. —The first extensive crop 
of tea raised in the United States is now 
being marketed. It consists of about six 
tons grown near Charleston, S. C. Tea 
growing experiments have been carried on in 
this country for a number of years until the 
business has been worked up to a commer¬ 
cial basis. There is no probability that we 
shall compete seriously with the tea interests 
of the Old World, as our labor conditions 
are unfavorable even in the localities where 
the tea plant thrives. It will be interesting 
to note whether the domestic market takes 
hold of this tea readily except at low prices. 
Though having a fair amount of patriotic 
pride, we appear notoriously susceptible to 
the word “imported.” 
Eggs continue high, at present eight to 10 
cents above last year. Retail prices in this 
city and nearby towns run from 50 to GO 
cents for fresh stock. These extreme figures 
are had only for new-laid eggs, storage, of 
ordinary grades, remaining at about 20 cents. 
A neighbor of the writer has a Rhode Island 
Red pullet, hatched about the middle of May, 
that has laid 21 eggs in 24 days, and in 
1G consecutive days missed only one day. 
Until the first week in December she insisted 
on roosting in a tree. Of four pullets of 
this breed from the same hatch she is the 
only one laying. The eggs have been sold 
at 4 1-6 cents each, so that in 24 days this 
pullet has given an income of 87 cents 
cash. She has had no extra feed, running 
with the flock, which has corn, oats, buck¬ 
wheat and dry mash, practically all they 
want. The owner says he never had a 
young hen make such a record before. 
Cotton. —The Government report of 12,- 
546,000 bales is about 1,000,000 bales in ex¬ 
cess of general expectations and speculative 
prices dropped rapidly, in some cases as 
much as $6 per bale. This does not neces- 
arilv mean any such decline to the grow¬ 
ers, however. The consumptive demand for 
raw and manufactured cotton is greater than 
ever, and this demand will continue so long 
as speculative wolves can be clubbed to 
death, metaphorically or otherwise, or at least 
kept from cornering the market even in a 
small way. Artificial prices, which upset 
the market for any product, have been the 
curse of the cotton trade, and it is well 
known that the last period of excessive prices, 
two or three years ago, was caused not so 
much by crop shortage as by the manipula¬ 
tions of those non-producing dealers who were 
raking in thousands of dollars in transactions 
which were .practically imaginary. If the 
mill men and cloth-buying public had been 
sure that the cotton crop was actually short 
enough to warrant an 18-cent price there 
would have been fewer shut-downs at mills, 
less hesitation by cloth dealers and less 
search for new cotton fields by European 
spinners. But people are not so easily de¬ 
ceived as formerly, and when an important 
product gets unduly high they at once look 
for the disturbing cause in what is usually 
the correct place, the speculators’ camp. 
Public opinion is against this sort of thing, 
and offenders are learning that the public is 
a muscular individual. The action of those 
British cotton spinners whose committee has 
just been looking over the cotton sections of 
the South with the idea of buying planta¬ 
tions here to grow their own cotton, shipping 
direct to England without thrashing out a 
liberal share of the profits in a cotton ex¬ 
change at New Orleans or New York, has 
given the cotton trade here something worth 
thinking about. w. w. h. 
Why Don’t V0U Trade in New York 
and save money on everything. 
Over 75,000 labor-saving, money-savin# articles for farm, 
home ami shop, fully described, Illustrated and priced in our 
big New Catalogue No. 01. 
We will sell to you at wholesale prices in small quantities 
as well as large, everything that most families need for use 
and comfort. 
Opposite each article in this Catalogue, is the low price at 
which we sell it, the lowest price for which it can be bought 
in any store in any city, big or little, in this or any country 
on the Globe. 
You will spend hours of interest over its pages ; you will 
marvel at the wonderful variety all complete in one big book. 
It makes buying pleasant as well as profitable, no matter 
where you live. 
This up-to-date Buyer’s Guide costs us $l.no to print, but is 
sent postpaid free of charge, to all who ask for it In good 
faith. Hundreds of requests come to us every day,and we 
want to place it in every home in the United States. 
WRITE FOR IT TO-DAY. 
We will send you our Premium List, containing one hundred 
valuable and useful articles given away free. Also our 
Grocery List, showing how you can save one-third your 
living expenses. 
WE SELL RELIABLE GOODS ONLY. 
We refer by permission to the publishers of this paper as to 
our absolute responsibility. 
Buy of us and save money on everything, Best Goods at 
Lowest Prices. Prompt Shipments, Low Freight and Express 
Kates and a SQUARE DEAL every time. 
Wo Cuarantoo Satisfaction or refund your money. 
WHITE, VAN GLAHN & CO., 
1# CHATHAM SQUARE. E«tab!ishcd 1S1G. NEW TORE CITY 
The Oldest Mail Order House in America. 
Why Not Buy at Wholesale Prices ? 
.85 
Machine 
% 
WashinL 
most 
popular washing ma¬ 
chine on the market. It 
does the wash¬ 
ing with very 
little work and 
cannot tear 
the cl othes. 
The lid is in¬ 
dependent o f 
gearing, so it 
may be lifted 
without effort: 
the inside of 
the washer is 
co r rugated. 
This is the 
most valuable 
assistant any 
housewife 
could have; 
does its work 
quickly and 
perfectly. Act¬ 
ually worth $8, 
butwewillsend 
it to you any 
time within a 
month at $4.85. 
■.-■■ill 
whic 
P EACH TREES 
PLUM TREES 
And all other kinds of Trees and Plants. 
Catalogue" F ree. 
JOS. H. BLACK, SON & CO., 
Hightstown, New Jersey. 
Are You Interested in 
APPLE TREES. 
PEACH TREES, 
CALIFORNIA PRIVET, 
or anything in the line of Nursery Stock, if so, we 
ask you to send for our FREE 48 page illustrated 
catalogue. Our stock of trees and plants is large 
and fine. Write to us. Address, 
THE STEPHEN HOYT’S SONS CO., 
New Canaan, Connecticut. 
SAN JOSE SCALE 
KILLER 
The best and simplest remedy for this and 
other pests is Kil-o-Scale— ready for use 
by simply mixing with water. We also have 
the best Spray Outfits. Send for catalog. 
HENRY A. DREER, Philadelphia, Pa. 
The original, most popular and most effective SCALE DESTROYER 
on the market. KIL-O-SCALE combines the two infallible 
remedies—SULPHUR AND PETROLEUM. Beware of Oil Solutions 
that will SEPARATE, endangering the life of the tree. Do not be 
persuaded to buy inferior imitations. Write for circular, telling 
what users have to say about KIL-O-SCALE. Our 1907 Seed and 
Implement Catalogue free. Write for it, 
GRIFFITH & TURNER CO., i!09 N. Faea Street, Baltimore, Md. 
DESTROY 
SAN JOSE 
mm 
before it destroys your trees. The 
one absolutely sure way to eradicate 
this pest entirely is by using SALI- 
MINE—the best, safest, cheapest, 
concentrated spray on the market. 
The original 
TRADE 
SALIMINE 
MARK 
is the result of ten years "At It” and 
“Know How.” It is a Lime, Salt, Sul¬ 
phur, and Caustic Potash solution. 
Recognized by all experimental sta¬ 
tions as the best insecticide for thor¬ 
oughly eradicating scale. One gallon 
mixed with cold water makes 20 gal¬ 
lons of the Standard solution. Write 
to-day for free circular with pi-ices. 
Monmouth Chemical Works 
Dept. A. SHREWSBURY, N. J. 
GET THE BEST 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
practical fruit growers 
we were using common 
sprayers in our own orchards 
•—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu¬ 
facturing on a large scale. 
You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting, Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MORRILL & M0RLEY, Benton Harbor, Mich. 
Trees Worth 
Planting 
Bred up strong, smooth, 
healthy, strong rooted. Not 
ordinary trees, but finest 
that can be grown. Try 
Grow Winter Rhubarb 
Make money this winter by growing fresh, crisp, 
tender, red rhubarb in your cellar. I supply clumps 
that you can force in the dark, with almost no care. 
Fine for pies and sauces. Commands good prices 
from stores and neighbors. 
Order today. Clumps ready for growing, 12 for $2; 
25 for $3.50; 50 for $6.75; 100 for $12. 
STOKES’ SEED STORE 
219 Market Street 
Philadelphia 
HARRISON’S 
NURSERY 
stock. Planting the choicest pays in the long 
run. Our prices no higher than you pay for 
average trees. Apple, Peach, Pear, Plum, Shade 
Trees—Grapes, Strawberries, etc. Over 1,000 
acres. Write for fall of 1906 catalogue today. 
HARRISOjrSNURSERIESJBo^9JBERLIN^ID. 
APPLE TREES, 
‘ Nothing But Apple Trees. 
The Safest and BEST Apple 
Trees in the World. 
Wo offer nearly 100,000 thrifty one and 
two year old apple trees, all bred from 
selected bearing parents. Every tree 
our own growing. 
ROGERS ON THE HILL, 
Apple Breeders, Dansville, N. Y. 
Special Prices for December and January orders 
for Berry Crates and Quart Baskets. Price 
list Free. H. H. Aultfather, Box B, Minerva, Ohio. 
Do You Ship Apples? 
For Export or the Fancy City Trade, pack them in a 
New York, Canadian or Colorado one bushel box 
SOUTHSIDE M’F’G CO., Petersburg, Va. 
$1-25 a 1,000: send for circular 
with photo. I*. B. CROSBY 
& SON, Catonsville, Md. 
SEND FOR 1907 LIST. K ”I'S“ l /r 
pOTATOES—Bovee, Carman, Bliss, Endurance, Green Mt., Noro- 
* ton, Ionia, Queen, Wonder; 85 kinds. C. W. Ford, Fishers, N. Y. 
p TREES are famous 
’wherever planted; are planted 
"everywhere trees are grown. Free 
_ Catalog of superb fruits—Black Ben, 
King David, Delicious, etc.-Stark Bro’s, Louisiana, Mo. 
PEACH, APPLE and other FRUIT TREES, 
GRAPE VINES, CURRANTS and ASPARAGUS ROOTS. 
Do not forget we are among the largest growers of above stock, and it will certainly pay you to send 
for our catalogue now and give us a chance to book your order early •while best selection of varieties lasts. 
BARNES BROS. NURSERY CO., Box 8, Yalesville, Conn. 
PRATT’S 
Soluble 
Petroleum 
WILL POSITIVELY DESTROY 
SAN JOSE, COTTONY MAPLE SCALE, PEAR PSYLLA, ETC. 
W ithout Injury to the Trees. Samples, Prices and Endorsement of Experiment Stations on Application. 
B. Gr. PRATT CO., Dept. A., XI Droaclway, 3NTEW YORK 
CITY, 
