1#0T. 
GRINDING ALFALFA MEAL 
On page 114 I saw an editorial on grind¬ 
ing Alfalfa into meal Alfalfa meal has 
been on the market 10 years or more, but 
it has been but a few years that it could 
be made and sold on the same level with 
other foodstuffs. There is a mill in this 
town that grinds hundreds of tons of all 
kinds of hay in a year, and it is used by 
the farmers to increase the flow of milk 
instead of so much silage, wheat bran and 
other milk-producing foods. Alfalfa meal 
is sold here for $20 to $2. r > per ton, ac¬ 
cording to the price of Alfalfa hay. Now, 
good Alfalfa meal cannot be made by 
grinding in the regular feed mills, for the 
reason that the life of the hay is ruined 
by the pressure of the plates or stone, 
as the case may be. The most complete 
Alfalfa meal mill in the United States 
is that used by the American Alfalfa Meal 
Co., at Mankato, Kansas. There they 
grind, with one mill, 1/4 ton per hour. 
This is not written as an advertisement, 
for every pound of hay that is made into 
meal at this mill can he and is sold right 
at the door of the mill. 
Madison Co., N. Y. M. davenport. 
R. N.-Y.—Of course we understand 
that this grinding of Alfalfa is done on 
a large scale. What we want to know is 
how it can be done in a small mill with 
such power as the average farmer has on 
hand._ 
The Need of Lime. 
F. N., Jeddo, N. Y .—I lmve thought for 
some time that my farm needs lime. 1 
have received the enclosed literature; I 
would like your opinion and advice in regard 
to It. I expect to fertilize my orchard this 
season. It has had manure and commercial 
fertilizers heretofore. 
A ns.— The “literature” in question 
consists of a number of little circulars 
issued by the Patent Fertilizer Co., of 
Ohio. Some of the statements made here 
are so remarkable that they ought to be 
studied. For instance the following; 
There Is not a plant that grows that does 
not contain lime in some form, there Is not 
now nor never was a commercial fertilizer 
that the fertilizing property of It was not 
lime in some form. 
We all know that plants contain lime, 
but that does not prove that we are in 
such need to apply lime as a fertilizer. 
Most of our soils contain an abundance 
of lime in an available form. As for 
fertilizers which contain little or no lime, 
we mention nitrate of soda, dried blood, 
sulphate of ammonia, muriate of potash 
and other potash salts. There is no use 
making such extravagant statements. 
Then we may take this remarkable out¬ 
burst. lie first quotes Prof. W. F. Clark 
as saying that originally from one to five 
per cent of the earth’s surface was lime. 
Then; 
Now we come to this conclusion that if 
Prof. Clark has spoken the truth (no living 
in an dare call It in question) then (tod used 
lime as a fertilizer when he created the earth, 
and if God used lime as a fertilizer, then 
lime is a fertilizer. If lime is the first 
ash constituent required from the soil in 
order to the production of vegetation, (no 
man dare call that in question )tlien lime is 
a fertilizer. If lime forma a combination with 
minerals and humus in solution and builds 
the plant then lime Is a fertilizer. I now 
say fearless of successful contradiction that 
lime is the only mineral fertilizer in all 
God’s universe. The man that can name 
another mineral fertilizer has never been 
horn and his mother is dead. 
How about phosphoric acid and pot¬ 
ash? They are mineral just as much as 
lime is and it is more necessary to use 
them in fertilizer than it is to use lime, 
since they are not as abundant in the soil. 
There is no use talking nonsense in order 
to try to make the lime story look larger. 
The truth is that nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid and potash and lime are all needed 
by plants. Lime cannot take the place 
of the others, but it can help to make 
them available. There may be and often 
are soils which contain fair amounts of 
plant food, hut which are so sour that 
most plants will not thrive in them. Add 
a good dressing of lime and you will 
raise a good crop with no other fertilizer, 
because the lime sweetened the soil and 
also helped decompose the organic matter 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
235 
and set its plant food free. We believe 
that on the majority of soils this is the 
most useful action that lime has. With¬ 
out doubt farmers have used lime in com¬ 
parison with fertilizers and obtained bet¬ 
ter results with it. That does not prove 
that nothing beside lime is needed, be¬ 
cause what the lime did was to fit the soil 
and help the plant to some of the food 
locked in the soil. After two or more 
crops the soil will fail to respond until 
more plant food is added. We advise 
the use of lime, first as an experiment, 
and if the crops respond as a regular part 
of fertilizing when seeding to clover or 
grass, but we would use just as much 
fertilizer or manure as before. Do not 
let anyone lead you to make the mistake 
of believing that lime can permanently 
take the place of nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid or potash^_ 
That Leaky Greenhouse— I saw on 
page 129 complaint of water in a green¬ 
house. If the water has no pressure, but 
simply seeps in, one layer of tar paper 
will answer, but if there is any pressure 
I think two layers in this case will be 
ample. Cover the cement with a hot 
layer of tar, same as painting, and if one 
layer of paper is used, let it lap over so 
there will be no joint to leak through. 
Carry the paper up against the sides of 
the walls to ground level; walls too to 
be painted with hot tar and seams lapped, 
then paint the paper again with hot tar. 
On the floor give it a layer of two-inch 
concrete; alongside of the walls a layer 
of bricks, close grained, lengthwise 
against the wall, using cement, half ce¬ 
ment and half sand for joints. I do not 
think that he will have any further trou¬ 
ble. This plan has been used in New 
York, but with three or four layers and 
thicker concrete, but bricks no thicker, 
where freshets and sewer water has 
leaked into cellars, with perfect success. 
Not All Manure Spreaders Pay 
The Idea of spreading manure properly is such 
a good one and the benefits derived are so great 
yon are apt to think any spreader will give you 
these benefits—'that a spreader is a spreader. 
There is where you may make a mistake, for 
some spreaders are only trouble makers and 
the second season they are not taken out of the 
shed. To make them work takes too much 
time and costs too much money. 
If you get that kind of spreader you're apt to 
conclude that spreaders are made to sell and 
not to spread manure. 
SUCCESS SPREADERS 
have 28 years' experience back of them— 
thousands of them are spreading manure on 
the best farms in the country and are giving 
no trouble. 
Twenty-eight years has eliminated the trouble 
making features—out of a hundred new de¬ 
vices and schemes that we have tried perhaps 
ninety have proved more harmful than helpful. 
They make good talking points but they don’t 
help spread manure. SUCCESS Spreaders 
are made to spread manure. 
When you get ready to buy a manure spreader, 
(and every farmer should have one) first write 
for our spreader book, it will help you; next go 
to your local dealer and see a Success Spreader 
but don’t buy one until you have asked a man 
who has used one. He knows. 
KEMP & BURPEE MFG. CO., SYRACUSE, N. Y. 
Also Distributors of the famous John Deere line of Plows, Cultivators, Harrows. 
The Light Running PENNSYLVANIA 
Disc and Hoe - All Siz es 
The 
original 
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by hanging solid steel an¬ 
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Positive force feed, new 
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4 ft. wheels, 3 inch 
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parts in the rear. 
Why 
not buy the 
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40 page catalog; of drill*, 
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farm tool*; 6S page 
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ers, cither or both mailed 
free, on request. 
Fertilizer Essentials 
Quality 
Mechanical Condition 
Results 
PRICE 
Bradley’s 
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* WRITE. OR ASK OUR LOCAL AGENT FOR BOOKLET 
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X The American Agricultural Chemical Co. 
Bradley Fertilizer Works, 92 State Street, Boston, Mass. 
Bradley’s 
Bradley’s 
Bradley’s 
A name to conjure by, 
A synonym of quality. 
The pioneer! with its record of contin¬ 
uous success for nearly half a century. 
Manufactured from the highest grade 
materials, and in the best possible me¬ 
chanical condition, by the most fertile 
brains known in the business, with fifty 
years’ experience, experiment and study. 
A household word, 
A world-wide reputation as 
“ The Old Reliable,” 
The world’s best by every test. 
Use it, and in the midst of plenty 
You will have plenty in your midst. 
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