1900. 
197 
Lava Fertilizer. 
H. C. IF. H-, Richfield, N. Y. —1. Will 
vou give me your opinion about “I^iva Fer¬ 
tilizer?” The people or corporation which 
is manufacturing or mixing same is the 
American Health Association. There are no 
prints on bags to tell what it contains. 
2. Can you tell me what spray is used in 
Florida to keep the celery from getting 
rusty? 
Ans. — 1 . We have explained this be¬ 
fore. This material is claimed to he the 
substance thrown up from a volcano 
ground to a powder. The circulars seem 
to convey the idea that since this stuff 
came from a volcano it must carry 
some supernatural power to make plants 
grow. That is nonsense. The only 
way to judge the value of a fertilizer 
is to go by its analysis. There is 
nothing about this lava fertilizer to 
show that it has any more Value than 
a mixture of wood and coal ashes from 
a stove. 2. The remedy for all blights 
and rusts is Bordeaux Mixture—a com¬ 
bination of lime and sulphate of copper 
in water. 
Soy Beans After Strawberries. 
G. D. K■, Rattle Creek, Mich .—I noticed 
an article on the Soy bean. I have four 
acres of very good soil, a clay loam, which 
I use continuously in the growing of straw¬ 
berries. About one-third is plowed each 
year after crop is taken off, and new plants 
set out the following Spring. The soil is 
furnished with an abundance of stable 
manure. Would a Soy bean crop be an ad¬ 
ditional benefit to the land, and would it 
mature as a hay crop if sown the fore 
part of July? If cut and cured the same 
as hay would it make a good feed for milch 
cows ? What variety would you recom¬ 
mend? After cutting could Sand vetch be 
used as a Winter cover crop? Nearly all 
my land is in fruit, but I am anxious to 
raise all the feed for my stock as far as 
possible. I notice that seed catalogues make 
great claims for teosinte as a fodder plant 
even in this latitude. Would you recom¬ 
mend it for one who needs to raise as 
much fodder as possible from a few acres? 
Ans.— In this case local experience 
is wanted. W rite to your State Ex¬ 
periment Station, East Lansing, for a 
bulletin on Soy beans and other for¬ 
age plants. We should use the Medium 
Green variety. If planted as soon as 
the strawberries are picked the 
Soy beans ought to give a fair 
growth of vine for hay. Like 
clover or peas the beans add nitrogen 
to the soil. We have not been able to 
get a large growth of the beans until 
the soil was inoculated. We brought 
soil from a field where the beans grew 
well, and in this way obtained a good 
yield. After the first year or two the 
crop does well. It makes a coarse hay 
like bean vines. If you have a feed 
cutter and can run the bean hay through 
it the cows will eat it clean. We have 
not succeeded with vetch in northern 
New Jersey. We use Crimson clover 
and turnips at the last cultivation, but 
along the lake in western Michigan 
vetch is considered superior to Crim¬ 
son clover. We would like to have 
the opinion of local growers about vetch 
with the Soy beans. After trying teo¬ 
sinte and various kinds of sorghum we 
conclude that corn fodder sown thickly 
and well cared for gives us more good 
roughage than any similar plant we 
can grow. 
Investments in Eastern Farms. 
W. II. K., Bethel, Conn .—I read a few 
years ago under Hope Farm Notes bow the 
Hope Farm man bought a farm and went 
in debt for it. If I am not mistaken you 
told the readers how you borrowed the 
money from a building and loan association. 
Under what conditions could a farmer bor¬ 
row money from a loan association? We 
have nothing like it around here. What per 
cent do they charge? Is it possible or 
feasible for a farmer living in Connecticut 
to borrow from a loan association in New 
York? it seems hard for a farmer here to 
borrow on his property. The banks are 
shy of farm property as an investment. I 
was just reading how the Aetna Insurance 
Company of Hartford has been loaning the 
farmers of the Middle West thousands upon 
thousands of dollars in the past, and is 
still sending money west to invest. The 
one who wrote the article states that the 
treasurer of the company said that they 
made a very few loans to farmers in New 
England and the East, saying that a loan 
on farm property in the Middle West was 
THE RURAL 
a good investment and a quick asset, while 
a loan on farms here was more of a per¬ 
sonal character, much depending upon the 
man. It seems to me that the above in¬ 
surance company could do a great deal of 
good by placing more of that money right 
here in New England and the East. I know 
there are lots of good investments among 
farmers that are safe. If there was more 
of that money placed among farmers in 
New England it would be a little toward 
the uplift of New England agriculture. 
Ans. —The statement is correct. The 
Hope Farm man borrowed from a local 
building and loan association to pay for 
his farm. It was expensive borrowing. 
The amount was $3,200. A “premium” 
of four per cent or $128, was charged 
for the privilege. In order to get the 
money we took 16 shares in the asso¬ 
ciation and paid $32 each month. This 
included principal and interest. A 
small part of it was credited back as 
“earnings.” This makes an expensive 
way to pay a mortgage and the steady 
demand for monthly payments often 
pinches. Yet the borrower gets in the 
habit of paying and usually does it 
when he could not save up the full 
amount. We patronized the local asso¬ 
ciation. This is well handled by 
business men who give their time to 
the work out of public spirit and a 
desire to build up the county. They 
NEW-YORKER 
will rarely loan on farm property. 
We would not invest in one of the 
larger “National” associations. These 
must have heavy expenses as their of¬ 
ficers are paid and they cannot give 
personal supervision to loans and se¬ 
curity on real estate. The principle of 
the Building and Loan Association is 
safe in local societies when conducted 
by conservative men. The West was 
very largely built up by New England 
money—much of it farm money. A 
good share of the insurance money you 
speak of comes from farmers. Every 
dollar of it should have been invested 
in eastern farm property, and we be¬ 
lieve that within a few years more of 
it will be. The men who conduct these 
great financial enterprises cannot be 
guided by sentiment, but must have 
sound security and assets that are 
available. The best New England 
farms can give this and they would 
probably be accepted for loans. There 
are thousands of others which, with 
fair working capital, would give better 
security than many western farms. If 
there could be limited government 
loans, as in Australia, these farms 
would, in a few years, pay out. If a 
few of the thousands of wealthy New 
England men would combine their cap¬ 
ital and lend it in a business way on 
approved farm property, they would 
make a good profit and perform a most 
patriotic service. 
ONE MAN DOES 
WORK OF TWO 
With Iron A«e Hiding Culti¬ 
vators. You can <lo it easier and 
better, because they are built on 
lines that make this possible. 
Hoes are under perfect control. 
Can regulate depth and 
keep hoes desired dis¬ 
tance from growing 
plants. More ad¬ 
vantages in our 
IRON AGE 
Bookclfi 
FREE. 
' \3*WE' 
HIRED 
■Vu* HELPj 
k' 
Pivot or fixed 
wheel, wheels 
high or low 
'1 
BATEMAN MFG. CO., Box 1Q2-C, GflENLOCH, N. J. 
Nitrate of Soda 
Nitrate Sold in Original Bags 
NITRATE AGENCIES CO. 
64 Stone Street. New York 
Keyser Building, Baltimore, Md. 
36 Bay Street, East, Savannah, Ga. 
305 Baronne Street, New Orleans, La. 
140 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Ill. 
Holcombe & Co., 24 California Street 
San Francisco, Cal. 
603-4 Oriental Block. Seattle, Wash. 
Address Office Nearest Yoa 
Orders for All Quantities Promptly 
Filled—Write for Quotations 
Edison Phonographs are sold 
everywhere at the same prices 
$1250 to $60 
Edison Amberol Records 50c 
Regular Edison Records 35c 
Edison Grand Opera Records, 75c 
It is Mr. Edison’s desire that a Phonograph 
should not only be cheap enough for everyone 
to own one, but also that everyone should en¬ 
joy the same advantage in purchasing it. 
Wherever you buy an Edison Phonograph 
you buy it at the same price. The purchaser 
in the small country town has the same advan¬ 
tage as those who live in large cities. 
Nothing else that you can buy will provide so 
much of the best kind of amusement for yourself 
and your family at such a trifling cost as 
EDI S ON 
PHONOGRAPH 
It differs from all other sound-reproducing instruments because it was invented and 
perfected by Thomas A. Edison, and because it is constructed on a principle which is 
more nearly perfect than that used in any other instrument made for a like purpose. 
The first Phonograph ever made was made by Mr. 
Edison, and from that invention was perfected the Edison 
Phonograph which today is considered the most perfect 
instrument for reproducing music, voice and other sounds. 
For you the Edison Phonograph means constant and 
varied entertainment in your own home. 
You can have any kind of music you like—your kind of 
music, the kind of music your family likes, the kind of 
music your friends like. 
You may hear the songs of great singers, the music of 
great orchestras, the speeches of great speakers. You may 
hear your favorite hymns and the good old songs you’ve 
always enjoyed. You can reproduce the latest vaudeville 
hit, the popular songs that everyone is whistling, or the 
star part of a star opera singer, in your own home, to a 
circle of your own friends. 
No method of spending an evening can be pleasanter. 
The Edison Phonograph is always there, always ready to 
be turned on; it is easily operated and the cost is slight. 
Edison Amberol Records 
Mr. Edison did not consider his Phonograph good enough with 
Records that played only two minutes, so he experimented until 
he produced a Record which will play four minutes. It is no 
larger than the other Record. It is played on the same Phono¬ 
graph by means of an attachment which your dealer has. It 
more than doubles the enjoyment of the Phonograph. Music 
formerly unavailable for the two-minute Record, 
on account of its length, can now be heard in 
full and to better advantage. 
Edison Records are made in Bohemian, Cuban, Danish, 
French. German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Norwegian, 
Polish, Spanish, Swedish, etc. 
Even if you are not ready to buy at once, go to the near¬ 
est Edison store and hear this wonderful home entertainer, 
the Edison Phonograph. Ask the dealer for a catalogue 
of Phonographs and a catalogue of selections. Do not be 
misled by any other sound-reproducing instrument. The 
Edison Phonograph io the best for the home. Gwanuu CL 
National Phonograph Co., 172 Lakeside Ave., Orange, N. J. 
