1908. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
140 
FERTILIZER QUESTIONS. 
Use of Swamp Muck. 
F. IF. M. Lyons, N. Y. —I own an upland 
farm; can get plenty of good inuek and air- 
slaked lime. What proportion and other 
Ingredients would make a good fertilizer? 
Would nitrate of soda be good to put 
around apple trees to warm the soil? 
Ans. —Muck varies greatly in compo¬ 
sition. Some samples contain twice as 
much nitrogen as stable manure, but it 
is in such insoluble forms that plants 
cannot use it until it has fermented. Do 
not haul the muck straight from the 
swamp to the field. Let it be “cooked” 
or fermented in a compost heap first. 
Make this compost heap on well-drained 
land near the swamp. Haul out a good 
load and dump it on the ground. Then 
scatter over it 30 pounds or more of 
lime. Build up the heap in this w ( ay 
about eight feet wide, four feet high, and 
as long as desired, using the lime with 
each load. You may use 50' pounds of 
lime if it is cheap enough. To make a 
complete fertilizer you should add phos¬ 
phoric acid and potash. By using 25 
pounds of ground bone and 15 pounds 
muriate of potash with each load you 
will have a far better mixture. In a 
few weeks fermentation will start in the 
pile—the lime helping it. In about three 
months the pile should be forked over, 
beginning at one end and throwing into 
a new pile. The muck will break up 
crumbly and fine, and when thoroughly 
fermented will be equal to manure. Ni¬ 
trate of soda will not “warm up the soil.” 
You should use horse manure for that 
purpose. The nitrate will furnish soluble 
nitrogen, and thus start the trees into 
early growth. 
Value of Mixed Goods. 
E. E. II., Fulton, N. Y .—Last year I 
spread barnyard manure on sod and plowed 
It under and planted to corn this Spring. 
I wish to turn that back, sow to oats and 
seed. Which of these phosphates would you 
use? No. 1 , price $ 33 . Analysis; nitrogen, 
1.04 to 2.47 per cent; available phosphoric 
acid, 8 to 10 per cent: potash, 10 to 12 per 
cent. No. 2 , price $ 22 . Available phos¬ 
phoric acid, 10 to 12 per cent; potash, 8 to 
10 per cent. The agent tells me that where 
land has been recently manured it does not 
need nitrogen. 
. Ans. —We think the oats would do 
better with a little soluble nitrogen. They 
start when the ground is cold. Usually 
after Winter most of the nitrates (de¬ 
scribed in the fertilizer articles) have 
been washed out of the soil. As the 
ground gets warmer the organic nitro¬ 
gen in the manure will become avail¬ 
able, but often a little nitrate of soda 
at the beginning will give the oats a 
good start. We would first get a fer¬ 
tilizer bulletin from Geneva, and see how 
close these fertilizers run to the guaran¬ 
tee. Also see how much of that nitro¬ 
gen is in the form of nitrates. If none 
of it is in that form we would not ad¬ 
vise you to use it. To get the valuation 
of fertilizers follow the plan given on 
page 99 and see what acid phosphate, 
muriate of potash and nitrate of soda 
will cost you. Taking the figures quoted 
you will have No. 1, 33 pounds at 18 
cents, $5.94; 160 pounds phosphoric acid 
at 4.0 cents, $7.36; 200 pounds potash at 
4.3 cents, $8.60; total, $21.90. You will 
see that this amount of plant food can 
be had in 200 pounds nitrate of soda, 400 
pounds muriate potash and 1,150 pounds 
acid phosphate, No. 2, 200 pounds phos¬ 
phoric acid at 4.6 cents, $9.20; 160 
pounds potash at 4.3 cents; $6.88; total, 
$16.08. You get the same in 1,450 
pounds acid pnosphate and 350 pounds 
muriate of potash. 
Nameless Fertilizer; Late Cultivation. 
A. N. R., Branchvillc N. J. — 1 , At a sale 
of unclaimed freight by the Erie railroad 
a short time ago the auctioneer selling by 
catalogue came to five bags of fertilizer. 
I had not seen the bags but thought that 
almost anything in the line of commercial 
fertilizer should be worth my bid of 40 
cents per bag. I enclose a sample of it. 
There are no tags or brand on the bags to 
Indicate the kind. It is in 125 -pound bags. 
What is it? 2 . A short time ago I read 
that experiments at different places had 
found strong evidence that late cultivation 
of fruit trees did not make them liable to 
Winter-killing, as is the almost universal 
belief. Have the experiments of either of 
these men been published in pamphlet 
form ? 
Ans. —1. The sample looked like Pe¬ 
ruvian guano, but we could not be sure. 
The best thing to do is to send a sample 
to the State Experiment Station for ex¬ 
amination. 2. We do not think these 
articles have been printed in book form. 
The evidence on this point seems to vary. 
The general opinion seems to be that 
when thorough culture is given it is 
better to stop cultivating in late July 
or August and sow some “cover crop.” 
This is presumed to stop the growth of 
the trees and permit them to ripen their 
wood before Winter. We have culti¬ 
vated and fertilized young trees so that 
they kept growing until frost without 
Winter injury, but not advise such a 
course. 
Building a Hotbed. 
G. C. O., New York .—Will you tell me 
how to build a hotbed? 
Ans. —Select a well-drained location 
with a southern exposure. Dig a pit 18 
inches deep, six feet wide and as long 
as required. Set posts in the corners 
and sides of the bed, driving them in 
solidly. The posts on north side should 
be three feet high from bottom to pit 
and on south side nine inches lower. On 
the inner side of these posts nail inch 
boards 10 or 12 inches wide. On the 
north side the top of boards should be 
on a line with the top of posts; on the 
south side an inch higher. Put on the 
end boards and plane down any un¬ 
even places so that the sash will fit 
snugly. Fresh coarse horse manure is 
the best heating material. A week before 
using fork it over and pile in a com¬ 
pact heap to heat. Water the manure 
frequently when forking over, so that 
it will be moist when put into the bed, 
thus preventing the heat from drying 
the soil. When the manure is in con¬ 
dition, spread several inches of coarse 
material, like cornstalks, on bottom of 
pit. Put in manure and tramp firmly 
until a bed about 18 inches deep is made. 
On this sprinkle five or six inches of 
good garden soil, put on the sash and 
bank the exposed sides of the frame 
with earth. The seed may be sown the 
next day. The bed will require careful 
watching to get sufficient ventilation 
without drafts. 
“Tommie, how do you make a tri¬ 
angle?” “Pull one side out of a square 
and glue the loose ends.”—Cleveland 
Plain Dealer. 
Genuine Peruvian Guano, 
The Best Natural Manure. 
Special Announcement. 
In our last cargo of Genuine Peruvian Guano our Peruvian 
Agents shipped us a little over 
One Thousand Tons of No. 2 Lotos Peruvian Guano 
This material, while possessing all the superior natural quali¬ 
ties of the Famous Lobos Peruvian Guano, varies slightly in 
analysis from the latter. 
Because of this slight deviation from our regular standard, we 
offer (until the above mentioned limited amount is sold), this 
Splendid Natural Manure at a 
GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICE. 
You cannot afford to neglect this opportunity 
to test the merits of the World’s Best Fertilizer. 
r, The standard by which we almost instinctively 
measure the value of all other fertilizers.” (James 
J. IT. Gregory). 
Write for full details, and for our Fertilizer Literature. Be sure to 
mention The Rubai, New-Yorker. 
THE COE-MORTIMER CO., 
Sole Importers of Genuine Peruvian Guano. 
Special Importers of Thomas Phosphate Powder. 
Manufacturers of E. Frank Coe Fertilizers 
and Peruvian Brands. 
24 STONE STREET NEW YORK CITY 
JoL 
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