1 D 08 . 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
169 
TALKS ABOUT BASIC SLAG. 
I. H. W., Leetonia, Pa .—Some time ago 
you called for reports and results from 
use of basic slag. I have never used it. 
Why not a report from Hope Farm on it? 
Ans. —Basic slag cost us last year 
$18.60 per ton at the railroad station. It 
contained 18 per cent of phosphoric acid 
and 50 per cent of lime by analysis. 
Phosphoric acid in acid phosphate would 
cost us about 4 >}/ 2 cents a pound. We do 
not consider the phosphoric acid in the 
slag worth over four cents, which would 
make the 360 pounds in a ton worth 
$14.60. The 1,000 pounds of lime there¬ 
fore cost $2, which is much cheaper than 
we can buy it in other forms. We do 
not use basic slag on potatoes or straw¬ 
berries for the same reason that we do 
not use wood ashes there—too much 
lime. The slag is best on grain, grass 
and tree fruits, especially where lime is 
required. It gave us best results on wet 
soils and where the ground is full of or¬ 
ganic matter. We consider the phos¬ 
phoric acid in the slag considerably 
slower to feed crops than acid phosphate 
or very fine ground bone; in fact, we 
think a good share of the success claimed 
from its use is due to the lime it con¬ 
tains. When used with muriate of pot¬ 
ash the slag is good for clover, cow 
peas, grass or grain—the latter with 
some nitrogen. For garden or quick 
growing crops we prefer bone or acid 
phosphate. 
C. W., Philadelphia, Pa .—I would like 
some information about “basic slag,” 
“Iron slag,” or “Thomas Powder.” We 
have about six acres In Kieffer pears on 
our farm in Burlington County, N. J., that 
have been well manured for several years, 
till some people say we have given them 
too much. Would you advise basic slag 
on this orchard and how much, or would 
you add other ingredients? 
Ans. —Personally we would not use 
the slag in this orchard. We believe it 
is a mistake to use too much nitrogen 
on Kieffers. That soil is now filled with 
manure. The lime in the slag will help 
that manure to a more rapid decay. This 
means soluble nitrogen—very likely more 
than the Kieffers need. As the soil is 
not likely to be sour we would prefer 
not to use lime at this time. We should 
use three parts by weight of acid phos¬ 
phate and one part sulphate of potash— 
about 500 pounds of the mixture per 
acre. 
D. J. L., Danner Elk, N. C .—We have 
been buying acid phosphate and find that 
much of it is wasted before it reaches us, 
as it eats up the bags. Does Thomas’ 
basic slag act in a like manner upon the 
bags in which it is placed? 
Ans. —The slag is dry and fine and 
very heavy. It does not “eat the bags.” 
The acid phosphate does that because 
of the sulphuric acid used to “cut” the 
ground rock (see page 99.) The phos¬ 
phoric acid in the slag is not as soluble 
as that in the phosphate and should not 
be used on those crops which may be 
hurt by lime._ 
Cow Peas For Connecticut. 
O. R., East Granby, Conn .—Next Sum¬ 
mer I am going to use a good many cow 
peas. On one 10-acre piece I intend to 
have a two-year rotation; cow peas, corn, 
and maybe sow vetches in the corn; plow 
under the vetches in Spring, sow to cow 
peas, then corn next year and so on. What 
do you think of this plan, and what is the 
best variety of cow pea for this latitude? 
Would 1% bushel per acre be heavy seed¬ 
ing enough? Seed is? quite expensive. 
Ans.— We should use Wonderful cow 
peas. Start the first year as early in 
May as the land warms. Broadcast six 
pecks per acre and cover the seed at 
least three inches. If possible to do so 
we would plow the cow peas under in 
September and sow rye. In the Spring 
plow that under and plant corn. We 
have had experience with vetch. We 
use Crimson clover and Cow-horn tur¬ 
nips in the corn at the last cultivation. 
The clover sometimes kills out in March, 
but makes growth enough in the Fall 
to pay. Rye and turnips will make a 
good crop. It would not pay us to grow 
corn only once in two years. We 
would use fertilizer, seed a cover crop 
in the corn and plant every year. 
STRAIGHT TALK. 
Killing Sassafras; Grass for Sandy Land. 
1. Can you toll me what will kill sassa¬ 
fras on land? 2. What is the best grass to 
sow on sandy land? t. l. w. 
Deer, Ark. 
1. The only way to kill out sassafras Is 
first to grub out the trees, then thoroughly 
break up the land, harrowing out all the 
roots possible with strong harrows and plant 
in some crop requiring careful cultivation 
for a season or two. Corn is me best pos¬ 
sible crop for Infested land, as the shade 
tends to kill out the sprouts. 2. Probably 
the best grasses to sow on sandy land are 
Ited-top and Awnless Brome grass, which is 
generally catalogued under the botanical 
name of Bromus inermis. It costs about $15 
per 100 pounds, and should be sown at the 
rate of 30 to 40 pounds to the acre. White 
clover at the rate of 10 pounds or so to the 
acre sown after the other grasses have been 
seeded is also useful, tending to bind the 
soil and create fertility. 
Japan Golden Russet Pear. 
Please give us your opinion in regard to 
Japan Golden Russet pear. e. w. j. 
Woodlawn, Vt. 
The Japan Golden Russet makes a really 
handsome ornamental tree with large glossy 
foliage and conspicuous blooms. It bears 
freely and at a very early age, but the fruits 
are absolutely worthless for commercial 
or culinary purposes. They have a sickly 
Ilavor and appear to contain no ackl what¬ 
ever. This variety should never be planted 
for profit, but deserves a place in cultiva¬ 
tion as an ornamental subject. There is 
hope of developing desirable varieties by 
hybridizing it with commercial sorts, and 
the writer has been for years engaged in 
this work, with not very promising results 
so far. 
The Currant Borer. 
I would like some information about our 
currant bushes. They blossomed and bore 
lots of fruit, but about July the leaves fell 
off, and upon examination we found bush 
full of borers. If we cut out all old brush 
and burn will they be all right and come 
up from roots, or will they kill brush clear 
to roots? c. B. J. 
Sturgis, S. D. 
The only practical treatment for the Cur¬ 
rant borer, which seems to infest your 
bushes, is to cut off all infested canes and 
branches as soon as discovered and burn 
them. You will thus reduce the number of 
the pests next year. As this insect is very 
local In Its habits it may not trouble you 
again. The currant Is a very hardy bush, 
and Is not likely to be killed by cutting off 
all the old wood down to the crown. They 
will probably start again all right, but you 
may lose a crop or two by doing so. 
Gooseberries for Washington. 
The article on gooseberries, page 622, 
1907, has aroused my interest in them, 
since we now have for the first time a pub¬ 
lic market in Seattle where fruits of any 
kind can be introduced by letting people 
sample them. I have a piece of land that 
I have used for a garden for several years. 
It has had all the manure that was pos¬ 
sible to give it. I think It is rich enough. 
I Intend to sell the berries when ripe. Of 
all the varieties, which do you consider the 
best, productiveness and freedom from 
mildew considered? All varieties are 
praised so in the catalogues that I find it 
impossible to make a choice. j. r. 
Kirkland, Wash. 
The most practical and profitable goose¬ 
berries we know of are Houghton, Smith, 
and Downing of the American class. They 
are very productive, free from mildew, but 
have rather small berries. The best 
Europeans are undoubtedly Industry, Car¬ 
man and Keepsake. They are not mildew- 
proof, neither do they succeed everywhere, 
but they are well worth trying. 
Fruit Questions. 
Is the Eagle plum of any value, also 
Apple plum. Golden Beauty, Bartlett, and 
the America? In peaches, are Yellow Swan 
and Alborg of any value? What about 
Krummcl’s October and Niagara peaches? 
Is the Gonzales plum worth setting out? 
If it is on peach stock or on plum, which 
is the better tree? f. i,. h. 
Port Trevorton, Pa. 
Waugh describes the Eagle as one of the 
best plums in the American group. Apple 
and America are good canning plupis, but 
rather low in quality. Apple has red flesh, 
America has yellow; both are good grow¬ 
ers and unite productive. Golden Beauty 
and Bartlett have both proved worthless on 
the trial grounds. Golden Beauty Is a 
variety of native origin, and does not seem 
to bear well north of Texas. Bartlett is 
one of Burbank’s hybrids. It is not a great 
bearer, rots easily, while the plums are 
small and of low quality. Gonzales does 
not seem to thrive well north of Georgia'. 
It grows well on peach stock. It Is a lnrge 
showy, red plum of ordinary quality. 
Niagara is a very good yellow mid-season 
peach. Tt is thought by some to be even 
more valuable than Elberta. Krummel’s 
October is a promising late yellow peach, 
coming In a week after Salwav. Yellow 
Alborg is a fair yellow mid-season peach of 
ordinary quality. Yellow Swan we do not 
know at all. It is probably another name 
for Alberg. 
LIVINGSTON’S 
Coreless Tomato 
A distinct now creation. Bettor than our 
Stone. Globe shaped, little indenture and no 
corrugation at stem end and no green 
!right rotl > very large, heavy cropper. 
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