642 
June 11, 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF ROTATION OF 
CROPS. 
In Bulletin No. 90, “Soil Fertility,” giving the 
results of 25 years of experiments with fertilizers of 
various kinds at the Pennsylvania State College Agri¬ 
cultural Experiment Station, the experiments suggest 
that on a limestone soil, assuming a five years’ rota¬ 
tion consisting of corn, oats, wheat one year and 
Timothy and clover two years, the following will be 
an economic method of fertilizing if maintained dur¬ 
ing a series of years. For the corn apply six tons 
of manure per acre. For the oats apply no fertilizers 
except when beginning to build up the soil, in which 
case 150 pounds of acid phosphate may be applied. 
For the wheat apply 350 pounds of acid phosphate 
and 100 pounds of muriate of potash. No fertilizer 
need be applied to the grass land for the first crop. 
For the second crop apply during the previous Sum¬ 
mer or Fall six tons of yard manure per acre, and 
if yard manure is not available apply in the Spring, 
just as the grass begins to start. 150 pounds of nitrate 
of soda, 150 pounds of acid phosphate, and 50 pounds 
of muriate of potash per acre. This 25 years’ test 
indicates that the best results can be obtained only 
by a continuous and systematic use of fertilizers in 
connection with a well-ordered method of cropping. 
State College, Pa. H * F - 
DIFFERENCE BEWEEN “ ORGANIC MATTER” 
AND HUMUS. 
Some time ago I saw the Statement in The R. N.-Y. 
that lime would destroy the humus in the soil. Is this 
correct? 1 have been thinking about this ever since I 
saw the statement, and I am unable to reconcile it with 
my idea of the action of lime on the soil. I have always 
thought that lime, by its action on the fibrous matter in 
the soil, decomposing it, created humus instead of de¬ 
stroying it, putting the soil in better mechanical condi¬ 
tion. Wherein do I err? D - M * B - 
Three Springs, I’a. 
The difference between organic matter and humus 
is, to a great extent, one of degree rather than kind. 
With favorable moisture and temperature conditions, 
vegetable matter in the soil decays rapidly, and as the 
decay processes proceed the organic matter is reduced 
in bulk and changes in color, assuming the appearance 
of a so-called humus. Now, it is well known that 
soil bacteria are greatly favored in their development 
by the presence of lime; hence, everything being 
equal, the more lime there is present the more rapidly 
the organic matter and the humus derived from it 
will decay. In open soils the stimulating action of 
lime may be too far-reaching; that is, the organic 
matter may decay too rapidly to suit the farmer. 
This is one of the reasons why manure or green 
manure does not last so long in sandy soils as in 
clay loams or clay soils. In a word, then, lime favors 
the disappearing of both fresh organic matter as well 
as of the darker colored substances derived from it, 
and designated as humus. On the other hand, lime 
favors the growth of the so-called green manuring 
crops, particularly clover, vetch, cow peas, Soy beans, 
etc. Since these legumes are deep-rooted crops, any¬ 
thing that will favor their development will also favor 
the production of large amounts of vegetable matter 
in the soil, and there is no doubt that the clover resi¬ 
dues on a limed soil are much larger than the clover 
or crop residues on unlimed soil. This is equivalent 
to saying that liming favors the production of material 
out of which humus is made. If green manuring 
crops are properly provided for in the rotation lime 
serves both to increase and to decrease the humus of 
the soil. If green manures are not provided for then, 
the action of the lime is only in one of the directions 
indicated, namely, it hastens depletion of fresh organic 
matter and of humus from the soil. 
New Jersey Station. Jacob g. lipman. 
WHY SOLITARY NUT TREES FAIL 
We have two large chestnut trees that always bear 
well, but the nuts do not fill out. Near them stands 
a butternut which bears a few small nuts. Two walnuts 
neither grow nor bear, although 30 years old. On the 
edge of the grove in a valley, iH'ech trees bear full of 
nuts that never have meat in them. Our soil is light, 
sandy, subsoil mortar sand. Will bone meal or anything 
help the trees to fruit well? a. a. b. 
Kingston. Mass. 
The complaint of solitary nut trees or those that 
are nearly so and do not fill out their nuts well is 
quite common. In most cases the cause of this trouble 
is lack of proper pollination. The pollen from a tree 
often comes too soon or too late to fertilize the female 
flowers, and burrs will form on the chestnut tree or 
trees but there are almost no kernels .in the nuts that 
form. Sometimes there are no nuts whatever. The 
same is true of other trees, such as the butternut tree 
mentioned. But this is not always the case, for there 
are many solitary trees that bear very good nuts in 
abundance. We have a pecan tree on our Louisiana 
plantation that has been situated so that it had to 
depend on its own pollen entirely, and yet it has borne 
big crops repeatedly. Nature, however, usually plants 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
trees in large colonies, so that the pollen of one will 
pollinate the stigmas of others, and in turn its own 
female flowers may be fertilized by their pollen. Pov¬ 
erty of the soil is also a reason for faulty nuts and 
poor crops. Trees cannot bear good crops that stand 
where their roots cannot lay hold of an abundance of 
plant food. With a sandy soil, which is rarely very 
rich at the best, and with a subsoil of “mortar sand.” 
as A. A. B. states his to be, there is little wonder that 
nuts are scarce and poor on the trees. I would suggest 
scattering a lot of stable manure about these trees and 
see the results. It will not be very apparent the first 
year, perhaps, but it will soon give a good account I 
feel quite sure. If pollination is lacking the only pos¬ 
sible way to remedy it is to graft some other variety 
that has potent pollen on the top of the barren trees, 
and this would be a difficult thing to do, although it is 
possible. Hand pollination is possible, which can be 
done by cutting branches from other trees when in 
the right stage of bloom and tying them in the trees 
to be pollinated. h. e. van deman. 
WHO HOLDS UP PARCELS POST? 
Give us 10 stanzas and the chorus to the tune of 
parcels post. I ordered about 50 pounds of hymn 
books from a point in Tennessee west of south from 
Cincinnati, O., and the Southern Express Co. carried 
them to Washington, D. C., where they were trans¬ 
ferred to the United States Express Co. and sent 
back to me, and the charge was even $5. I have a 
letter from the vice-president of the Southern Express 
in which he acknowledges the overcharge, but I have 
never been rebated. Last year I had 500 straw¬ 
berry plants shipped from Snow Hill, Md., to Cul¬ 
peper, Va., by express; charges 90 cents. This year 
I had 1,000 plants of smaller plant varieties shipped 
to Pennsboro, W. Va., for 50 cents from the same 
place. The express company that handled these or¬ 
ders can’t spell e-q-u-a-l-i-t-y. I wrote a West Vir¬ 
ginia Congressman relative to parcels post. He wrote 
back that he had no time to give to postal regulations 
till after his campaign was over. How long must we 
wait till campaigns are over? Brethren, we must make 
the other fellow know that something has happened. 
Ritchie Co., W. Virginia. M. M. luzader. 
R. N.-Y.—If you leave it to these Congressmen 
“parcels post” will be sung to the tune the old cow 
died on. If you can make them understand that you 
mean business they will rush it through to the tune of 
Yankee Doodle double quick time. That is just the 
way the thing stands now. The latest excuse is that 
it is not the “function of the Post Office Department.’’ 
This is supposed to be a Republic where the people 
determine these “functions.” We are behind the old 
world monarchies in serving the people. 
FRUIT EXHIBITS AT FAIRS. 
The R. N.-Y. is asked to help settle many singular 
cases between farmers and others. Here is one 
somewhat out of the usual order. A large fruit 
grower was in the habit of exhibiting fruit at the 
larger fairs. In a way he was what you might call 
a “ringer”—going from place to place with excep¬ 
tionally fine specimens of standard varieties. Of 
course, such a man, with long experience in ex¬ 
hibiting, would have an advantage over local exhibi¬ 
tors, and he would not be likely to go the rounds 
unless he could win prizes enough to pay his ex¬ 
penses and something more. The usual argument 
for inviting exhibits from such people is to be sure 
that good specimens of standard varieties are shown 
as an object lesson. This man was invited to attend 
a large fair, and he prepared an exhibit at some 
expense. The judges awarded him a number of 
prizes, and it seemed that his fruit w r as so superior 
it would win in every class. There was a protest 
from local exhibitors who claimed that this stranger 
should not be permitted to come into the State 
and capture the prize money from home growers. 
As a result the judges changed their plan, removed 
all the prizes except one, and refused to judge any 
more of this stranger’s fruit. The fair management 
had invited exhibits from outside the State, but, 
in spite of this, they refused to award the prizes to 
which this fruit-grower was entitled. The exhibitor 
claimed not only the prizes actually awarded, but 
also those he would have won had the judges con¬ 
tinued as they started. We took the matter up with 
the fair management, and, after some discussion, 
both sides agreed to compromise. The exhibitor 
named a fair sum and the managers paid it. This 
was one of the most interesting cases we had had 
to deal with, for it brought up the sore old subject 
of the “ringer” and the local exhibitors. The former 
claims that his exhibit is an “object lesson” because 
it shows the best specimen of fruit or animal. The 
latter complains that the professional showman comes 
into the locality and takes away a lot of money that 
ought to remain at home. The “ringer” discourages 
local exhibits, and, after all, it is the home-grown 
fruit or animal that makes the reputation of the 
State or county. We think the local exhibitor has 
the better of the argument; still, if the management 
invite the “ringer,” it should stand right up to its 
agreement. 
THE “UNEXHAUSTED VALUES” OF FOODS. 
In England, when a new tenant takes a farm, he 
is expected to pay for the plant food value of the 
grain fed on that farm for two years. This is called 
the “unexhausted value.” At one time the outgoing 
tenant received half the cost of the food stuffs he 
brought to the farm during the year before he left. 
This, of course, was not fair, for a ton of cornmeal 
leaves much less plant food behind than a ton of 
wheat bran. A system has now been arranged which 
is quite satisfactory. It is assumed that half the 
nitrogen, three-fourths of the phosphoric acid and 
all the potash in the food consumed during the last 
year will remain in the manure. Of the food con¬ 
sumed the year before one-half of these values are 
allowed. Thus cotton-seed cake is considered to con¬ 
tain 138 pounds nitrogen, 62 phosphoric acid and 40 
potash. When the tenant leaves the farm he receives 
pay for 69 pounds nitrogen, 4614 phosphoric acid 
and 40 potash’ out of each ton of cotton-seed cake 
bought in the last year, and half these figures for 
what he bought the year before. At English prices 
this would amount to $14 the first year and $7 the 
second. In like manner, where corn is bought the 
figures are $3.50 per ton the first year and $1.75 the 
second. Of course, on these English farms it is under¬ 
stood that the manure is well kept without serious 
loss of plant food. We have not yet come to a point 
in this country where such fine distinctions could be 
made, yet that is one great reason why the English 
farmers are able after centuries of cultivation to pro¬ 
duce larger crops than ever before. By giving all 
forms of plant food values as standard as cash, they 
have maftle farmers as careful in handling mmxires 
and fertilizers as they would be of money. 
A reader in Virginia shipped flowers to a point in 
Pennsylvania by'express. The customer advertised the 
flowers for sale on Thursday, when they were expected, 
but they did not come until Friday, and then in a 
ruined condition. This man wants to know his legal 
rights in such a case. Can he claim for the advertis¬ 
ing, and what causes can the express company claim as 
legal exemption or excuse for not paying the loss? 
The Interstate Commerce Commission has no jurisdic¬ 
tion over loss or damage claims. It can only handle 
the question of rates. There is no remedy in a case 
of this sort except in a compromise or in the courts. 
The express companies print the following in their 
rates of tariff. “Agreements as to time of delivery of 
express matter must not be made.” You should make 
a claim to the express company stating clearly your loss 
and the cause of it. If they refuse to settle, you'can 
bring suit against the express company for damages 
both for loss of the flowers and for the cost of 
advertising. The breaking down of an engine or miss¬ 
ing a connection would not be a legal exemption but 
one of the things which the jury would have to con¬ 
sider. You will need to be well supplied with money 
in order to obtain satisfaction through the courts. We 
think the express company will finally settle if you 
hang to them. 
Every year we receive many calls from dairymen 
who are hunting for cheap bedding. Most of these are 
operating near cities making high-class and expensive 
milk. They cannot afford to grow straw crops on their 
high-priced land, while the price usually charged for 
baled straw is prohibitive. Is there no way for such 
dairymen to buy straw direct from the West, where, 
it is understood, straw has little value?" In theory 
such direct trading between farms east and west ought 
to save money for both farmers. We have in former 
years tried to encourage it in buying grain, but such 
experiments usually failed. The grain dealers and the 
railroads apparently conspired to kill off this direct 
trade. Cars were lost or delayed, and there were many 
annoyances which usually disgusted Eastern buyers. 
There may be less of this in shipping straw, and it 
may be forth while to try the experiment. The condi¬ 
tion of materials and price are stated in the following 
letter from Marion Co., Ill. 
A considerable amount of straw (wheat and oats) is 
sold every year at prices ranging from $4.50 to .$6 per 
ton. . Sometimes, near Spring, straw brings $7 per ton. 
The above prices are for straw baled and delivered on 
cars. In this county (southern Illinois) a groat deal of 
Red-top is thrashed for the seed. The hay is Ihon fed 
by farmers to their cattle, horses, mules and sheep. I 
think I »"ould be safe in saying that one-half the hay fed 
here (Marion Co., Ill.) is thrashed Red-top. Large amounts 
of this hay can be bought during the Fall and early Win¬ 
ter at $7 to $9 per ton, f. o. b. cars here. We are on 
the B. & O. S. W. R. R., a direct line to New York City. 
We don’t claim that this thrashed Iled-top hay is equal 
to Timothy, but we do claim it is much better than straw 
for feed, and is equally as good for bedding. j. t>. t. 
We offer this as a chance for some of our Eastern 
dairymen to figure and experiment if they care to do 
so. Our desire is to enable the producer to get more 
of the consumer’s dollar, and for the consumer to 
have a living price. 
