linn. 
THE RIJRAT^ NBW-VORKER 
LIME CARBONATE AS STABLE ABSORBENT. 
I INCLOSE u circular of lime carbonate I would 
like to know the value of carbonate of lime. I do 
not think this is as good as burnt lime, that can be 
used as an absorbent. J- B - 
Pennsylvania. 
The circular mentioned contains an argument for 
the use of carbonate of lime (ground limestone) as 
an absorbent in stables. It is to he used the same 
as land plaster or phosphate rock. We have not 
advised the use of such limestone for the purpose. 
The matter has been referred to one of the highest 
authorities in the country and his statement, which 
follows, may be accepted as conclusive. 
••In regard to the employment of marl or carbonate 
of lime in conjunction with stable manure or as an 
obsorbent. Prof. Stutzer. one of the leading Herman 
authors, states that through an error Prof. Maerck- 
er. late Director of the Experiment Station at Halle, 
published a statement in the annual report of that 
station that carbonate of lime would prevent a con¬ 
siderable loss of nitrogen from manure. Later this 
error was pointed out by I>r. Schneiderwind of the 
same station. Prof. Stutzer points out that carbon¬ 
ate <>f lime hastens not only the decomposition of the 
organic matter of the stable manure, but that it also 
favors the volatilization of the ammonia, and he 
states emphatically in his recent book that one 
should avoid the use of the carbonate of lime in 
conjunction with stable manure. 
••Well-dried loam is not only capable of liokPng 
the ammoniacal liquors of the stable manure on the 
surface of the particles, which is the only way iu 
which carbonate of lime could possibly be of service, 
even if there were no danger in other respect 
the dried loam possesses 
in addition a very dis¬ 
tinct advantage from 
the fact that the am¬ 
monia produced in the 
manure can unite chem¬ 
ically with silicates in 
the soil which hold it 
very securely. 
“Those familiar with 
the literature of this 
subject are aware that 
it is even possible to 
drive ammonia out of 
very rich soils which 
contain large amounts 
of ammonia, if exces¬ 
sive amounts of carbon¬ 
ate of lime are applied 
to them. While it is 
true that ca 
lime is capable of work¬ 
ing the most wondrous 
transformation of soils 
when applied to them in 
reasonable amounts and 
before the right kinds of 
crops, it may in some 
cases work injury if used in excessive quantities, 
such, for example, as from six to eight tons to the 
acre or more, as some over-ardent advocates of lim¬ 
ing recommend. Just because lime is wonderfully 
helpful when applied to the soil, there is no justifi¬ 
cation for claiming everything, as the partisan paper 
is accustomed to do immediately after election. 
“It is true that carbonate of lime may aid in ren¬ 
dering potash soluble. However, on soils which 
have been over-cropped with potash-loving plants and 
which have received too little potash in the past 
the likelihood of material benefit in this way is not 
great. In any event, the benefit likely to be de¬ 
rived from the use of complete fertilizer containing 
high percentages of soluble phosphoric acid and 
hence large amounts of gypsum would be likely to be 
greater, because gypsum has a greater decomposing 
effect upon the natural soil silicates than is exerted 
by carbonate of lime. 
"If the soil is rich in zeolitic and similar silicates 
which already contain high percentages of potash, or 
if it is not sapped of its potash by past cropping, 
carbonate of lime may aid more largely in rendering 
the potash available. Thus, it will be seen that 
there may be considerable or but little truth in the 
claim, depending upon the soil conditions and the 
forms in which the potash already exists in the soil. 
If it is chiefly there in the form of finely divided 
feldspar, it may be expected that carbonate of lime 
will have no practical value in liberating potash in 
a brief interval of time.” 
A reader wants to know how to feed Alfalfa hay to 
hogs. .1 ust let them eat it in their own way from a 
rack. There are many people who cannot seem to un¬ 
derstand that the hog will eat grass and hay—just like 
a cow or horse—if you only give him a chatic**. 
KEEPING CABBAGE. 
OW do the people in New York keep cabbage till 
this time of the year, and not have it rot more? 
They are shipping cabbages to Worcester, so 
the wholesalers are selling them for $1 a barrel, 
10 barrels for $0. Our cabbage is rotting by this time. 
I. E. 
Cabbage must be kept cool—around 40 degrees—• 
and in no great bulk, for there must be a circula¬ 
tion of air through and around it. My own cabbage 
for home use is simply set on the ground, roots up, 
before freezing, iu some sheltered spot in the garden 
or orchard, where the sun will not strike it unduly 
on warm days, and I scatter a little straw litter 
among the roots and around the outside. In this 
way it keeps fresh all Winter. As to storing in 
quantity, a barn basement or house cellar, if it is 
not too warm and can be well ventilated, is utilized 
as a cold storage. The basement or cellar is divided 
off into narrow bins by setting up 2x4 studding or 
poles, and making the bin sides of narrow boards 
four to six inches wide, leaving at least four inches 
space between each board. These bins are usually 
about four to live feet wide and the length of the 
basement. There is a space from six to 12 inches be¬ 
tween the bins. This allows of a circulation 
through and around the whole storage of cabbage: 
on warm days in Winter the windows are opened 
enough to give free ventilation and to keep as even 
a temperature as possible. Stored cabbage engen¬ 
ders a great deal of heat. This heat, if confined, 
causes it to rot. A cabbage frozen solid on the 
stump before cutting is usually ruined. It will be 
water-cored, and rot will ensue. The same cabbage 
pulled before freezing if set on the clean ground 
with the full complement of leaves around it will, 
in my experience, keep good all Winter, all condi¬ 
tions being normal. I have plowed up potatoes be¬ 
fore now in my garden that had not been in the 
ground over four inches deep and found them 
sound and perfect where l knew the ground had 
been frozen two feet deep. A whole hill of [iota- 
toes under these circumstances is usually ruined be¬ 
cause of the tubers touching each other. In the 
first instance there is fresh earth all around the 
potato. These are facts as I get them: I do not 
know what theory is going to do about it. 
h. e. cox. 
MANURE FOR HILL LANDS. 
ERHAPS there is no better way for the hill 
farmer to save all the manure than by using 
the basement of a barn for a storage pit. Usu¬ 
ally the barnyard of such a farm is exceedingly well 
drained. Often there is no place for manure where 
the rains cannot leach out the strength of this best 
of all fertilizers, and it is the hill farmer above 
all others who must save all the fertility that his 
farm produces. 
One farmer whom we visited had constructed a 
cement manure pit in the barnyard below the level 
of the barn. It received the drainage from all the 
surrounding ground, and all the manure was 
dumped into it. As the pit was out iu the open it 
received entirely too much water, and all the ma¬ 
nure had to be raised several feet before being load¬ 
ed into the spreader. Being always very wet and 
heavy there was a great deal of labor required in 
handling it. Another farmer, a dairyman, took up 
the manure from the cement gutters and spread it 
somewhere directly on the land every other day. 
While this was a good way to save all of the fer- 
tiliry. there were times when the weather was in 
213 
no condition, either under foot or over head. f>>r rh • 
spreading of manure. Another dairymn... a hi 
tanner with a too well-drained barnyard for -civil - 
much fertility, has solved the problem of storin' 
manure more satisfactorily. His dairy barn is a 
small airy one with plenty of windows, and not fa. 
away is a large basement barn to shelter the dr 
cows, young stock, machinery, hay. etc. Each da; 
the manure is carried in a litter carrier from tin* 
cow barn to the big basement where all tin* cattle, 
running loose throughout the day. have a chance P 
pack it down and prevent its heating. As there is 
considerable silage corn in the manure the lions 
have a chance to work it over, and no spreading 
need be done unless weather conditions are just 
right. Of course all persons cannot have a large 
open basement for manure storage, but wherever 
possible it solves the problem very well. If plenty 
of bedding has been used the manure-covered base¬ 
ment floor remains comparatively dry. furnishing 
fair quarters for stock cattle or dairy calves. This 
basement has long mangers where the cows running 
loose during the day can eat hay at will, and water 
is also provided in sheltered places. If each cow is 
to be credited with $15 worth of manure per year, 
the manure must be handled iu some such manner, 
or the escape of ammonia through heating or the 
drainage down the hillside will permit DO per cent, 
of its value to be lost. ir. a. cobb. 
FIELD BEANS IN WESTERN NEW YORK. 
WISH to grow this year 10 acres of Navy b-ans. 
Would you tell me the New York State way of 
planting, fertilizing, cultivating, harvesting and 
thrashing the crop, and how many bushels is con- 
side ed an average crop per acre? c. n. a. 
Maryland. 
Beans grow on a fair¬ 
ly wide range of soils. 
A very heavy clay or a 
light sand is n«»r favor¬ 
able to large yields. 
Perhaps the soils most 
commonly devoted to 
beans in Western and 
Central New York are 
medium to heavy in tex¬ 
ture. Limestone soils 
favor beans. Soils con¬ 
taining a large amount 
of organic matter arc 
not advisable for beau-, 
since they cause a bu g > 
vine growth at the ex¬ 
pense of pod production. 
In general, land wind 
will produce good wheat 
or good corn will pro¬ 
duce beaus, although 
wheat thrives on heav¬ 
ier soil than beans, and 
corn often thrives on a 
lighter soil. The rota¬ 
tion commonly used is 
corn or potatoes, beaus, 
wheat and hay. Wheat does especially well when 
it follows beans. 
The field bean is planted during the last part of 
May or the first of June. The crop matures iu a 
comparatively short period. Beans will not thrive 
if the soil is cold and a slight freeze will ruin the 
crop. Therefore it is best to wait until all danger 
of unfavorable conditions is past. The land is usu¬ 
ally plowed in the Spring to a depth of -ix r*< eight 
inches. It should then be compacted and harrow.-, 
immediately, and the land should he kept free fr »n 
weeds. The field should be harrowed as often un¬ 
practical before planting time. Beans are usually 
planted in rows which are from 28 to 2<> inches 
apart. The most common width is 20 inches. The 
beans are placed three to four inches in the row. 
The aim is to have the plants about four to five 
inches apart, and it is assumed that some of the 
seeds will not germinate. A bean planter may b»* 
used which is somewhat like a corn planter, or a 
grain drill may be used with part of the tube- 
stopped. The quantity of seed to use per acre 
varies from one-half bushel to lV-> depending on th- 
size of the beans planted. Pea beans require on-- 
half bushel and kidney beans require 1 bushels. 
On medium to heavy soils the seeds are planted 
from one and one-half to two inches in depth. 
A fertilizer for beans should usually be low in 
nitrogen, higher in potash and highest in phosphorD 
acid. The bean belonging to the legume family is 
able to assimilate nitrogen from the air. For this 
reason very little nitrogen is used. The propor¬ 
tions of the different elements vary with the char¬ 
acter of the soil and conditions. 
The field bean should be cultivated, but there is 
much danger that the cultivation will he t>> deep. 
