542 
RURAL NEW-YORKER 
plaster and clover were the backbone of fanninj? in 
the prosperous sections of Central New York. Jo¬ 
seph Iliirris laid down these three fundamental 
facts about the fanning of that day: 1. A small top- 
dressing of plaster increased the growth of clover. 
2. The moj'e clovei' yon plowed iinder the larger the 
cr(»ps of wheat and coiui. Whenever yon noticed 
an exceptionally good farm yon could he sure the 
owner used plaster on the clover. It is an old story 
how Tien Fi’anklin marked out letters of the word 
“I’lasler"’ in a clover field and scattered gypsum 
ovf'r the soil covered by these letters, and obtained 
such a womlei’fnl growth that the word was easily 
seen. There was no doubt that the plaster did in¬ 
crease the clover, but none of those old-timers knew 
.inst how it was done. The .scienti.sts of that day 
had shown that plaster through its chemical changes 
could retain the ammonia of oi’ganic matter, and 
maJiy winters of that jieriod thought the plaster 
took nitrogen out of the air. The favorite method 
of using the plaster was to scatter it over the young 
clover while the dew was on. We have read old- 
time articles in which the winters a.ssumed that the 
dew contained ammonia, and that the plaster ab¬ 
sorbed it and carried it down to the soil. Horace 
Creeley wrote essays in which he described the 
plaster sjiread on the fields as taking the nitrogen 
out of the smoke or air which blew over it The 
fact is, however, that in tho.se days farmers simply 
knew that the plaster increa.sed the clover. That 
was enough for them, without knowing how it was 
done or hoiv the clover obtained more nitrogen for 
the wheat and corn. There finally came a time 
when the plaster, even in increased quantities, 
failed to increase the clover ci*op and the farmers 
changed their method.s—plowing under less clover 
and using lime and chemicals. 
THK ACTION OF FLAi^TER.—Now the scientific 
men tell us why the plaster succeeded for a time 
on the clover, and why it finally failed. First as a 
])lant food. It ]irovided lime and sulphur as plant 
food after it went through its chemical change in 
the soil. The action of this lime was not equal to 
that in burnt lime, and there is less than half as 
much lime in 100 i)ounds of jilaster as in the burnt 
lime. The snl])hur Avas necessary to the clover, but 
not so much so as tp acount foi* the increase of the 
crop Avhen i)laster Avas used. Nor could the chem¬ 
ical poAA'er of the plaster to hold the ammonia ac¬ 
count for this crop increase. There is nothing in 
the old theoiy that the plaster took nitrogen from 
the air. We uoav knoAA' that is done by the tiny bac¬ 
teria on the roots of the clover. 
.V CllEWICAL CHANGE.— The chief A'alue of the 
idaster came in its ability to change part of its 
lime for aA’ailable potash, and to a less extent phos- 
l)horic acid, by Avorking on the insoluble foi-ms of 
these elements. It is hard to get outside of scien¬ 
tific language and explain .such action. When potash 
in available forms is applied to the soil the solution 
Avhich it forms sinks doAvn and makes a chemical 
change in the zeolites which contain lime. These 
zeolites are little masses of soil, combinations of 
elements Avhich may be quite readily broken Aip by 
chemical action. As the strong solution comes 
through the soil to them these zeolites may be 
changed. The lime which they contain is put into 
the .solution, Avhile the potash goes into the soil 
combination. Thus we often read that potash put 
on the soil Avill not be lost in the drainage Avater 
as nitrogen is. The potash may be caught up and 
held in these zeolites. 
UNAYATLARLE POTASH.— NoAV,«in the old days 
wheii plaster gave such great results on clover, it 
is i)rohahle that the soil was Avell filled Avith potash 
in the form of these zeolite.s. While it aa’us in the 
soil this potash AA’as not fully aA’ailable to the chwer 
and it did not thrive fully because clover must have 
full supplies of potash (a ton of Red clover hay 
contains 40 pounds). Noaa'' when the plaster Avas 
put on the clover it dissolved and Avorked dOAvn into 
the soil, and the chemical action was the reverse of 
that which put the soluble potash into the zeolites. 
In the latter case the lime in the plaster Avas ex¬ 
changed for the potash in the zeolites—the jAOtash 
thus becoming available to feed the clover. In 
handling the “alkali” lands of the West they make 
use of this poAver of plaster to take injurious salts 
out of the soil. The plaster, in solution, effects 
changes Avhich make this “alkali” soluble, and it is 
washed aAvay in the drainage. 
UNLOCKING THE SOIL.— This is the explana¬ 
tion now given for the old success in using plaster 
on clover. It Avas just a matter of providing avail¬ 
able potash. At that time j)otash Avas very expen¬ 
sive. The German mines had not been fully de¬ 
veloped, and most of the potash in Avood ashes Avas 
too valuable for manufacturing purposes to permit 
Its large use in farming. As Ave know there came 
a time Avhen plaster failed to keep up the big crops 
of clover, even though it Avas used heavily. In the 
light of what the chemists noAv tell us we can readi¬ 
ly see why this was so. The plaster AA’as mainly 
u.seful for its AA'ork in breaking up the zeolites and 
setting the potash free, .\fter some years of this, 
Avithout ])utting potash back—except Avhat Avas 
.‘;aved as manure—there came a time Avheji these 
combinations of potash were nearly exhausted and 
then, of course, the plaster could not do its Avoi-k 
of breaking up the.se zeolites and making the pot¬ 
ash available. Added to that Avas the fact that the 
continued u.se of plaster no doubt gaA’e the soil a 
more acid effect, .so that the clover bacteria Avere 
Aveakened. No one kneAV about these things in that 
day. The farmers merely kneAv that jjlasfer seemed 
to fail on the clover, and the poorer the clover the 
poorer Avere all crops. 
CHEMICALS AND LIME.— ^Then came the in¬ 
creased use of fertilizing chemicals and lime. Pot¬ 
ash in the German .salts became cheaper and all 
sorts of Avastes Avere saved for use as fertilizers. 
Tame corrected the soil of the clover fields, and all 
these things combined to make plaster a “back 
number.” It is uoav but little used except in the 
.stable, or in the manure pile.s. It gives good re¬ 
sults iji such places, but is uoav .seldom used for 
actual field Avork. Litne ai)pears to be about as 
effective in breaking up the zeolites in the soil, and 
the actual lime in the plaster is expensive. The 
pla.ster costs $S to $10 per ton in Ncav Yoi’k, and 
contains less than one-half as much lime as slaked 
lime. Under ordinary conditions potash in the Ger¬ 
man salts is much cheaper than the pota.sh set fi’ee 
Methods of Bridge-grafting. Fig. 204 
in the soil by pla.ster. These are the chief reasons 
Avhy land plaster is not more largely used at this 
time, though it may be that on some soils, Avhere 
potash has long been used, it Avould pay to nse plas¬ 
ter once more. 
Bridge Grafting for Girdled Trees 
[George W. Wallace of Ontario Co., N. Y'^., sends us 
the final result of experiments he has been making for 
the jjast 25 years in saving girdled fruit trees, and 
Avhieh has proA’ed successful in saving all trees he 
has had girdled, some of the trees being 10 inches in 
diameter, some girdled for fully 15 inches in AA’idth, 
and completely around the trunk, Avhieh doomed such 
to certain death.] 
ETIIODS PRACTICED.— My methods of sav¬ 
ing girdled ti’ces are three, and to make them 
perfectly understood, Avill illustrate them. One 
method is this: If there are groAAing from the roots 
of the damaged trees good healthy suckers, long 
enough to reach the live xingirdled bark above the 
bare girdled spot, as shoAvn in No. 5, Fig. 204, they 
.\prn 14, 191T. 
will do; but if there is none, find good thrifty ones 
Avith roots, dig them np and transiilant them close 
to the trunk of the girdled tree, as shoAvn at No. 1, 
being careful in taking up and transplanting such 
sprouts or seedling.s, to save every root; and in 
spreading them nicely when reset. The dirt must 
be firmly pressed about the roots, then ent the 
sprouts off tAvo inches longer than the girdled spot 
you Avish to span Avith them. Proceed to cut the 
end of the sprout as .shoAvn in No. 2 so as to fit 
nicely the incision. No. then with the left hand 
take hold half Ava.y doAvn the sprout, and Avith the 
right hand, hold the end you have tapered close to 
the trunk, pull out Avith your left hand until you 
make the si)rout boAv out in the middle, then niark 
the place AA’here the end of the sprout touches the 
liA’e bark abOA’e the girdle. With a shaiqi knife or 
a sharp chisel, make an incision through the live 
bark of the tree and into the hard Avood Avhere you 
marked deep enough to bring the line hetAveen the 
wood and bark of the .sprout in exact line Avith 
those of the girdled tree, so as to connect the fioAV 
of sap, as this is the main thing to insure success. 
The bark and hard Avood is remoA’ed from such in¬ 
cision, as shoAvn at No. Noaa’, if you have made 
the incision in the tree of the right depth, Avidth 
and length, the .sprout or scion when bent and the 
end placed in the incision will be found to match 
exactly, and the connection on the end and the two 
sides in line AA’ith the fioA\’ of sap of the tree giving 
three chances for success. The spring deriA’ed from 
the bending of the sprout keeps the sprout in close 
contact Avith the upper and side AA’alls of the in¬ 
cision, No. .“I. Then driA’e a light staple astride the 
sprout or scion and into the tree, as shoAA'n at No. 
4, being careful only to driA’e it close enough to 
keep the scion in its place, and to keep it from be¬ 
ing knocked out of jdace; then cover it AA’ell with 
grafting Avax to .shut out the air and keep it from 
drying out. The staple must be Avatched, for after 
the scion and tree have knit together the scion Avill 
enlarge Avith astonishing rapidity, and if the staple 
is not draAvn it Avill strangle the circulation in 
scion. When the scion has sufficiently united Avith 
the tree to Avarrant, Avithdr-aAv the stai)le and then 
.see that the connection is Avell waxed again. You 
should i)ut from four to six of the.se scions or 
.spi’outs around the tree, according to its size and 
extent of the girdling done. From fiA’e sprouts thus 
set and grafted in around the tree, you should get 
three to live, and that is enough to save the tree 
and make it as good as ever. 
A SECOND METHOD.- The other method, a 
sprout shoAvu at No. 5, has the advantage over the 
first (No. 1) in having the main roots of the tree 
to draAv nourishment from, and thereby aiding the 
connecting scion to groAv very mnch faster, Avhich 
is desirable. The other method (No. C) is to cut 
from a thrifty tree branch sprouts, the largest you 
can find, then cut them into lengths three or four 
inches longer that Avill span the girdled portion of 
the ti'ee; .shape both ends of these sprouts, uoav 
scion.s, as shoAvn by No. 2 ; make an incision in the 
live bark beloAv the girdle, as shown at No. 3, only 
reversed and one like *:o. 3, above the girdle; bend 
thq scion. No. 6, and put in place; drive .staples and 
Avax as in former method, putting in from four to 
six scions, according to .size of tree, and girdle. 
Remember success depends upon making perfect 
connections so as to facilitate the direct fioAV of 
•sap beloAV .the girdle through the scion into the 
main trunk; that flOAV of sap is betAveen the bark 
and hard AA’ood. 
RESULTS OP THE WORK. —^l''he AA’iiter can 
shOAV trees, completely girdled for 15 inches in 
width and entirely around the tnink, treated 20 
yeaiAS ago by both method.s. The largest scions set 
were not over half an inch in diameter that are 
now much larger than the pai’ent tree before it Avas 
girdled, and three of them alive on a tree of five 
scions .set, Avhich furnish 47 inches of surfoce bark, 
Avhich is more surface bark than the main tree has, 
and it is as good a bearer as any tree hi the or¬ 
chard. The girdled portion of the tree should be 
kept Avell painted to keep out insects and to keep it 
from rotting. The best time to do this grafting is 
AA’hen the buds of the trees first begin to shoAV’ they 
are .SAvelling. 
PREVENTION OF GIRDLING. —To prev’cnt A'er- 
miu from girdling fruit trees, Avrap the trunk tAvice 
around and 16 inches high, Avith good heft of tar 
paper, late in the Fall. Be sure the paper is crowd¬ 
ed belOAv the surface of the ground about the foot of 
the tree. Fasten in place by a very small Avire, so 
that you can tAvis't the ends together Avith your 
fingers. Remove the papers in the Spring, lay them 
carefully aAvay, for use the next Pall. If papers 
are properly cared for they will last many years. 
GEO. W. WAEr.ACE. 
