Hhe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
549 
Manure, Nitrogen, Cover Crops 
Best Methods of Handling 
In oartins out horse manure and co\v manure through 
the Winter and Spring,, do you advise spreading or leav¬ 
ing in lioaps? If spread, how much nitrogen will be 
lost, if any? w. 8. 
('onnecticut. 
O fTR idea is that this depends on where the 
nijinure is put. On level sod land or on grain, 
there will he little if any loss when the manure i-s 
.spread day by day, and many farmers practice that 
plan. In tlie dairy districts we often see farmers 
hauling out the manure thjymgh the Winter and 
s])reading it light on the snow. On rough or. hill.y 
land, or Avhere a .sheet of water runs over the field, 
during the Sjuing, Ave think there will be some loss 
from the manure, and in that case 
Ave would haul it out and leave it in 
piles to be siiread in the Spring just 
\before plowing. The loss of nitrogen 
AA-ill, of course, depend upon the .situa¬ 
tion, and to some extent upon the 
Winter Aveathei', but <ui h'vel .sod land 
there Avill ])robably not be enou,gh lo.ss 
to offset the saving in labor. Tt is a 
great advantage in the N^ortli to hav(‘ 
the manure out of tJie barnyard Avhen 
Spring comes. The .season is often 
short, and every ounce of the ]io\ver 
of the teams would be emidoyed in 
plowing and fitting the land. This 
can be done to better adwintagi' if 
the manure has been hank'd out. 
Is nitrogen a liquid or a isolidV 
Tn its natural form nitrogen is .-i 
gas: no doubt the most active gas 
in nature. In the gas form it is con¬ 
stantly tiding to escape into the 
atmosphere, and this tendency gives 
the kick or jiower to explosives. 
Nitrogen cannot Im used economically 
as a fertiliser, except in the solid 
form, like nitrate of soda, sulphate of 
ammonia, dried blood, bone, manure 
or other forms. When nitrate of 
soda or .suljihate of ammonia are dis¬ 
solved in Avater, of cour.se, the nitro¬ 
gen i)as.ses into a liquid form which 
is a solution of the solid, but the nat¬ 
ural form of nitrogen Is a gas. 
Should clover in bearing apple or¬ 
chard be soAvn in early Spring or in 
niidsuinmer V AV. s. 
(Vainectiout. 
Ft depends on Avhat you Avant to do 
A\ith the orchard. If j'ou soaa' the 
<‘lover in early Spring, of course, you 
<‘annot exiiect to give thorough cul¬ 
ture to the orchard. Tf you Avant to 
use the clover as a cover crop aou 
Avould naturally seed in late Summer. 
The usual jdan is to plOAA- the or¬ 
chard in 'the Spring and giA-e full 
cultivation up to the middle of .July 
or a littk' later, then .st'iHl to a cover 
crop, such as clover alone or a com¬ 
bination of cloA'er Avith .some grain. 
Let this grow througli the Fall and 
Winter, and through the ('arly Spring, 
and then ploAV' it under to reiieat the 
s:ime o])erallon. 'I'he plan of this is finite easy to 
umk'r.stand. The orchard should make most of its 
groAvth in the Sjiring and early Summer, and it Avill 
need an abundance of moisture and ])lant food to 
do this. Should there be a heaA'.A' crop of cloA’er 
growing at that time, it avIII take both Avater and 
])lant food from the tn^es and if tlu' season is dr.v 
the trees will .suffer. If the coA’er crop is ])lowed 
under early and the surface of the ground is Avell 
stirred up, moisture Avill l»e held, in the soil and the 
cover crop Avill give uji its plant food to the trees. 
I’.y late .Inly the trees Avill usually havp made about 
ties of oats and Avill aid in choosing a strain ujion 
Avhich to build. In .general the black and white 
vai-ieties of oats are adapted to the North, the yel- 
loAV varieties doing better fartlier South. 
KATE OF SEEDINd.—Tlie oat jilant, when groAA'- 
ing, tillers or stools out to a certain e.vtent, the 
number of .stems from a single seed beiiyg largely 
controlled by the type of soil and the rate of seed¬ 
ing. In an experiment at the Nebraska Station it 
vAas found that with seed soAvn at the rate of four 
jiecks per acre the oats averaged 873 stems for each 
too plants, while the number of .stems for each 100 
plants Avas but 122 AA'hen the .seeding AA'as increased 
tc 14 and 10 pecks i>er acre. Thin .seeding aside 
from encouraging tillering gives better formed heads 
jiiid better .-lir drainage 1o tin* cr'>p. It al.so gives 
condition of the soil. 
120 da.y.s to mature, 
fluenced by tlie type 
etc. Unlike some of 
cut Ix'fore dead ripe. 
Potato (rnidcr ui Wo-rk. Fhf. 27. 
Whitcicashed Trees in South Jersey. Fiy. 275. (See paye 550) 
all the groAvth that is good for them. 
cloA’er is seeiled it will take mois¬ 
ture from the .ground, and this Avill 
stoj) mucli of (he trei' gmuth and 
compel the tree to pei-fect ils fruit, 
Avliii'h is what you want it to do 
through tlie latter jiart of the sea- 
.son. Then the coA’er croj) kwps on 
growin.g through the Fall and early 
IMnter. 
Then if the 
the young gra.ss and clover st'i'dlings a better opixir- 
tunit.A" than does the heavier .sowing. On a cold 
cla.A’ .soil liOAA'ever, oats do not stool out so much, 
(‘veil though soAvn thinly, and on this type of .soil a 
heavier .setxling is advisable. In general, for avera.ge 
soils, good results ma.v be expected Avhen the seed 
is soAvn at the rate of about four iiecks per acre. 
.SOW I NO SEA.SON.—^I'he time of soAviug in the 
Northern States Avill vary from about the middle of 
April to the middle of May, the lay of the land, 
the type of soil and the character of the Sjiring 
determining the exact date. There is practically no 
danger from frost, the limiting factor being the 
<'h.-iractcristics of ton coiniiion v.ariotios of oats. 
The crop requires from 05 to 
the length of time being in- 
of oat, .soil conditions, season, 
the cereals the oat should be 
It does not gain in iilumpne.s.s 
and Aveight to any extent after reaching the dough 
stage, and often gives the maximum returns if cut 
at this time, for if allowed to stand until fully ripe 
they shell to quite an extent. The straw, too, is more 
valuable for fi'eding if cut before It Imcomes too 
rijie. 
1TAR\ ESi 1 INt} fi’lIE CROP.—'Phe self-binih'i* i.s 
probably the best devk'e for ImrA'e.sting the crop, 
and should be adjusted to make .small bundles. TIuh 
will recpiire .soincAAimt more twiiu' per acri^ than 
would ho used Avere the bundles made larger, but the 
greater rapidity Avith wiiich they will 
di:.v Avill more than repay the extra 
cost, q’o si'ciire a .good liright seed 
('Very ('flfort should be made to get 
the bundles dr.A’ as quic'kly as ]>o.s,sible 
;ind this c,an Ix' hastenc'd b.A’ proper 
shocking. If tlu' shocks are made up 
of two roAA's of bundles, set Avith their 
fiat silk's to,g('th('r, thi' bottoms slight 
l,v spread and the tojis drawn uj) to 
a wedge like the roof of a house, a 
shock will be fornn'd that will dr.y 
rapidly and at the same time shed 
rain fairl.A' aax'II should a shoAvi'r 
come up before the grain is fit to go 
in the stack or barn. W^itb a heav.v 
oat crop a bundle carrier on tlie 
binder is of little advantage, the 
bundles being .set iq) mo.st ea.sily by 
going around the field In a direction 
opposite to that traveled by the 
rc'aper. q'he Aviafgi' .sliape of tlie 
slux'k can most easily bo obtained by 
pi(*king the bundles up b.y the band.s, 
wliicli .should be tOAvmrd the top, one 
in each hand, and sliding thmn doAvn 
OA’er tin? knee, AA’hich straightens u[i 
the straAA' and gives a siipixirt to the 
bundles until they can be settk'd into 
place. Careful .shocldng is good in¬ 
surance a.gainst colored oats. If the 
shocks are .so iilaced that the prevail¬ 
ing Avinds can bloAv through them 
lengthwise, dr.ving will be hastened. 
METHOD.^ OF TTlRAvSIIlNC..— 
Varion.s metliods of thra.shing an' 
pr.'icticed. q’he crop is drawn from 
the field and thrashed as it is drawn 
in, it is stack(‘d and thrashed from 
the stack, or it is drawn to the barn 
and thra.slied there. In this section 
at least one of tlie tAvo method.s last 
mentioned, though costing more, is 
jir(,'f('r,able, as the catching Aveather of 
the Fall .season (kxis not iiermit of 
the grain dr.ving .snliick'iitl.v in the 
shock to thrash Avith safety; it is 
lik(*I.A' either to be colored by long 
standin.g or to Imcoiiie musty after 
thrashing. 
RETURNS FROM q’HE CROP.— 
Oats can iisuall.A' be (k'pendeil upon 
to ]ia.A’ a jirolit as the i’olloA\ ing ligun's 
obtained trom a ti(*hl of oats .groAvn 
oats .lixc.i 
Si-vtcen acri'S 
Yield 5.‘'.0 busliets at 50 cents per bushel.!. 
Yield 15 tons .struAV at per ton. 
Plowing. .$32.00 
.$205.0(1 
120.00 
1 larroAving. 
Sowing. 
Reaping... 
Drawing, thrashing and setting up 
'J’hreshing. 
7.750 pounds fertilizer. 
30 bushels seed at 75 cents. 
Twine. 
Proft. . . . 
at the Ncav 
1000, shoAA". 
is.st; 
11.22 
11.05 
45.45 
14..30 
70.20 
22.50 
4.25 
$235.,S3 
live year average 
Nanie 
d y. 
Oats, the Crop tor the North 
Pai'.t hi. 
T he table at bottom 
from Bulletin 257, 
periment Station, shows 
characteristics of ten common vuric- 
of iiagc 
Ohio Ex- 
tbe chief 
niuek Miigiil., I'.liu-k. . 
IlvilliiifC.AA'hite.. 
.Toani-tre.Illark. 
Lincoln.AA'Iilte.. 
Seizure.A’cllow. 
Slxt.v DH.V... .Yellow. 
Swedish Select.AA'hite. 
Watson.AA’liite.. 
AA'eleonie.Wliit >. . 
Waleawake.. .AViii.c. 
n, • — 
.->!•. i 
r.3.3 
23.5 
00 
112 
45.5 
4225 
03 
0.A2 
2.'!.'.i 
7C..1 
28.0 
82 
107 
00.2 
3270 
54 
IMii 
2-4.1) 
711.0 
•X) ♦> 
SI 
111 
CO.S 
3030 
54 
m:i2 
27.S 
72 2 
‘Isa 
SI 
00 
(iS.3 
3471 
51 
1270 
.30*1 
CO. 7 
01 
111) 
00.1 
;{ooo 
01 
13Sd 
2 r..s 
74.2 
57!!> 
SO 
00 
08.5 
2448 
30 
o.,.. 
' ■•-! II 
‘iS.7 
82 
101 
00.0 
3234 
54 
Idle 
3ij..J 
114.;) 
i .o 
cS 
100 
01.0 
3010 
50 
1.A23 
28.t 
71.0 
‘J7.0 
7.3 
104 
03.2 
8803 
00 
12,IS 
2li.3 
73.5 
liIho 
73 
100 
50.4 
3022 
00 
1-10.17 
Y'ork Stat(* Scliool of .-Vgriculture in 
The .soil Avas .sand, and as can fie set'll 
hy the amount of grain and straAv 
fiitained, the yield Avas ligiit, .vet after 
all costs of producing tlie croji were 
dednct('d a lud jirotit of $0.32 per 
acre was realizt'd. Tt is a cereal so 
Avcil adaidi'd to varying soil condi¬ 
tions, one requiring .so littli' care. 
Ix'iiig adapted to extensive rather 
tliau intensive culture, one furnisliing 
.so cheap and valiiahle food for both 
mail and animals ami oiu' that tlu; 
average farmer is so Avell accustomed 
to growing that efficiency demands its 
culture rather than experimenting 
Avith other less familiar crops. 
New York. itoHEirr ii. sjrnir. 
