RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
833 
Value of Nitrate of Soda 
T am using sheep manure for my po¬ 
tatoes and all my vegetables, as it has a 
certain amount of nitrogen and potash. I 
have on hand some pure nitrate of soda 
that I have used on grass land with great 
success. As it is supposed to increase the 
foliage, will it increase foliage and tops 
of beans, peas, corn or any vegetable 
growing above ground? If so, will it in¬ 
crease the crop of beans, peas, etc.? Will 
it help potatoes? F. A. c. 
West Campton, N. H. 
Nitrate of soda, added to sheep manure, 
is not the best combination for potatoes, 
peas and corn. Both the nitrate and the 
sheep manure are valuable chiefly for the 
nitrogen which they contain. There is a 
small amount of potash in the sheep ma¬ 
nure. and a little phosphoric acid. The 
latter is the element mostly needed. The 
addition of the nitrate will make a quick, 
heavy growth of the vines or stalks, but 
it will not he of great use in developing 
seed or tuber. The effect on the potatoes 
will be to get a very heavy top, which 
will keep growing late in the season un¬ 
less injured by frost. The chances are 
for a small crop of tubei’S, while with 
beans and corn the nitrate in your North¬ 
ern latitude will he likely to force a 
growth of stalk and vine so that the crop 
will not mature before frost. A quantity 
of acid phosphate added to the sheep ma¬ 
nure will be more economical and effec¬ 
tive for any of the crops you mention. 
Poor Crop of Clover Seed 
We cut our first crop of Medium Red 
clover early and get a good second growth, 
which sometimes makes seed and at others 
fails to fill properly. Is thei’e any way 
to tell when it is going to be a failure for 
seed before it is too late to make good 
hay? II. W. N. 
Brockport, N. Y. 
There are generally two reasons why 
the clover does not fill and produce seed. 
First, extremely dry weather at the crit¬ 
ical stage, and again, the grub or worm 
that eats off the tap-root, or this may be 
a sort of root rot similar to that which 
affects beans. T'ears ago we always se¬ 
cured a crop of seed from the second cut¬ 
ting, and the earlier the first crop was 
taken off the better for the seed crop. 
For many years past a good seed crop 
has been the exception. Two years ago 
we had seven acres of clear and clean 
Red clover on Orchard Ridge Farm. I 
iK'ver have seen a prettier sight than 
that second crop when it was all in full 
bloom. When the earlier heads began to 
turn brown I examined it closely and 
found very little promise of a paying 
crop, but was persuaded that the later 
heads would fill all right, so it was left 
and cut for seed. The yield was very 
light. The crop would bett(>r have been 
cut for hay. AVhen the blossoms are 
about half turned brown if seed is not in 
evidence, better cut the crop for hay. 
ir. E. c. 
Sewage Disposal 
I am planning to build a sewage dis¬ 
posal plant, and would like to run the 
liquid from the septic tank into a small 
brook. Is there any objection to this 
plan? C. M.w. 
Winterton, N. Y. 
The liquid from a septic tank should 
not be discharged into any brook the 
waters of which might later contaminate 
a human water supply. Disease germs 
from human sources are not killed by 
passage through a septic tank but by 
exposure to light and air, in the surface 
layer of the soil, or elsewhere, after 
emerging. Discharge into a private brook 
might be permissible, but the advice of 
yoTir local health authorities should be 
sought and their consent secured before 
such discharge is practised. M. B. D. 
Conditions in Pennsylvania 
I have grade Holstein cows with thii-d 
calf that I could get .$200 for; taey will 
give about 0,000 pounds of milk from one 
calving to the next. Dealers are getting 
from .$100 to .$140; very good-looking 
cows, .$10o: Steers were bringing ,$1(3 
per 100 lbs.; a few choice lots. ,$17 per 
loo lbs. Pigs eight Aveeks old brought 
from .$10 to .$1.*) apiece. The feed mar¬ 
ket does not look good; bran cannot be 
bought at this time; very hai-d to get 
along AA'ithout bran. We have been told 
to buy our feed for Summer and Fall feed¬ 
ing. as there will be a time this Summer 
wlien dealers will be unable to get some 
feeds at any iirice. I had a letter from 
a feed company saying that they will 
soon have to close doAvn, and will not be 
able to get our Winter feed until October 
or November. Not a promising outlook 
for a dairyman. 
We farmers have trouble along another 
line; a good many of us have Timothy 
hay to sell, baled and piled in the barn, 
and can get no cars to ship it in. Tliere 
seems to be a good market, but it does 
us no good. This is an important thing 
to the farmer that is being overlooked by 
somebody; in three weeks this hay Aviil 
be in the way of the new crop. 
The grain surely does look good as 
compared to the way it looked in the 
Spring, and many fields will make a good 
yield, Ave believe; the straw, of course, 
will be a light ci'op. There were some 
fields plowed under and some that should 
haA'e been, but they were not .so many. 
Tlie acreage in corn Avill be more than 
last year. Potatoes may be below last 
year, but not to any great extent. Corn 
and potatoes are looking very good, ex¬ 
cept Avhere some people did not make a 
careful test of their corn. Some had to 
plant their corn over the second time. 
Hay will be a good crop. There is very 
little help to get outside of regular help. 
We have used a tractor. This is the sec¬ 
ond year,_ this year; we are very much 
pleased with it. It does good work. We 
have three horses in Winter, four in Sum¬ 
mer, six and seven the year around. The 
daii’y business I think is the most alarm¬ 
ing thing in the whole farming busine.s.s; 
long hours and every day, high price of 
feed, and hard to get at times, labor 
scarce and wages high; cows high in 
price and hard to get, price of milk doAvn 
in May and June and more than 7.u per 
cent of dairymen feed same as in Winter; 
these things are driving dsiirymen out of 
the business; no one can blame them. 
Lancaster Co., Pa. j. z. L. 
Working Over Old English Pastures 
The English farmers are making a des¬ 
perate and successful effort to increase 
food crops, grain, potatoes, wheat and 
vegetables. The English Government is 
backing them to the limit, and giving 
every possible help to promote farm Avork. 
Many of the old lawns and p. 's liaA'e 
been plowed up and planted to grain and 
potatoes. Thus far the increase of plowed 
land has been largely in these rich old 
meadows as most likely to produce good 
crops. Now, however, efforts are being 
made to increase the value of the upland 
pastures. Much of this land, Ave take it, 
is like the pasture land on the hills in 
the upper Atlantic section. The English 
climate gives more moisture and the pas¬ 
tures are not so likely to di*y out in Sum¬ 
mer, but the soil and the grasses are ap¬ 
parently' much the same as those found 
on many of our Eastern hillsides. The 
great problem with these English pa.s- 
tures is to get rid of the weeds and in¬ 
troduce a class of grasses which will take 
a deeper root and give more feed. In 
many cases it has been found that a 
shallow ploAving of these pastures or a 
working with the dii5k will bring back a 
good growth of grass. The Aveeds are 
partly killed out by this Avorking, and if 
a light coating of lime is u.sed. White 
clover and some of the pasture grasses 
Avill come back. The chief fertilizer need 
of these old pasture lands seems to be 
available phosphorus, and acid phosphate, 
or fine bone used after scratching over the 
surface often turn a Aveedy hillside into a 
fair pasture. If reseeding is necessary. 
White and Alsike clover are used Avith 
grasses Avell, making a long root like the 
fescue and Tall oat grass. While, of 
course, the situation in England is dif¬ 
ferent from ours, it is true that here, as 
there, generally speaking, available ])hos- 
phorus and lime are most needed in 
bringing these pastures hack. The Avar 
is changing all farm conditions in Eng¬ 
land. Ten years ago if anyone had sug- 
ge.sted spending time and money in de¬ 
veloping these old pastures he would have 
been laughed at. but now war conditions 
have made it necessar.v to utilize every 
condition of soil, and the old sheej) runs 
and hillsides must be put at Avork. In 
this country help conditions are such that 
not much time can be spent on old pas¬ 
tures. In the future, hoAvever, mucli of 
this land must be improved. We think 
Sweet clover will, some day, double its 
value. 
It is said that in parts of Texas, Av'hen 
the early potato crops began to come on, 
farmers Avere unable to get help for dig¬ 
ging and shipping. The early potato crop 
in that country is much like fruit, in the 
fact that it must be rushed off to market 
as soon as it is ready; so an appeal was 
made to the business men in that section 
to come and help. It is said that many 
of tliese men closed their stores and offices 
and AA'ent out to helj) dig. They Avere 
probably soft-handed to begin with, and 
perhaps did not accomi)lish much at +he 
start, but at any rate they shoAved good 
spirit and helped get the crop off. Really 
it Avas to tliei- advantage to do so, for any 
town located in a farming section must de- 
pend on the farms around it for its very 
life, and anything the town peoi)le can do 
to make farming more i)rofitable in their 
section is an indirect benefit to them. If 
more town and city people would realize 
this the country would be much better off. 
DELCO-LIGHT 
Keeps the Young Folks on the Farm 
Delco-Light by supplying plenty of clean 
economical electric light and furnishing Elec¬ 
tric Power to pump water and operate small 
machines, makes the home a better and more 
enjoyable place to live. It gives the young 
folks the advantages and comforts that 
formerly attracted them to the city. 
Delco-Light is a complete electric light and power 
plant for farm sand sulnirhan homes. Easy to oper¬ 
ate, economical, very efficient. 
t 
The Domestic Engineering Co* 
Dayton, Ohio 
Domestic Electric Co., Inc. 
No. 52 Park Plaeo, New York City 
P. £2 lllman 
No. 71 South Avo., Roohaster, N. Y. 
J. S. Snyder 
No. 824 North Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa 
J-i 
SELF CONKING 
AIR COOLED 
THICK PLATE 
tONQ-UVEO 
BATTERY 
BALL BRINGS 
NO^LTS 
USES KEROSENE 
SAVE All Your GRAIN 
Don’t wait for the custom thresher. Do your 
threshing when the grain is right, and get the 
full return from your labor. 
The Ellis Champion Thresher and Cleaner 
equipped with self feeder and wind stacker 
makes the ideal small outfit. 
If you have only a very little thre.shlng to do, 
or small power, we can supply you with a 
m.achlno without self feeder or wind stacker 
and at a price that will make your purchase 
a real investment. 
Just Kive us tbo size of your enprine and the amounf of erain 
usually raised and we’ll submit a proiM»aitiuu on a machine 
that will bo just tbo one for your work. 
ELUS KEYSTONE AGRICULTURAL WORKS 
Pottstown - Pennsylvania 
Trial 
Works in any soil. Makes V-shaped i 
ditch or cleans ditches up to four feet j 
deep. Ail steel. Keversibie. Adjustable. | 
Write for free book and our proposition. 
Owensboro Ditcher & Grader Co., Inc, 
Box;}34 Owensboro, Ky. 
;nce 
150 Stylei ' I l. |ei<iv.R.n )f 
Write for Greatest money saving fence 
bargain book ever printed. Brown fence 
JB made of Heavy DOUBLE CJALVA- 
NIZED W1R1& Resiats rust longest. 
150 ^yles. Also Gates and Barb Wire. 
' Low Factory Prices, Freight Prepaldr Write foP 
wonderful tree fence book and sample to test. 
(The Brown Fence & Wire Co., DepL 59 .Cleveland, Ohio 
i^Proiits withSmallCrew 
$ 10.00 to $25.00 clear profit every 
day made with the Sandwicli. Saves $4 
to $16 each day in labor costs alone. It bales 2 
to 8 tons .more each day than average presses 
and no extra help. 
Sandwich r^^WER Hay Presses 
Find out about tboso wonderful labor-savfnff and ro* 
E alrieea foaturos. Chain tranBmission. Self-Foodcr and 
lock Dropper. Friction Clutch starts or etopa preaa in¬ 
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FlifJB, valuabU Pmjit Booh and CataUgne. Write 
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oil. CNGINK 
Send For 
Free Book 
Ask for Cat¬ 
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The Special 
&hapo tooth cut 
tho weedH cIoko 
to tho hill and 
do not c o V I) r 
the crop with 
earth. 40 years 
actual service. 
Rear wheel furnished If desired. 
CUPYOURWEEDS 
with a COLT 
Wood Beam 
Cultivator 
BATAVIA CLAMP COMPANY, 215 Center St.. Batavia 
.N.Y. 
; 
w « MM wm 
Kero-OU Engines 
Twica the Power et Half the Cost 
Sizes 2 to 80 H-P.—Select Yoor Own 
Terms—Direct-from-Factory prices. Imme¬ 
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catalog, **How to Judge Englnea** FREE—by 
return mall. Postpaid. 
WITTE ENGINE WORKS 
1890Oakland Ave., Kansas City, Mo. 
1890 Empire Bidr** Pittsburg, Pa* 
Own Order 
Save from $15 
toS200 
iVEALLYOUGROyi 
Hay Capa and Kant Come Off 
Cow Blankets our Specialty. 
40” X 42” 8 oz. Hay Caps $68 per 
.. 100. 4’X 4’8 oz. Hay Caps $78 per 
100. TieRopea $2 per lOOextra. Larger sizes if desired. 
Send 76c in stamps for sample. Write for illustrated 
catalog. 
Fond do Lac Awning & TentC*.,Dept.l0.7 Fond do Lae.WU. 
Potato Digger 
Gets the Potatoes and pays for itself 
in one season. Saves extra help 
Potatoes frozen in ground last Fall could have been saved by the 
Eureka. Works in ground and conditions where other diggers cannot. 
The Eureka elevator and duplex shaker provide more separation than other diggers. 
Largo Avneels and main gears supply ample poAver. Special construction avoids 
frequent breakage and lost time, (irowers report digging 150 or more acres without 
repairs. High clearance over sliovel prevents weeds • 
and vines bundling, lias vine-turner attachment. b / Write for 
Specially adapted for use with tractors and for catalog 
enP"ne attachment. . o 
O-ft. and 7-ft. sizes; several styles. 
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EIREKA MOWfR CO., Box 1016, UUca,N. Y. 
