850 
TShe RURAL NEW-YORKER 
tlie creneral correctness of the conclusions reached. 
Ohio Kxp. .Station. chas. e. thorne. 
But Little Gain on Rich Soil 
The investigation reported l).v Prof. Swanson in 
showing that the growing of Alfalfa does not lua- 
tcrinlly increa.se the amount of nitrogen in the soil, 
serves only to confirm the information which we 
have had for many years upon this subject. Thus, 
on ])age 217 of my book on “.“^oil Fertility and Per¬ 
manent Agriculture.’’ you will find the following: 
From tlip experimental data here jiresented or re¬ 
ferred to. and from many other calculations ajiproxi- 
niating exactness, the conclusion may be drawn that on 
normally productive soils at least one-third of the nitro¬ 
gen contained in legume jilants is taken from Ihe soil, 
not more than two-thirds being secured from the air. 
This proportion would apply to the nitrogen content of 
the roots as well as to the tops; so that, if one-third of 
the nitrogen of the entire plant is in the roots and 
stubble and two-thirds in the crop harvested, the soil 
would neither gain nor lose in nitrogen because of the 
legume crop having been grown, the soil having fur¬ 
nished as much nitrogen to the plant as remains in the 
roots and stubble. 
This statement wa.s jiublished more than eight 
yeai's ago, but it i.s followed by the following: 
“When grown on idcher soils, such legume crops 
leave the soil jjoorer in nitrogen : but on poorer soils, 
furnishing less than the normal amount of available 
niti'ogen, the growing of such legumes would enrich the 
soil in proportion to its poverty.” 
Of course, when grown on soils devoid of niti'ogen. 
then all of the nitrogen contained in the roots and 
stubble of the legume idants must have been secured 
from the air, but. under normal conditions with soils 
of moderate productive ]) 0 wer. in order to increase 
the sujiply of nitrogen by the growing of legumes, 
the legume cro]i itself must be I'etin-ned to the soil 
either directly or in the form of manure. We have 
pointed out and emphasized this fact in the pub¬ 
lications of the Illinoi.s Experiment .‘Station for m.nny 
.vears. cvril g. iiopkixs. 
Illinois Ex]). .Station. 
'riie main conclusion from our work here in Kan¬ 
sas is that when this ])ractice jirevails all that the 
legumes do is to jirevent further depletion of nitro¬ 
gen. These Alfalfa fields on which we did our work 
had not been long under cultivation when the .\1- 
falfa was sown. I am willing to concede that it is 
very pi-obable that if legumes are grown on old. 
worn-out soils (hey may increase the stock of 
nitrogen even if all the hay is taken off. However, 
on this 1 have no exi)erimental data. The data in 
the ))aper which 1 send you is only i)art of the work 
we have done. ATe hope to compile the rest of it 
some time this year and publish the complete 
rejiort. c. o. .swax.son. 
Kansas Exp. Station. 
Not a Problem in Colorado 
AATth us here ij) Coloi’ado the nitrogen problem 
is not a serious one at all. because we can accu¬ 
mulate under fallow more nitrogen than would be 
used by the succeeding crop. In our climate and 
on our soil the azotobacter are very active in the 
accumulation of nitrogen, so active that we cannot 
tell under our conditions whether legumes are re¬ 
sponsible for nitrogen increase or azotobacter. be¬ 
cause we can get the equivalent of 5fK) to 700 ])ounds 
of sodium nitrate accumulated through the agency 
of azotobacter. AA'e have actually had the accumula¬ 
tion of nitrogen and its conversion into nitrates ac- 
coi-ding to the above figures. Our observation here 
is that where Alfalfa is grown on the land and all 
of the croj) removed, the nitrogen is only slightly 
increased. But where a partial crop is plowed un¬ 
der, appreciable amounts of nitrogen are added to 
the soil, which taken in conjunction with the amount 
taken with azotobacter. enables us to keep up and 
bften increases the nitrogen content in the rotation 
system. alvix kezer. 
Tolorado Exj). .‘Station, 
Gardening Situation Around Boston 
Facts About an Important Industry 
Bart IT. 
CHANGES IN CROPS.—Of course most of the 
market growers are meeting the .situation to some 
extent by growing the coarser crops. A very large 
planting of .squashes is being made this season. It 
is hoped that enough squa.shes will be offered locally 
to shut out the Western product. In that case prob¬ 
ably a fair price can be ol)tained. A considerable 
acreage is also being i)lauted to potatoes by the 
market gardeners along the South Shore. Tomatoes 
and beans are being planted extensively, and prob¬ 
ably as many cauliflowers will be grown as n.sual, in 
s]'ite of the fact that last .sea.son’s crop was almost a 
t(ital failui’e in some sections. Comparatively few 
early cauliflowers are being grown. Much difficulty 
is experienced in producing them even on land 
where late cauliflowers can be raised satisfactorily. 
what the uka.-<e of (he Govei-nment in regal'd to the 
fuel .suppl.v will do (o (he greenhouse men next year. 
These men have been allowed oidy .70 ])er cent of 
their xi.sual coal allodnenl. Some of them have (he 
coal in, and others ai'e finding difficulty in getting 
even the 50 per cent allowed them. A committee 
was .<ent to Wa.shington in an attempt to have the 
ruling of the Fuel Administrator modified, but with¬ 
out much re.sult. Mr. Hoover and his associates ex¬ 
pressed themselves as surprised to learn that so 
large an amount of food was grown under glass 
around Boston. They sui)posed that the green¬ 
houses were used mostly for starting early crops to 
be .set outside later. Still, they were not di.sjm.sed 
to m;ike any change in their plans, expre.s.sing the 
opinion that most of the crops grown under glass 
must be considered as luxuries. The actual result 
of all this will be. of course, that vegetables next 
Wintei' will be scarce and high. Unless there is a 
great change in the railroad situation, shipments 
from the South will not come through very regularly 
nor very .si)eedily. and the local output will be cut 
in half. 
MEETING THE I)IFFIUULTIES.—Various ar¬ 
rangements are being made to meet the situation to 
the b(‘st advanlage. Some of the big men like Frank 
AVbeeler. of Lincoln, who sjiecializes in cucumbers 
and forced rhubarb, plans to close down two of his 
houses entirely. He can draw the water from them 
and save damage from freezing. Other growers will 
follow (he same course, I'unning half their houses 
the Winter through, perhaps at a lower temjjera- 
ture than‘usual. Greenhouse men .ilways hate to 
close down a house, though, because there is always 
a heavy loss from the breakage of glass and the gen¬ 
eral deterioration of an nnustul jilant. Moreover, it 
sometimes happens that wjiter remains in pockets in 
the pijxes and fi'eezes, causing the |»i])e to bui'st. 
Although market gardeners expex-ted that there 
would be but little call for rhubarb this year on ac¬ 
count of the sugar .scarcity, the demand has been 
strong and the price has been good. 
USING TRAX'TORS.—In their eagerne.ss to make 
up for the .shortage in labor many market growers 
have been buying tractors of one kind or another. 
On the larger farms they have proved valuable for 
breaking up the ground in the Spring. The value of 
the tractor comes mostly in the Spring. After the 
ground is planted, hand work must be depended 
upon. Several growers have purchased the small 
tractor which runs with its own power but is guided 
l)y a man who walks. This tractor works well on 
smooth, well-cultivated land, but has not been satis- 
factoi-y on hillside farms or where there are many 
stones. Without question, the ideal tractor for mar¬ 
ket gardeners has not yet been invented. The mar¬ 
ket growers themselves are hoping and praying that 
it may come along soon. They are willing to try 
almost anything that is offered, for it is only a lack 
of help which prevents their growing as large crops 
as ever, in spite of other adverse conditions. 
FUEL TROT'BLE.^^.—Certainly prices the last 
year have not been commensnrate with increased 
costs all along tin* liiie. It is true that lettuce has 
sold well of late. Init for sevei'al weeks the price has 
been discouragingly low. Hotbouse tomatoes have 
been d(*mamling a goiid i)ric(‘. but nobody can say 
JIarvesiiny with the Grain Cradle. Fig. //IS 
July (!, 1!)1S 
A SERIOUS OT’TLOOK.—Wilfrid Wheeler. S(a(e 
Secretary of .Vgriculture, grows tomatoes in his 
Concord greenhouse. He .says that he plans to burn 
wood iqi to Christmas. 'Fhen he will shut down his 
houses during the middle of Winter, and start them 
in the Spring for a late Spring crop. The question 
of labor is a more difficult one for the greenhouse 
man than for the grower whose work is confined to 
the open. Only experienced help can be msed in 
greenhouse work. e. i. farringtox. 
The Grain Cradle Comes Back 
A T.L sorts of economies in grain saving are sug¬ 
gested this year.- The thrashers plan to save 
waste, and flocks of poultry are to be turned on 
many grain fields to pick up the scattered grain. 
On many of the big AVestern wheatfields consider¬ 
able grain is wasted on tbe first outside I'ound of 
the binder. The big bull wheel beats down much 
grain, and this is seldom pushed up and cut. Prof. 
E. C. .Tohn.'^on of the Kansas Agricultural College 
tells how farmers from Sweden and other Eurojxean 
cotintries save this wa.ste: 
In communities settled by these foreigners it is not 
unu.sual to see .an old man with a fork or rake following 
the binder as it cuts the first swath around the field 
straightening the wheat that has been laid down by the 
bull wheel, so that no grain will be passed over in 
cutting the back swath. It is eas.v for a man or boy 
to make good wages in this way. Others prevent this 
waste entirely by cutting the first swath with a scythe 
and cleaning a path for the teams and the binders in 
their first swing around the field. 
It i.s now very hard to find good ci'adlers even in 
tbe Eastern section, where, a few years ago, a biige 
part of the rye and wheat were cut in this way. A 
few old men ai'e still to be found—exixert at this 
work—but most of the younger men would hardly 
know what to do with a grain cradle. 
The ijicture at Fig. 4IS shows a group of such men 
cutting a Pennsylvania grainfield. It is surprising 
how accurately these old-time cradlei's will cut and 
place the grain, and how much land they will cover 
in a day. The war has called many of these hardy 
old-timei's to the front, whej'e they do great work. 
.\ wi'iter in the New A’ork .^un tells of a groiqx of 
elderly men in Pennsylvania who ai'e doing their full 
farm duty. In that section, as in mo.<t other.s. the 
younger men have been called to the army or have 
gone into other lines of work where the wages are 
higher. 'Plius there have been left on the farms a 
good many of the older men. and the way they are 
]'es])onding is an inspiration. No anti-loafing law is 
needed to bring them out! 
' « J \ O 
maple sirup, tended a large garden, cut and stored 20 
tons of bay and iiicked and stored 1(»0 bushels of AVin- 
ter apples : and he was 87 years of age last November. 
^\A alter Butler of Newell Creek. McKean County, was 
8(5 years of age. He milked four cows, raised half a 
ton of pork, cut hay and oats from 40 acres of land, 
gathered his ajiides and harvested 100 bu.shels of po¬ 
tatoes while his sons were drilling oil wells in Okla- 
hitme. and his grand.sons trained for war or made ex¬ 
plosives at the factories of Emporium. Cameron Countv, 
Pa. 
Russell Reed, age 85. of Rouh'tte, Potter County, 
ran a farm, as also did his neighbors, Otis .1. I*. Ly¬ 
man. .82 : Lyman Burt. .80. and a dozen other men of 7(5 
to 70 years of age here and near by. Other townships 
did as well. Old men were everywhere in evidence along 
the country roads with sleeves rolled iqj and moving 
with alacrity. 
There were few young men on the farms, but the 
bountiful harvest was gatlnu'cd. This year the same 
men are at their work with vim and the courage of last 
year and their bai'vest will be greater. 
Hay Loading 
Fig. 419 shows a AA>.sterii clover field where haying 
is <lone on a large scale. In these war times all 
po.ssible hand woi'k must be cut out, and the wood 
and .steel of machinery used to sub.stitute for flesh 
and bone. The hay-loader to put the hay on the 
wagon and the hay-fork to lift it off at the barn will 
help settle the Kaiser's case this year. In some of 
^he big AA'estern fields thei'e will be found a comijlete 
battei'y of these tools, tos.sing the hay from field to 
barn like a set of gigantic intchforks. In some cases 
the tractoi' comes into u.se. It can cut the hay, haul 
two or more hay-loaders side by side, walk off to 
the barn with both loads, and then work the hay¬ 
fork to unload. 
Shipping Tomatoes 
The picture at Fig. 420 shows an ordinary, every¬ 
day scene at Bridgeton, N. .1., during the shipping 
season. The docks and stations are piled high with 
tomatoes—the entire land,scai»e being painted red. 
The stranger will wonder where they all come fi'oni 
and who can ever eat them all. yet day after day 
the ba.skets pour in from the farms and the big cities 
call for more. A great bu.siness has developed in a 
food jiroduct which only a few years ago was con- 
sidei'cd a "jxjison” by many ! 
