Vh> RURAL NEW-YORKER 
175 
Sterilization of Greenhouse Soil 
My brother used to steam his green¬ 
house beds for lettuce rot, and found it 
successful as far as results were con¬ 
cerned, but it had to be steamed fresh 
every time a crop of lettuce was removed, 
therefore much work. Now he finds him¬ 
self minus his farm hand and wants to 
know if there is a better way to treat 
soil for lettuce rot. I think I heard of 
some sort of formaldehyde treatment. 
Can you explain? M. G. 
Mohnton, Pa. 
Steam sterilization of greenhouse soil 
is recognized as the most efficient and 
economical method to use for the preven¬ 
tion of “damping off” and “lettuce drop.” 
provided there is considerable soil to be 
sterilized and an abundant supply of 
steam. When the work is carefully done 
it should not be necessary to sterilize 
before every crop of lettuce is to be 
planted. Soil sterilization with formal¬ 
dehyde is practical in small greenhouses 
or plant beds, provided the solution can 
be purchased at a reasonable price. Local 
druggists are charging 00 cents per pound, 
while I bought two 100-pound drums of 
it recently at 17 cents per pound. The 
solution was made up of three pints of 
formaldehyde to every 50 gallons of 
water. It was sprinkled onto the spaded 
soil at the rate of one gallon to every 
square foot of soil surface. As soon as 
"My estimate is that for a single 
year if all of the farmers in the United 
States had used the Oliver chilled 
plows instead of the regular steel or 
iron plows, the saving in labor would 
have totalled the sum of forty-five 
million dollars.” 
—From Report in Congressional 
Record by Senate Statistician, 
45th Congress (1877-1879). 
The answer to the statement recorded by the 
Senate Statistican of the 45 th Congress that a 
saving in labor of forty-five million dollars would 
result to American farmers through the use of 
Oliver plows is found today in the universal de¬ 
mand for Oliver products. 
Even as early as the 45th Congress (1877-1879) 
Oliver quality had been proven in actual practice 
and Oliver leadership in providing plows that 
assured better seed beds already established. 
The agricultural history of the years that have 
followed has borne out the correctness of this 
statement. 
it had been applied, the ground was cov¬ 
ered with mate and blankets for 24 hours, 
when the covering was removed. 
The fumes of the formaldehyde must 
be out of the soil before the seed can be 
planted, otherwise the germination will 
be destroyed. It usually requires 10 days 
or two weeks for the gas to escape. The 
process will be quickened if the soil is 
loosened up to a depth of about six inches. 
I)o not turn the ground over, because in 
so doing some of the soil below which did 
not get disinfected might be brought to 
the surface and later the growing crop 
would be infected. Another helpful thing 
a grower can do is to remove carefully 
and promptly any diseased plants, to¬ 
gether with the “crust” of the soil where 
they grew, so that some of the infection 
will be prevented. R. w. d. 
Seeding Sweet Clover Early 
I have made two unsuccessful attempts 
trying to get a stand of Sweet clover, with 
the exception of a very small spot, which 
I cannot account for. This did so well I 
am anxious to try again. The first trial 
was with a nurse crop of oats in the 
Spring: other time sowed clover seed on 
frozen ground in late Winter. I have a 
plot that received manure and about a 
ton of ground limestone per acre last 
Spring, which was in a soiling crop the 
past season, and sowed to rye this Fall. 
Would you advise turning this rye under, 
and would that lime still be effective with¬ 
out more? Or would it be better to start 
anew? If sunlight, is injurious to the 
inoculation bacteria, how do they manage 
when the seed is sown on the frozen 
ground, as some advocate? From experi¬ 
ence. at what season has the seeding 
proved most successful on sandy loam 
soil with or without a nurse crop? 
Bristol. Conn. c. <T. A. 
After many years’ experience in grow¬ 
ing Sweet clover, the only proper way. in 
my opinion, is to sow the unhulled and 
sow it now, just as soon as you can get 
the seed, at the rate of 20 lhs. per acre 
on top of the ground, or on top of the 
snow, where there is snow. The freezing 
and thawing of late Winter and early 
Spring will rot off the hull, and it will 
germinate as soon as the first mild days 
come in the Spring, and keep ahead of the 
weeds and drought, while if sown in the 
Spring in many seasons the severe dry 
weather, such as we had last season, 
might kill the young plants before they 
had growth enough to withstand it. I 
would not turn under the rye. but sow 
the unhulled at once on it. and you ought 
Oliver predominance has kept pace with the remark¬ 
able progress of American agriculture in the past half- 
century—with its doubling of farm area, its tripling of pro¬ 
duction, its tremendous reduction of costand human labor. 
Today, as we stand just on the threshold of modern 
power farming, Oliver leadership and progressiveness are 
signallized as emphatically as in the early days. A large 
majority of tractor manufacturers have openly declared 
their preference for Oliver plows and tractor implements 
to be used in connection with their tractors. 
^ ouven ftAvr 
‘Oliver Plowed Pields 
Bring Greatest Yields” 
This preference is based on sheer merit. It has been 
earned by Oliver’s thorough knowledge of soil conditions, 
plow design, plow hitches, tractor construction and 
operation. It has been held and cemented by Oliver’s 
country-wide service organization. 
In the “Statement of Yesterday—proved by the experi¬ 
ence of a generation—holding promise of greater achieve¬ 
ments in this new era of American agriculture—you will 
find ample justification for Oliver’s slogan: “Plow Makers 
for the World.” 
Oliver Chilled Plow Works 
South Bend, Indiana 
JPhi 
. 
to gut ;i fine oven stand of Sweet clover, 
especially with the dressing of manure 
and lime, ae Sweet clover, and, in fact, all 
clovers, like lime. As for inoculation. I 
have never used it. and really have never 
seen any unusual results from its use by 
others. Sown now. 1 think a nurse crop 
would not be a disadvantage, but sown 
in the Spring the grain takes all the mois¬ 
ture. I think the rye field would be an 
ideal spot as described by C. J. A. for 
Sweet clover, and he would be almost cer¬ 
tain of a stand if sown now. 
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