The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
1265 
Soil and Fertility Problems 
Improving Poor Soil 
[ have a one-acre plot of sandy loam, 
southeast exposure, entirely without trees, 
etc., that is apparently so devoid of plant 
food that not even snap beans will grow 
On it. 1 did not get possession of the 
land until last May, at which time I had 
it plowed and sown to all kinds of vege¬ 
tables without using fertilizers of any 
kind, and 1 have my trouble for m\ pains. 
Will you advise me what to do to get 
rhis land into first-class shape for grow¬ 
ing vegetables for home use next year? 
Is it too late to sow a corn crop? If 
that is advisable, what is best? Is liming 
necessary, and how much? Is the use 
of tankage advisable and in what quan¬ 
tities? It is easily obtained here, .t, B. 
Forest Ilills, N. Y. 
Such a piece of land cannot be expected 
to produce well until it is sweetened and 
filled with organic matter. No matter 
how much fertilizer you use on such soil 
it in August, turning all weeds and. vines 
under. Then spread on half a ton of 
burnt lime or a full ton of ground lime-; 
stone to the acre, and harrow well in. 
Then seed to rye and Alsike clover, or rye 
and vetch, as preferred, using lVo tons of 1 
acid phosphate on the 10 acres. Then let 
the field alone until Spring. Flow the 
rye and clover under, pack well and sow 
whatever you like, using a fair amount of | 
some good mixed fertilizer. By keeping 
up the cover cropping and liming every 
four years this soil ought to improve 
steadily. 2. As for the orchard, we should | 
call in the Farm Bureau agent at the 
county seat, or apply to the Ohio Experi¬ 
ment Station at Wooster and get advice 
and bulletins. 
Clover with Rye 
it will not respond until well "shaken up.*’ 
Our plan would be to have that field 
plowed at once. Then scatter on one ton 
of burned lime and have it well worked 
in. Then sow five pecks of rye and five 
pounds of Alsike clover seed and at least 
800 lbs. of a good fertilizer mixture. It 
may be that this land is wet and soggy. 
In that case, it will need drainage, but 
not knowing about that we advise the 
liming, seeding and fertilizing. Next 
Spring, when the rye is about two feet 
high, have it all plowed under aud well 
packed. Then harrow well and plant any 
seeds you desire. You will have to use 
more fertilizer or manure if you expect a 
crop. This plan followed each year with 
fair fertilizing will bring the soil back 
into good condition. The tankage will 
supply nitrogen and a small amount of 
phosphoric acid. Do not depend on it 
alone for fertilizer, but use 300 lbs. acid 
phosphate to 100 lbs. tankage. 
Rye as a Green Manure 
I have a piece of ground that is in an 
apple orchard. I broke two rows three 
years ago. put in Soy beans and that Fall 
sowed them to rye; turned that under and 
sowed to Soy beans again, and it was 
inoculated. Then I plowed up another 
row just below the others, and sowed it 
to Soy beans without any inoculation. 
The ground was all nearly alike ; if any¬ 
thing the first was the best, but the beans 
were more than twice as big on the piece 
that was not inoculated. Last Fall I 
sowed all of it to rye again .and the rye 
was the same way. It was all drilled in 
the same day. I was looking for if to be 
the other way. Was it caused by the rye 
that I turned under or not? The rye was 
not very thick, and not more than waist 
high when turned under. I have asked 
several what they thought about it. and 
they are just like me; they thought the 
first would have been the best. Only one 
man thought different; he said after turn¬ 
ing under rye he could not grow as good 
crops as before on his laud. s. w. 7.. 
West Virginia. 
We have given our experience with rye 
several times. We have never known 
the rye to injure soil or crops when it was 
packed firmly after plowing, or when lime 
was used. We have had trouble from 
plowing rye when the furrows were left 
loose aud open after turning the rye un¬ 
der. especially in moist, warm weather. 
When left exposed to the air in this way 
the rye often ferments rapidly and sours 
the land. Ip addition to this the dry air 
will work in and take about all the mois¬ 
ture out of the upper soil, while the 
coarse dry mass of rye straw prevents the 
rise of more water from below. These 
are the conditions which cause rye to sour 
the soil or injure the following crops. 
When the rye is packed firmly after plow¬ 
ing. or lime is used, there will be little or 
no trouble. 
Old Land and Old Orchard 
1. I have bought 10 acres of land 
which has been idle for a number of 
years and is in bad shape, grown up with 
weeds aud vines. It is sandy loam. IIow 
best prepare that soil to grow Golden 
Bantam sweet corn next year, some to¬ 
matoes and potatoes? 2. There is an old 
orchard on this place which L full of 
dead limbs and suckers. Can you out 
them out at ^his time of year without fur¬ 
ther hurting the trees? Can I fertilize 
the ground under the trees, and what kind 
to use? E. c. w. 
Warren. O. 
I am about to seed rye on laud able 
to produce about 70 bu. of ear corn to 
the acre. As Crimson clover does well 
here. I have decided to seed with the i 
rye 6 lbs. Crimson. 3 lbs. Alsike. 3 lbs.| 
Red clover. This is Rosen rye. to be 
cut for grain. I feel that the clover 
would take well and according to Prof, i 
Massey's teachings should increase the 
crop of rye. I would put on a light, 
dusting of Timothy in the Spring and 
top-dress with soda and -lag. or some I 
other alkaline phosphate. This laud has 
a dressing of one-half ton pulverized raw! 
,n-o er shells, and the rye i> to be seeded 
with 200 lbs. Barium phosphate. 1<X> 
lbs. nitrate soda, per acre. V. R. 
Elkton. Md. 
From our experience we would leave 
the Crimson clover seed out of this com¬ 
bination unless the clover and rye are 
t<> be cut for fodder or hay. The Crimson 
will make a quick, strong growth in 
Spring and will mature and form seed 
before the rye is ripe. This heavy growth 
of clover will interfere with harvesting 
the rye or cutting the straw. For a bay 
or forage crop the rye and clover will 
work well together, but where the rye is 
to make grain we should depend on the 
Red and Alsike clover alone. 
Wheat and Rye as Cover Crops 
I am farming sandy laud, and have: 
been turning down a cover crop of rye, 
each year with good re-lilts. < tccasioually 
I have turned under a patch of wheat. 
The corn on these wheat patches has 
always been so much better than that 
where the rye was used, that I have been 
led to believe wheat possesses something 
which makes it superior to rye for green 
manure. Have you any reason to believe 
that such is the case? J. P. 
Pasadena. Md. 
The analysis of rye straw is much the 
same as that of wheat. If anything the 
rye crop would be heavier than the wheat 
and thus add more organic matter,. We 
have noticed much the same thing that 
.1. I’, refers to. aud think the differ mv 
is due to the greater adaptability of the 
wheat. The rye is tough and hard and 
does not decay quickly in the soil. The 
wheat decays more readily and thus gives 
up its plant food faster. 
Fresh Manure for Melons and Cucumbers 
Ou page Sll the statement is made, in 
answer to an inquiry, that fresh st -.b’e 
manure is entirely unsuitable for melons 
and cucumbers. To this statement I must 
take exceptions. My own experience is 
that fresh stable manure, and especially 
horse manure, when properly used, is the 
very best fertilizer that can be applied to 
melons and cucumbers, as well as all 
other plants of a similar nature. But 
the rub comes with the method of appli¬ 
cation. For best results a large, deep 
hole should be dug for each hill. The 
manure should be thoroughly well mixed 
with two or three times it>. bulk of fresh 
loam and each hole filled to within six 
or eight inches of the surface with the 
mixture, and well tramped down. Then 
the holes should be fully filled, and the 
hills well rounded up with good, rich gar¬ 
den soil—the richer the better. It is here 
that fresh manure cannot be used without 
great danger of undesirable results. Plant 
the seeds and then mulch heavily with 
fresh, strawy horse manure. Appl,\ tins 
mulching so heavily that the use of the 
hoe will not be necessary during the sea¬ 
son. and a good crop will be practically 
assured. The only caution necessary to 
be observed in the use of fresh manure 
is not to allow the material to come in 
too close contact with the roots of the 
plants. , c. o. o. 
1. Of course every piece of laud hat> a 
problem peculiar to itself. As geueral 
advice we should assume that this idle 
land is sour and lacks organic matter and 
phosphorus. Our plan would be to plow 
Charitable Old Lady: "But why do 
you go tramping tliroi h the country like 
this, my poor man? The Vagrant: 
“Well. mum. the truth is. I’ve heard that 
these 'ere Pullman cars is rather stuffy." 
>—Melbourne Australasian. 
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