‘The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
137 
The Fertilizer Bag, Chases the Cows Away 
Y OI'R editorial on page 46 will, no 
doubt, bring forth considerable 
comment, and in order that the stand 
you have taken (which I heartily en¬ 
dorse) may be well defended, I wish 
to offer my experience: 
Ten years ago I came to this com¬ 
munity and started farming. The back¬ 
bone of each farm was the dairy cow. 
Each farm had from eight to 15 cows, 
and such crops as hay. corn and straw 
were grown to maintain them, but 
usually this was supplemented with 
what grain the money procured from 
the sale of the products from the cows 
would buy. 
The farms were level, of sandy loam 
type, and looked attractive, but farm¬ 
ers were not able to buy chemical fer¬ 
tilizers. and did not use lime, or know 
about plowing under green crops, and 
so they just made the manure go as 
far as it would. As the crops dim,in- i 
ished they would dispose of a cow or) 
two, and keep what they could winter. 
Of course, as they reduced the stock 
the manure was reduced, and this in] 
turn reduced the crops, so they had to. 
reduce the stock again, etc. I know of, 
one farm in good condition that under: 
“good" management with this system* 
was reduced from 25 cows to none in 
I'' years, and moss and barren spots 
which began at tbe back of the farm 
finally crept to the buildings. 
These farms were selling from $10 to 
$25 per acre with buildings and some 
tools. I picked out one of the poorest 
—a $10-per-aere farm which usually 
kept six to eight cows. Later I bought 
an adjoining farm, which had also car¬ 
ried six to 10 cows. I have never had 
but one cow on the two farms, and 
then for only two years. My first 
planting was 10 acres of potatoes. 15 
acres of sweet corn for factory, and a 
few acres of buckwheat. T harvested 
00 bushels of potatoes by digging here 
and there a row over four acres, and 
left the rest. They were too poor. I 
got $29.40 from the canning factorv for 
\ ** iivjix uiB mi,ns are ieeu- 
the sweet corn. 
The buckwheat 
Plowing Under Clover Knee High. Fig. 51. 
Illuming Mnicher After Planting. Fig. 52. 
Spraying for Blight. Fig. 53. 
thrashed out 52 bushels. 
During these 10 years we have prac¬ 
ticed a system of plowing under rye, 
buckwheat, clover one year. etc., and 
added plenty of chemical fertilizer. We 
have made a specialty of potatoes, and 
have produced 386, 421 and 450 bushels 
per acre in three successive years. We 
only grow a little grain, but what we 
grow produces well. Tbe system I 
started took root in this community 
about four years ago, and this past 
year there were 22.000 bushels of seed 
potatoes produced on the farms within 
a squire mile (more than produced on 
any other square mile in New York 
State outside of Long Island). Farm¬ 
ers are enthusiastic; land has increased 
in value from 200 per cent to 700 per 
cent: horses are eating mixed Timothy 
and clover hay: tractors are humming 
and agriculture here is wearing a new 
suit. The new system of soil improve¬ 
ment and maintenance has proven 
sound. 
I believe 7 am right when 1 say that 
among the eight or nine families which 
comprise the area mentioned above 
there are now three cows. Keep your 
eyes on this community a few years for 
further proof. e r. smith. 
Oswego Co., N. Y. 
Ii. N.-Y.—The pictures show some¬ 
thing of this potato business. Thq 
tractor is shown plowing under knee- 
high clover for potatoes. Instead of 
feeding this clover and using the manure on the soil 
the entire crop is put right under—fed to potatoes 
instead of feeding it to cows. A not lieu* picture shows 
bow a “mulch” is produced in the soil. After plant¬ 
ing a wheeled weeder is run along the rows. The 
Harvesting the Crop. Fig. 5/ f . 
Hauling in the Seed—Note Uniformity. Fig. 55 
flexible teeth scratch and tear up the ground, leaving 
a thin cover of stirred soil on top. This holds the 
moisture and makes it easier for tbe plants to work 
up through. Then comes the spraying scene, where 
six rows are handled at one time with Bordeaux 
ing). Several applications of this 
spray are made, the object being to 
keep the vines “copper-plated”; that 
is, well covered with the dried spray 
material. That keeps off the blight and 
carries the crop through. At Fig. 54 
Mi’. Smith says that half the potatoes 
were carried off the field along the 
fence. Il seems that 26 boys picked 
up 1.550 crates in six hours. This field 
has produced 450 bushels of potatoes 
per acre. In 1910 Mr. Smith says he 
harvested about. 500 lbs. per acre of a 
mixture of running berry vines, sorrel 
and Bed-top. The trick was done by 
plowing under rye and clover and using 
about 1.000 lbs. of fertilizer per acre. 
Another picture shows how they handle 
and haul in tbe “seed.” We have seen 
about the same thing worked out in 
oilier localities so many times that we 
have no doubt whatever about Mr. 
Smith’s statements. There are thou¬ 
sands of dairymen today barely making 
a living on farms which are steadily 
losing in productive power. For years 
the outgo of plant food in tbe milk and 
stock has been greater than the imports. 
Thus even when all the manure made 
from grain and feed has been put on 
the farm tbe soil of most fields grows 
poorer and less productive. Such land 
is sour, lacking in organic matter, and 
short of available plant food. Lime 
brings in clover and gives rye or other 
grain a start. This is plowed right 
into tbe ground, and large quantities 
of fertilizer used with it. As a result 
tbe land comes back and produces even 
more than when it was virgin soil. 
That is the history of many a farm, 
and there are thousands more that 
might well go the same way. 
Plant Food in Farm Crops 
Is corn a harder feeder on the soil 
than potatoes? If so. would it pa.v to 
raise potatoes and buy the corn? If I 
plant potatoes and corn in the same field, 
give the same fertilizer and same culti¬ 
vation, and leave both to lie over Winter, 
and sow in oats the following Spring, 
should I see any difference in the oats? 
If so. which would be the better? 
Hazleton, Pa. n. k.u. 
T HE following table shows the 
amounts of plant food taken from 
the soil by various crops: 
Pounds 
m 
One Ton. 
Phosphoric 
Tons. Nitrogen. Acid. Potash. 
Corn . 3.°, LI 8 
Corn fodder .... 21 7 1$ 
Potatoes . 7 3 1(> 
Potato vines. ... 10 3 9 
Taking 40 bushels of grain and one 
ton of corn fodder as a fair yield, such 
a corn crop would take from the soil 
not far from 30 lbs. of nitrogen. 20 lbs. 
of phosphoric acid and 25 lbs. of 
potash. These figures are not exact, 
but reasonably accurate. Figured in 
much the same way. 200 bushels of 
potatoes would remove about 45 lbs. 
of nitrogen. 20 lbs. of phosphoric acid 
and (in lbs. of potash. The feeding 
habits of the two crops are quite dif¬ 
ferent. Corn is the stronger crop, with 
a larger and more vigorous root sys¬ 
tem. It makes it-* heavy growth in the 
latter part of tin* season, and is better 
able to make use of manure, sod or 
tbe coarser forms of plant food. Tbe 
potato is a more delicate feeder, re¬ 
quires more available plant food, and 
if we include the plant food removed 
in tbe vines it is a harder crop "on tin* 
soil. On most Eastern farms, where 
corn and potatoes are grown in a rota¬ 
tion. it is the usual plan to put the 
manure on sod and plow it all under for c< m, while 
most of the fertilizer used in the rotation is put on 
the potatoes. While tbe potatoes will take more 
from the soil, the oats following potatoes will usually 
be better. We think that is because the potato 
