290 
American Agriculturist, March 31, la(23 
METCALF’S QUAUH SEEDS 
Red Clover 
Per Bushel 
of 60 Lbs. 
Metcalf’s Recleaned, Medium.$16.00 
Metcalf’s Recleaned, Mammoth 
(Genuine). 16.50 
Indiana Grown 
Timothy 
Metcalf’s Reclcaned. 
Per Bushel 
of 45 Lbs. 
. . . $4.00 
Per Bushel 
of 60 Lbs. 
Alfalfa 
Metcalf’s Recleaned.$15.00 
Grimm Alfalfa, Certified . 30.00 
Domestic Grown 
A Bushel 
AlSlKe of 60 Lbs. 
Metcalf’s Recleaned.$13.00 
Per Bushel 
of 60 Lbs. 
Sweet Clover 
Metcalfs Recleaned White Blos¬ 
som, Scarified. $9.50 
All Bags Free. Freight prepaid 
Timothy & Alsike Mixed of’iFLbs®* 
Metcalfs Recleaned. $4.50 
20% Alsike 
Miscellaneous PerLb. 
Red Top, Heavy Seed.26 
Best Orchard Grass.21 
Fancy Kentucky Blue Grass.35 
Canada Blue Grass.28 
Sudan Grass. 25 
Winter Hairy Vetch.20 
on 200-lb. shipments, or over. 
Our ambition is to see how cheap we can sell the best SEED obtainable. 
B. F. METCALF & SON, Inc., 216-2165 West Genesee St., Syracuse, N. Y. 
ALONEY Guaranteed TREES 
VINES, BERRIES, ROSES, SHRUBS 
Maloney Trees are guaranteed true to name 
and free from disease by the largest nursery 
growers in New York State. For 39 years we 
have been in business here in Dansville and 
today are able to ship you direct better trees 
than ever before because we are constantly 
studying to improve our methods. 
We recognize our responsibility to the fruit grower and 
we have this Spring issued a novel Catalog that tells the 
things you ought to know about our business. Write 
for your free copy. No order is too big or too small for 
us to handle personally. 
Send today for Free Catalog 
We Prepay Transportation Charges on All Orders over $7.50 
MALONEY BROS. NURSERY CO., Inc., 63 Main Street, Dansville, N. Y. 
We re responsible; look up otir rating Dansville Pioneer Nurseries 
Post Your 
Farm 
and Keep Trespassers Off 
We have printed on 
linen lined board trespass 
notices that comply in all 
respects to the new law 
of New York State. We 
unreservedly advise land 
owners to post their 
farms. We have a large 
supply of these notices 
and will send one dozen 
to any subscriber for 60 
cents. Larger quantities 
at same rate. Address: 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
461 4th Ave., New York City 
QUAKER HILL FARM 
SEEDS 
are SUPERIOR because 
1. Each strain was developed by plant 
breeding experts. 
2. They have averaged highest yields in 
farrh bureau and college tests. 
3. Field and bin inspections by disinter¬ 
ested persons show the disease free¬ 
dom and purity. 
Oats, Barley, Corn, Potatoes, Beans 
Write for Descriptionsy Records and Prices 
BUY DIRECT FROM GROWER 
K. C. LIVERMORE, HONEOYE FALLS, N. Y. 
Victory Plants 
5 Butternut trees, $1.00. 5 beautiful Virginia Cedars, 
$1.00. 100 Gibson or Dunlap and 100 Everbearing Straw¬ 
berry plants for $2.00. 1,000 choice Strawberry plants for 
$.3.50. 25 choice Gladoli bulbs for $1.00. One Spirea or 
two Concord grapevines free with every order of $4.00 or 
over 5 Spirea V. H. for $1.00. 1.000 fine Concord 
grapevines for $40.00 or $30.00. 20 or 12 CoMord grape¬ 
vines for $1.00. 12 Gooseberry bushes for $1.00. 100 
Asparagus roots for $1.00. Not the cheapest, but the best. 
Live and let live prices. All above small bargains post¬ 
paid. Catalogue worth seeing, free. 
THE ALLEGAN NURSERY 
Allegan, Mich. _ 
BINDER Twine 
« i._ w 'Tircik 
Samples Free 
CAR LOTS, Per Lb. 
Small lots a shade higher. 
Agents wanted. 
THEO BURT & SONS, MELROSE, OHIO 
9c 
HALF PRICE BARGAINS FOR A FEW MORE WEEKS 
Get double value for 
your money by ac¬ 
cepting one of our 
remarkable money¬ 
saving subscription 
bargains. These at¬ 
tractive offers are 
open for only a lim¬ 
ited period, so order 
at once. Subscrip¬ 
tions may be new, 
renewal or extension 
i PirnciH. .2 years 1 Regular Price, $3.00 
Americtn Agriculturist'.2 years I Special Sale Price. $1.50 
1 year-v 
Regular Price 
.13 
issues 1 
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$1.25 
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Regular Price 
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Mail your order now for one of these bargains. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
461 FOURTH AVENUE NEW YORK CITY 
Name. 
Address. 
Green Manure Problems 
There's Something Besides Plowing Them Und&r 
By H. E. COOK 
H. E. COOK 
A R E A D E R of 
American Agricul¬ 
turist recently wrote me asking the fol¬ 
lowing question: ‘T want to be sure 
that I am handling my soil problem 
right. I seeded ten acres of rye and 
got a heavy stand last fall. I expect a 
heavy stand in the 
spring. I contem¬ 
plate plowing this 
rye under and 
putting in cab- 
b a g e . It is a 
very good piece 
of land, light clay 
loam, although it 
packs easily when 
we have much 
rain. I usually 
top - dress with 
alwut 10 tons of 
manure and put 
on 500 pounds of 
good fertilizer 
broadcast. I also* 
sowed some sweet 
clover to plow under, but have not had 
good luck in getting a crop yet. I in¬ 
tend to sow 12 acres to oats this spring 
to plow under for cabbage next year. I 
would appreciate your remarks on this 
practice.” 
The question concerns a farm prac¬ 
tice that is most attractive in theory, 
but may be most dangerous in prac¬ 
tice. The principle involved of adding 
organic matter to the soil is sound, and 
very few Eastern soils have enough for 
their best production. Organic or vege¬ 
table matter has little or no value in 
the soil as a carrier of plant food. It 
may be a positive damage until thor¬ 
oughly decomposed, has lost its organic 
form and is recognized as a part of the 
soil itself. 
Absorptive Powers Beneficial 
T hen it has the power of absorp¬ 
tion, and not only will give water to 
the plant during periods of scanty 
rainfall, but aids materially in releas¬ 
ing otherwise insoluble plant food and 
making it available to the new growing 
plants. Often this decomposed vege¬ 
table matter, called humus, by the way, 
is the dominant or controlling factor 
in plant growth, especially on the sandy 
and sandy loam soils. Sometimes 
marked results are obtained on the 
heavy clay soils for a very opposite 
reason. In the sandy soils, there is an 
excess of air. The particles are large 
and the humus fills in the spaces, and 
so instead of a sand pile, we have a 
real soil, the particles joined together 
through which plant feeding rootlets 
push their way easily and rapidly. If 
we have a fairly liberal supply of pot¬ 
ash, phosphoric acid, lime and nitrogen, 
surprising plant growth may be de¬ 
pended upon. 
Rye is a king among plants for fur¬ 
nishing vegetable matter. It can¬ 
not compete with the legumes in adding 
nitrogen, to be sure, but as a crude, 
ignorant source of raw vegetable mat¬ 
ter, it stands almost in a class by itself. 
Now comes the danger. Growth is 
early in the season, and this heavy 
blanket of rye turned under, practically 
shuts off the water supply from below 
and our whole dependence is from the 
clouds, not a dependable source at that 
time of the year. In fact, rainfall 
enough to thoroughly rot this green 
growth turned down would probably 
keep the land so soaked that working 
it would be out of the question. Fur¬ 
thermore, if it was rotted it could not 
he incorporated with the soil above by 
a second plowing early enough to put 
in a cabbage crop. I have plowed the 
ordinary sod thi’ee times in the spring 
before cabbage setting, and had a fine 
crop with a minimum of hand labor. 
There was, however, no large amount 
of stuff to decompose. 
Must be Mixed with the Soil 
A fter we have an abundance of 
rotted matter, it cannot function 
until thoroughly mixed with the origi¬ 
nal soil. Modern study and practice 
have discovered ways, not always the 
means, I regret to say, for completely 
changing the texture of soils. That is, 
a sandy soil can he so completely mixed 
with humus as to become a high-grade 
productive sandy loam and a stiff clay 
through_ tile drainage, 
the addition of humus 
in some form and perhaps a dressing 
of burnt lime, after the other treat¬ 
ment mentioned has been executed, will 
become a clay loam, the very best soil 
known for general cropping. 
These changes, however; were not 
made from May 1 to June 15, by any 
means. Maybe several years were re¬ 
quired. Often they become economic 
as well as technical. That is, we will be 
able to learn the best methods of mak¬ 
ing them before we shall have saved 
money enough to pay the cost thereof. 
We can no more rebuild or repair a 
soil without extra expense than we can 
build a new or repair an old building 
wflhout capital. And so, if I wanted 
increased humus for a cabbage crop, I 
would begin fully one year or more be¬ 
fore setting the cabbage plants. There 
is no one best way to do this work. 
Some Alternative Methods 
Y OU can go ahead with the rye plan 
and summer fallow the land, by 
plowing and harrowing during the 
summer, rather expensive, and would 
leave the land bare during the winter, 
with a probable loss of some of the 
nitrates. Another method would be to 
cultivate the land to June 25 or July 1, 
then sow to buckwheat, plowing under 
the crop before it matures, doing some 
surface cultivation in the fall, prefer¬ 
ably with a disk harrow, which would 
compact the furrow slice and, to some 
extent, mix it with the green stuff 
turned under. 
If plowed early, not later than Sep¬ 
tember 1, and harrowed as suggested, 
also harrowing in the spring again, 
decomposition will be sufficient to per¬ 
mit plowing about June 1, or perhaps 
a little later. At any rate, there is 
plenty of time before cabbage setting. 
By this method, the organic matter will 
be thoroughly decomposed, weeds will 
be destroyed and their roots also con¬ 
verted into humus, some fertility made 
available that otherwise would not have 
been, and a real cabbage field ready. 
There also might be a chance that 
you could eliminate the nitrogen from 
the fertilizer, apply acid rock and pot¬ 
ash—a mixture of 400 pounds rock|and 
100 pounds muriate of potash per acre. 
If the land needs fertilizer you could 
use 300 to 500 pounds per acre vvhen 
sowing the buckwheat. Whether nitro¬ 
gen should be used at the buckwheat 
sowing time, I am unable to say. Prob¬ 
ably 50 pounds of nitrate of soda per 
acre in addition to the rock and pot¬ 
ash, would be worth while. 
Cabbage Needs Uninterrupted Growth 
C ABBAGE growers know how very 
important it is to have an uninter¬ 
rupted growth from planting to har¬ 
vesting. If the growth is checked after 
heading is underway for lack of water 
and this period followed by ideal condi¬ 
tions, there is danger of heads cracking. 
Filled with humus, your field will 
carry a more uniform supply of water 
than without it, and so have a marked 
effect on a continued growth of the 
cabbage. In business, in the use of 
human energy, in coW handling, in the 
use of power and machinery, one must 
have reserve force. In business, it is 
capital; in human energy, it is good 
digestion, plenty of sleep and always 
strength and vitality left after a hard 
strain; in feeding cows, to so feed and 
care for them that the production oi 
milk does not deplete their strength, 
and that all our motive power and ma¬ 
chinery used shall not normally be 
taxed quite up to its limits. Under 
these conditions, we are ready to meet 
the unexpected with our reserve forces 
and sustain the shock or overcome the 
losses where the weaker ones go down 
charging their defeat to Providence. 
The same application can be made 
to our soils. If we carry a reserve 
amount of fertility and humus with 
good drainage, we can be pretty sure ot 
a crop every year. Of course, 
will vary, but w'e will always be 
safety zone. I know men who would be 
successful if thq time spent in scoia- 
ing the weather* could be used in in¬ 
creasing the huifius in their land and 
by extra cultivation making potential 
plant food available. 
