ne 
success that I enjoyed with the farm crops 
seemed to forsake me entirely with my hobby. 
The feeling I shared with father that chemical 
fertilizers would help all growing things worked 
adversely with the plants brought from the 
woods. The Hollies that I loved best of all grew 
sickly and yellow, so I doubled the fertilizers, 
and all but killed them. 
After several years of almost complete failure, 
certain plants began to show promise. ‘Those 
planted around our ice house, where tons of old 
sawdust had been thrown, thrived, as did some 
that were planted in a newly cleared plot (Virgin 
Soil). Going to our woods, with a large wheel- 
barrow, (a score of years after I used the toy 
one), I again brought in Stumpdirt. The use of 
Stumpdirt brought success so quickly and com- 
pletely that I have always hesitated to tell my 
story for fear of ridicule, but here are the facts: 
Differs from Oak Leafmold 
Stumpdirt is rotted wood from stumps and 
fallen logs, and looks much like Oak Leafmoid, 
but differs considerably. Stumpdirt is the better 
soil sponge; holds more water longer. Oak Leaf- 
mold, unlike most fertilizers that have to be 
applied annually, feeds plants for several years, 
but Stumpdirt “wears” so long that it is in a class 
by itself as a plant food. 
Rhododendrons placed around my mother’s 
house eleven years ago were planted in about a 
foot of Stumpdirt put on top of subsoil from the 
bottom of the cellar. No fertilizers were used and 
no plantfood has been added since planting, yet 
the rhododendrons made more growth last year 
than during any previous year. 
Fifteen years have passed since I planted a 
Hemlock Hedge at the side of my house. Each 
year visitors admire it and ask for the fertilizer 
formula used. Few believe me when I inform 
them that no fertilizer has been applied and that 
Stumpdirt put in the trench at planting time still 
furnishes the plant food. To further emphasize 
the long life of Stumpdirt, I have placed dozens 
of Hollies and other plants in tubs filled with 
Stumpdirt and they have grown for years with- 
out additional plantfood. 
Most interesting is the proof furnished by 
nature herself that Stumpdirt is a complete plant- 
food. Quite often one can find in the woods rho- 
dodendrons with their entire root system inside 
a fallen birch log. Such plants three or four feet 
high are from five to ten years old. I have tried - 
several times to bring such a specimen home, but 
the bark always parts before I can accomplish it. 
