The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-01-02
A Fertilizer Experiment.

your department with great interest, and
have come to regard its teaching as of
high authority. Consequently, the out
come of experiments tried last spring is
the more disappointing to me. A barrel
of finely ground bone meal was mixed
with pure hardwood ashes and treated
precisely according TO your formula This
mixture was used side by side with a
standard brand of commercial superphos.
phate (Bradley's XL), both in equal
quantities and cost for cost, as near as
could be judged, upon corn, potatoes and
oats. The results were: One piece of
corn on gravelly upland, with a liberal
dressing of stable manure broadcast and
narrowed in, gave an equal growth and a
good crop at harvest time; but that on
the superphosphate was more than week
the earliest, point of some Importance.
as the sequel plainly showed. Another
piece on sandy interval, MANFRED in the
same manner, gave on the part with su-
perphosphate heavy crop of well-ripened
corn; on the part with bone and ashes the
crop was far less in amount, both of stalks
and ears, and very imperfectly ripened.
The difference was estimated to be at
least twenty-five per cent in value of the
crop. On the potatoes the result was also
in favor of the superphosphate as to ma
turity of crop, with about an equal yield.
The oats were sown on loan interval
broken up the fall before, and without
manure. They came up evenly all over the
piece, which was divided into three strips,
the one in the center being without fertil-
izer of any kind. The part with super
phosphate Immediately took the lead and
maintained it through the season, yielding
more straw and heavier grain than either
of the other plats. The one without fertil-
izer was the ightest of the three. The
fertilizers were sowed and narrowed in
with the oats, and upon the hoed crops
were used in the hill. These and other
experiments have convinced me that a
moderate application of some good COM
mercial fertilizer in the hill, with liberal
amount of stable manure broadcast, is the
cheapest and surest way for me to raise
corn. This method, when used upon
good corn land and followed by thorough
cultivation and good corn season, has
frequently produced two hundred bushel
baskets of ears per acre here in Mad
river valley. c. E. j., Waitsfeld, vt.
REMARKS BY AGRICULTURAL EDITOR
There are some points in this letter (for
which we thank the writer) that call for
comment. though much that we might say
has already been said in our article upon
Farmers Experiments with Fertilizers, in
The WATcHMAN for December IL. First,
we observe that the writer says the bone
and ashes were used Gin equal quantities
and cost for cost" with a standard super.
phosphate. We can hardly see how both
can be, as the bone and ashes, according to
our formula, if used cost for cost" would
give much larger quantity. 1t is not
said how much of the superphosphate was
used to the acre. The ashes and bone
used in the hill, cost for COST" unless
carefully scattered over considerable
surface, would be very apt to injure the
seed. We always use it broadcast, and so
advise. There is nothing in bone and
ashes to retard crop, unless the seed is
injured. The free ammonia in Bradley's
superphosphate will hasten the maturity
of crop somewhat, especially in cool sea-
son like the last. G. E. j., like too many
experimenters, is satisfied too quickly.
We bought the first Bradley's AL super.
phosphate that came into Vermont, in
1865, have used carloads of it in our farm
ing, and still use it. We have also used
carloads of bone in various forms and
variously prepared, and, after seventeen
seasons of constantly varied experiments
on all sorts of crops, find the bone and
ashes compound gives the best results for
the least money. We do not consider it
better than Bradley's XII, but as we use it
it is just as good, and 33 per cent cheaper.
1t ought to be understood that the con-
stituents of the two fertilizers are substan-
TALLY the same, the differences being that
the superphosphate the bone has been
acted upon by acid, making it a little
quicker, and two or three per cent of
ammonia added, while in the compost
there is much larger quantity OF potash,
which is just what corn and potatoes re-
quire on all our light soils. We think
that c. E. J. should not get discour-
aged too soon. In fertilizers it may be
truly said that single season decides
nothing. Even the best stable manure
has failed to show its value in unfavorable
seasons. When we think of the two pieces
of corn, one piece of potatoes and one
piece of oats, we feel like asking how
much land the bone and ashes were ap-
piled to, in all.
The State Grange.
The state grange of Patrons of Hus-
bandrv ia An organization that MIGHT do