The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1884-10-01

raw bone? Somewhere you say, use
enough, when mixed with three times
the quantity of unleached hardwood
ashes, to be equal to the same quantity
of barn manure to the acre. Please tell
me the number of carloads of manure
to be used per acre. Perhaps | ought
to describe the land. The soil is called
good loan, having a good firm turf
when in grass with hard-pan sub-soil.
The piece wish to manure was plowed
a year ago last spring after being well
MANFRED. Afterwards narrowed and
planted to potatoes, putting some phos-
phate and ashes in the hill. Last spring
it was again MANFRED, then plowed and
narrowed and planted to corn, putting
phosphate and ashes in the hill. wish
to pillow this fall, manure, harrow and
SOW with timothy or herds-grass (Which
understand to be the same), then
bush ii in, and in the spring before the
snow leaves SOW on some clover-seed,
doing nothing more to it. / expect to
put the bone and ashes in barrels and
| wet three weeks as you have directed.
When taken out mix with dry ashes or
plaster and SOW broadcast. AS we have
no machine for sowing, must it be
sown by the hand like grain ? You
say, think, the aforesaid combination
is good for top-dressing grassland, Or
chards, gardens, etc. Please answer
and oblige."
REPLY BY AGRICULTURAL EDITOR.
The price named for ground bone
-four cents) is exorbitant. A fair
| price for first-rate article at Brattle-
| boro would be from $40 to $45 per ton.
1t can be had in Boston or Springfield
at about $35 by the carload. This is
"raw bone" that is, bones ground just
as they are naturally, though in some
cases the grease is partially extracted,
| which is a benefit. We do not advise
three times as much ashes as bone eX-
cept for potatoes on light soils. Two
| bushels of ashes to one of bone is quite
| enough for the soil described. If ashes
is used as dryer, half a bushel should
be reserved from each two bushels for
that purpose. But plaster is preferable.
1t should be sown evenly by hand, if
no machine is used. Gloves should be
worn, to prevent the ashes making the
| hands sore.
For common farm crops six hundred
pounds of the above mixture is suffl-
cient to the acre, and will sustain three
or four successive crops of grain and
grass. We refer our correspondent to
Mr.. Kendall's experience in this and
preceding issues of this paper. A water
tight hardpan subsoil near the surface
is not favorable to any sort of manure,
or crop, until tile-drained, but we as
sumo that is not the character of the
land referred to. The plan given by S.
p. NJ. for fall seeding is all right We
do not advise the use of any chemical
fertilizers on old sod, never having had
satisfactory results from them when so
applied, but on new seedlings of grass
they are excellent to give it strong
start. All such fertilizers should be
covered to get the best results, but har-
rowing well does this sufficiently. The
dressing Of bone and ashes named above
is about equivalent to twenty or twenty
five carloads of average stable manure,
and equally durable. For garden pur-
poses much heavier dressings are used,
up to ton per acre, equal to seventy or
eighty loads of manure.