The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1886-09-15

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salts always, contain more potash than
ashes, but it is not in the free or caus-
tic condition, and consequently it will
not act upon fat. When in place of
raw bone we use steamed bone, bone
ash, bone-black, or phosphate rock,
caustic potash is not needed, and the
potash salts are just as good as ashes,
so far as supplying potash is concerned.
But the resulting fertilizer will not be
the same, because, while the potash
salts furnish nothing of fertilizing
value but potash, ashes contain good
deal of other plant-food. Just so with
TIL bone, for while raw bone contains
considerable portion of nitrogen,
there is little or none of this in the
other phosphate materials referred to.
Steaming takes much of the nitro
genous matter out of bone, while burn
ing it to make bone-ash and bone-black,
C. char " takes it all, and the mineral
phosphates do not contain any.
Therefore, when it is desirable to use
any of the potash salts to mix with
phosphate materials for the purpose of
making a complete fertilizer, another
process must be followed. Kainit varies
considerably in composition, like ashes,
but we may take an average sample,
containing twelve per cent of absolute
potash, the remaining lightweight per
cent being nearly all common salt.
This may make it Objectionable for
some crops, in which case the muriate
or sulphate may be taken. But if kainit
is to be used, and we want say four
per cent of potash in our fertilizer,
then the kainit plainly must constitute
one-third of the weight of the whole
mixture. Now say that we take net
ton of fine steamed
1000 lbs
kaint.. 900 lbs.
Total $1,000 lbs.
Here we have ton and half of fer
tilizer containing Gf we use fair ar
ticle of steamed bone) one hundred
twenty pounds potash and four hundred
pounds phosphoric acid, and, so far as
these two elements go, we have enough
for fair dressing to four or five acres
ofany ordinary farm crop. But steamed
bone is deficient in nitrogen, containing
on an average about two per cent only,
or one and one-third per cent of this
mixture. This is not enough. For
most crops we need about four per cent
of nitrogen, and to get this we should
have to mix with the fertilizer, or APP
ply to the ground separately, about
four hundred pounds of sulphate of am
monia. The above calculation is on the
supposition that the ground is to be
MANFRED with this fertilizer alone. If
a partial dressing of stable manure is
used, the fertilizer may be propo rtion-
ally lessened. The potash salt can be
used just as it comes, care being taken
to break up any Jumps and mix the
whole evenly together, which can be
done by shoveling over.
In regard to pear-blight, there is
no sure cure for it. 1t has come
and gone like an epidemic, repeat
edly, and has seemed to threaten
determination to our pear orchards.
Yet it has never caused a serious dim
mutton of the total crop of the country.
OF the various remedies advised, per-
haps the best after the thorough re-
moval of affected branches is the use
of chemical fertilizers in the place of
animal manures. Where the ground is
rich with the latter, allowing it to grass
over is often beneficial. Iron waste
from blacksmith shop, dug in around
the trees, has sometimes seemed to do
good But the surest way is, while try
ing these remedies, to plant more trees.
The disease will pass away, and the
new planting will soon fill the gap it
NAV cause in the orchard