The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1888-03-08
rAmerican Agriculturist.)
GOOD CROPS IN UNFAVORABLE
SEASONS.
BY JOSEPH HARRIS.

increasing at far greater rate tN
that Of any other country in
world. By the end Of the century,
shall have one hundred million
people in the United States-and
a people for enterprise, intelliga
and wealth as no previous age has
seen. But rapidly as our popula
increases, we have still more land Il In
people; in most of the large nations
Of the world there are more people
than land. This fact greatly infu-
ences our cultivation. Vast as are
our aggregate products, our yields are
comparatively small, and our profits
are not unfrequently smaller. We
are hopeful people. We occasion
ally get large crop and high price,
and this encourages US to keep on
sowing and planting, hoping for sim
liar results in the future. But these
hopes are quite likely to be disap-
pointed. If cabbage, or potatoes, or
onions, are high this year, outsiders
rush in, and in a favorable season
overstock the market. There is moth
ing to prevent this. The only thing
for the regular gardeners to do, is to
keep right along. and, and above all,
guided by their experience, aim to get
fair crops in unfavorable seasons.
This can be done. And it is here
where large profits are often made
With a soil otherwise favorable, the
great secret of raising large crops in
unfavorable seasons is plenty OF ma
nure which successful gardeners are
in the habit of using astonishes an or
dinary farmer. There are gardeners.
who use on the average more than
fifty tons Of stable manure per acre
every year. According to all the de-
ductions Of science this is far more
than is necessary, bat the practical
experience Of the best gardeners proves
conclusively that if they stop using
manure, or if they use much less
quantity, the yield Of their crops soon
falls below paying basis.
Can science and practice be recon-
ciled? We believe they can. During
the last half dozen years discoveries
have been made that throw light on
the subject. It now seems clear that
gardeners use their excessive quanti-
ties Of manure simply to get a suffi-
cient quantity of available nitrogen
early in the season. And this nitro
gen can be obtained in the form
of tankage, fish refuse, dried blood,
cotton-seed cake, sulphate Of ammo
MIA, and nitrate Of soda, at far less
cost. This is eminently the case in
regard to nitrate Of soda, not because
the nitrogen is cheaper in this form,
but because it is in precisely the con-
dition that plants need it, while in all
other manures it must be converted
into nitrate before the plants can take
it-up. We shall probably always find
it to our advantage to use considera-
BILE quantities Of stable manure, but it
seems clear that those gardeners who
have been applying excessive quanti-
ties for the purpose of forcing early
crops can obtain the same effect at far
less cost by the direct use of nitrate
Of soda.
In England, an ''unfavorable sea-
son" is a wet, cold, sunless season;
while with us our unfavorable seasons
mean want of rain, and never a
want Of sun, though occasionally late
frosts in the spring and early frosts in
the autumn blast our crops. With
plenty Of sun, much can be done to
lessen the injurious effect Of droutb.
We can keep the land mellow and
free from weeds by the constant use
of the cultivator and hoe, or we can
mulch the land between the crops and
thus check evaporation. On land
where not weed is suffered to grow,
a liberal supply of soluble plant food
will enable the crops to dispense with
water. Water, as gar
deners well know, will often act like
and it is equally true that
manure will often prove substitute
for certain quantity Of water. Take
three rows of cabbage IN dry season.
Let each have good cultivation. Leave
one row with nothing but the usual
amount Of manure; to the other row,
before the drouth sets in and while
here is plenty Of moisture in the soil |
20 dissolve them, applyI rec hundred
pounds of good supern ties and |
!. !. !. / ! ! ! ]. !: !. !: !.
four or five hundred sui
ohate Of ammonia Ia,
md to the next roi +
er that the PLAY
7ou will probab
'ow affords a 81
;abbage, while
luces good crop
md in a great ma
he third row. with