The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-10-12

trees exhibit lack of luxuriance In fol-
iage The old and still common practice
OF fertillzing fruit trees every few years
with slowly decomposing manures, such
as barnyard manure, leather waste, horn
refuse, wool waste, leaf mold, tobacco
stems, etc, Is thus seen to have more or
less of a scientific basis. Frequently,
however. 1t is desirable to stimulate the
growth and fruitfulness Of the trees, and
for this purpose more active fertillzlng ma
terials than the above are needed. In Sc
Letting and mixing the latter the fact
that fruits are potash feeders" should be
taken into consideration.
Probably there Is no better fertilizer for
fruit trees than a mixture Of muriate of
potash and ground bone zone part of the
former TO one and half parts of the lat
teri good practice is to apply this
mixture to clover or some other legumn-
Gus crop which Is turned under as a green
manure, and in addition, where tobacco
stems can be obtained cheaply, to apply
these about the trees. Wood ashes or cot
ton-hull ashes may be substituted for mu-
riate of potash if these products can be
obtained at reasonable prices.
Pigs on the Dairy Farm.-Probably bet
ter and cheaper pigs can be raised by the
dairy farmer than any one else. Some
butter dairymcn have a demand for their
by-products, but the great majority of
FARMERS DIdclltdlly waste inc Gldbntlf
buttermilk and whey. These by-products
can be made more profitable by the adj
dition of a little corn meal, and for fore
ing n pig to its utmost, nothing equals
corn meal, pure wheat bran and milk.
Where there is no cash demand for these
by-products they cannot be put to any
other use that win return near the same
profit as when fed to pigs. These little
economics on the farm yield the profit In
agriculture and are well worth studying.
We are firmly convinced, after several
years experience, that dairying and pig
raising go hand in hand, and that pigs
fed the skim and buttermilk will mature
more quickly, are less liable to disease
and that their meat is of the very finest
quality The southern states have a vast
acreage adapted to dalrying, and If farm
ers adjacent to the towns and cities would
devote their efforts to supplying the de-
mand for butter and fresh pork, the pig
would never fail to return his share OF
the profit. Might not this system of farm
ing reduce the cotton acreage and result
in benefit to that farmer who is compelled
TO grow cotton for a living2-Southern
Swineherd.
Is Fan Top-dressing Wasteful?-
There is no waste in spreading fresh
manure or that not composted on grass
lands in the fall of the year unless they
are liable to be flooded in the first
available nitrogen to be wasted in any
way. Its soluble portions will be washed
by rains in among the grass roots, and
when spring comes, warming the soil, THIS
manure will decompose in contact with
it, and be in the best position to help the
grass crop. There IS usually on grass
land no wasteage of rain water through
the soil until spring, and with no avail
able nitrogen in the soil none can be-
washed away. 1t is different, however,
with well-rotted manure That is largely
available nitrogen, and we should not like
to put that in the fail even on grass land.
English experiments show considerable
losses of nitrogen in analyses of water
from underdrans where the land above
was all MANFRED with nitrate Of soda.
Fermented manure has its nitrogen very
nearly, il not quite, as soluble as has
nitrate of soda. You can keep the pile
of fresh manure under cover during the
winter mix some phosphate with 1t and
apply both when well rotted to the grass
land late in winter without much danger
of loss. The advantage of rwinte COM
posting is that the manure will sooner
begin to help the grass crop or the crops
that are planted If the grass is plowed
under for that purpose.
Commercial Value Of Bone Meal-What
is the commercial value of phosphoric acid
and ammonia in bone meal; as ammonia, 4
per cent; phosphoric acid. p per cent? Re
ply by Prof. w. f. Massey.-At this sta
ton we value the fertilizing ingredients at
their value at the seaboard. To this valua-
ton the freight to interior points must be
added. Available phosphoric acid in a fer
tlizer is valued a Az cents per pound and
nitrogen in the form Of ammonia at 10
cents per pound. The value Of a fertilizer
containing per cent. of ammonia and p
per cent of phosphoric acid was available
or insoluble, and from what source the
ammonia comes If It is from old leather
scraps 1t is not worth anything. ] note
that your figures refer to bone meal In
this the ammonia would all be good, but
the phosphoric acid would be nearly all
insoluble. Four per cent. Of ammonia
would give you 80 pounds In a ton, worth
at the seaboard 5000. This is the part that
would be Of immediate value to the crop.
The prosphoric acid In bone would become
slowly of use to plants, and would do more
good the second and third year than the
first 1t remains with the purchaser TO say
whether he can afford to wait on the bone.
when he can get dissolved rock phosphate
for IS. so to $3.50 per ton, that would give
him better results on the first crop than
the bone would, so far as the phosphoric
acid is concerned. Not over one or two per
cent of the bone phosphoric acid is imme-
diately available.
Cut Feed for Horses.-All farmers use
cut feed for horses when at hard work,
because there is a great saving In the
labor needed to digest cut feed. II mixed
with some grain meal, and wet so that
the meal can only be got by eating the
cut feed mixed with 1t, the whole will
be chewed sufficiently TO molsten 1t with
saliva, which is necessary to quicken d.
gestion. But this economy in feeding cut
feed is also important when the horse
is not working. II the cut feed rs corn
stalks, II should always be steamed with
very hot water, 50 as to soften the cut
ends of the stalks, which may cause in
Jury. This is the best also II hay OF
straw is cut, particularly wheat or rye
straw, which being harder than cut hay
and less nutritious, Is not so likely to
be thoroughly chewed. The stomach OF
the horse needs a slight Irritation, says
the American Cultivator This is the ad-
vantage which oats have over other
grains. It's hull helps the grain to digest
better and this makes the horse feel
risky and able TO do his best. 1t Is an
old saying of farmers that when an old
horse begins to act unusually coltish he
has probably got an oat standing cor
nerwise against his stomach, and he
Jumps around to get it out" 1t is a
homely illustration, but may have much
truth in II.
Acid Phosphate.-J. NJ. II. asks II acid