Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1897-10-28
FORCING HOUSE CROPS.
Commercial Fertilizers Used With PROF
at the Connecticut Station.

Commercial Fertilizers Used With Profit
at the Connecticut Station.
A series of experiments to determine
the amount Of nitrogen, phosphoric acid
and potash forcing house crop will use
and if the addition is profitable has been
made by the Connecticut station 1896
annual report. In the test two kinds Of
soil were employed. One was a compost
consisting of thick turf to which one
third it's bulk of stable manure had been
added. The other consisted of 800
pounds of coal ashes mixed with about
one-third of pound of pure calcium
carbonate and nine pounds of moss peat,
such as is sold in city stables for bed
ding. The results are briefly summa-
rized as follows in The New England
Homestead:
With tomatoes the crop started in
September began to bear in December,
but was only seven tenths as large as
the one started three months later, when
the amount of sunlight was greater.
The largest quantities of fertilizer used
by any one crop was equal to 3 pounds
10 ounces nitrate of soda, a pound dis
solved bone black and pound IL ounces
muriate Of potash per 100 square feet of
bench space The crop amounted to 10
pounds of tomatoes per square foot.
Other crops amounting to 18 pounds
took no more fertilizing material from
the soil. To enable plants to get these
fertilizing materials as required, they
must be in the soil i'll large excess. Dur
ing the first two weeks, the yield of to-
matoes from the compost soil was larg
est, but the total yield for the season
was greatest on the soil made up of
ashes and peat. Two-fifths of the crop
from coal ashes and peat was harvested
within one week. The roots growing on
this soil were not affected by gals.
Using the same kind of soils for rad
ishes, it was shown that by the aid Of
commercial fertilizers just as good
crop could be raised upon the ashes and
peat as upon the compost, although
those planted in the latter matured a
little more quickly than the others. One
thousand punches, tops included, took
from the soil fertility equivalent to q
pounds and / ounce nitrate of soda,
10 ounces dissolved bone black and 16 "a
muriate of potash. An average of 5I8
square feet Of bench space was required
to raise 1000 punches of radishes.
With cucumbers 100 square feet of
bench space filled with rich compost
produced 8515 pounds of cucumbers.
From an equal area filled with bitumi
nous coal ashes and peat, 80 pounds
were harvested. AS source of nitrogen,
nitrate of soda and cottonseed meal
were about equally efficient in the coal
ashes and peat, but with the compost,
cottonseed meal was decidedly more
effective.
Use of Bisulphide of Carbon.
1t is quite common to use bisulphide
of carbon for the protection of all grains
liable to attacks from weevil in storage.
1t becomes an important question, there
fore, to know what effect if any, carbon
bisulphide has on the terminating pow
ers of the grain, and to ascertain this
the division of botany of the department
of agriculture has made large number
of experiments with S3 different vari-
cites of grain and vegetables of cot
ton, 2 of peas, of Indian corn, 2 of
Kaffir corn, 2 of barley, 2 of wheat and
/ of oats The general conclusion from
the experiments was that there was an
appreciate difference in the vitality of
wheat, corn, barley or rye between seed
that had been treated and that which
was untreated, when the seed was treat
ed in bulk for "a hours at the rate of 1
pound of the chemical to 100 bushels of
the grain. Generally the seeds of cot
ton, peas, beans, buckwheat, oats and
the cabbage family and cowpeas will
endure very severe treatment with the
fumes of carbon bisulphide without in
jury to their termination to any appre-
ciable extent. On the other hand, corn,
wheat, rye and other crops belonging
to the grass family, except Kaffir corn
and oats, should be treated with eau
ton, as serious deterioration in vitality
is likely TO result from excessive ex-
posure to the gas.