The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-01-27
Horticultural and Ag-
ricultural.'
SOCIETIES MEET.
Methods Employed Here and
in Turkey Discussed.

The regular weekly meeting of the
Worcester Horticultural Society, yes
terday, was an institute, and was held
in connection with the Worcester Ag-
ricultural Society There were morn
ing and afternoon sessions, both of
which We're well attended. Warren c.
Jewett presided at the morning session.
which opened at 1890 o'clock, and the
address by c. o. Flagg of Kingston,
R. l., was most instructive. His sub
iect was, Good hay crops and how to.
produce them" Mr.. Flagg was form
erly connected with the Rhode Island
experimental station, and spoke with
authority. His lecture was illustrated
with charts and the value of lime in the
production of hay crops was especially
emphasized. He showed the variance
between different plots, some of which
had been lined and others left in the
natural state at the station, and noted
the difference in the field. All the
plots were fertilized alike with potash
and nitrogen, and the same money
} value of phosphoric aoid added to each
lined and each unlimed plot, with the
exception of one lined and one unlimed,
which. for purposes Of experiment,
were not enriched by the phosphate.
Mr.. Flagg preceded his address proper
by a reference to the excellence of the
; hay crops grown in the vicinity of Wor-
cester, and told how the farmers along
the Rhode Island coast use seaweed for
fertilizer. so that the oxen are used to
draw seaweed to grow hay to feed oxen
to draw seaweed, and so on, without
much apparent profit to the farmer
The lecture brought out the following
: interesting and instructive facts:
No crop is SO valuable to the farmers
: as whole, as the hay CROP as is
: shown by statistics. Grasses are be-
ing studied more and more under the
: direction of the department Of agricul-
. ture. but the farmer does not give his
, fields the care they need, as a rule
. For a good hay crop are needed a fair
supply OF water, deep and thorough TIL
lage, and proper plant food. There are
thousands of worn-out soils in New
England which are not entirely ex-
4 hausted, but like grindstone, are worn
! one-sided, and require truing up. There
. are many methods of building up the
: soil to yield productivity, among which
D the use Of lime is the best. The Ro-
n mans were familiar with its use in this
connection, and, in fact it's use for
many years has worked excellent re-
J, SUITS II some places as its abuse has
t worked disastrously in others
j 1t is generally believed among farm
s ers that low-lying, wet soils are acid
: sour, as they call it, but this is true
i Oh many Well-drained, upland soils as
e Well Thls acidity generally arising
t from the presence of humic acid from
e decaylng matter, is injurious to many
n plants' Whlie 1t helps others. 1t hurts
n tlmothy, but helps red-top. Expert
k inents SHOW that large areas of gran
), ltlc sou are acid to such an extent that
d good nay crops cannot be grown.
: IN certain series of tests in New
e 1ofk state 154 out of 179 fields were
: found TO be acid. Lime serves to neu-
T. | tfalize this acidity, furnishes the basis
v upon which nitrogen may be formed
/; makes clay and sandy soils furnish a
larger supply of water to the plants
may serve as a direct plant food
: changes and renders harmless certain
r IRON compounds, may act upon insolu-
r, PIE potash compounds and release the
t potash In the soil, and hastens decorn-
5 position of organic matter and SO fur
S nishes food to plants.
mere are many signs of acidity OF
SOIL which the farmer may note with
e out special tests. Among these is the
IS growth of certain plants and trees, as
y TOT instance red top taking the place
s OF timothy 1t is an easy matter for a
farmer in doubt to make a special test
Y WIN blue litmus paper which may be
Re pougnt at any druggists. Insert this
paper in some moist soil two or three
7. minutes, remove and allow to dry II
J. the blue color disappears the soil is
aeld, II the blue persists the soil is
neutral or alkal. Lime is not the only
thing that may be used for this pur.
pose, as ashes will do very well.
Inc best time to lime the soil is al
. the time OF seeding grass. 1t should b.
applied eight barrels to the acre anC
hauled directly to the field, where i
Sc should be distributed in 16 heaps. Upor
in these should be poured IL pals of wa
ter each. These should then be GOV
ie cred with earth and allowed to slack
I'd after which the lime may be applied t.
Sc the soil. All Jumps should be removed
as the more thorough the mixing tn,
better the results. 1t should be har
he roWed into the ground and after lyinl
as through a rainstorm narrowed again
ne 1t should not be allowed to lie on tn,
is surface, as experiments show mucl
better results by ploughing it into thu
earth.
In the experiments made at thu
~ Rhode Island station, illustrated b!
charts, a ton of lime per acre was ap
piled in 1894, then corn and oats grown
w and after these crops were harvested
m grass seed was planted. The limeC
III plots yielded 1870 tons in the following
~ three years without further application
er of lime while the unlimed plots yielded
but 6216 tons in the same period. Thes'
IT. experiments were made on we'll
o. drained, sandy plain land. The bes
10 results were obtained when the in
H. soluble forms of phosphoric acid wer
used. These include fine ground bone
70 Stag meal, floats, aluminium phosphate
a raw and aluminium phosphate ignited
The address was followed by man.
in questions, which brought out the fac
s. that Stag meal is the refuse which run
r. from phosphate iron ores combine
nj with certain amounts of lime, in smelt
nv ing, and that the use of lime would b
en- beneficial on pastures, but probab
slow in it's effects, as it should b
III plowed in il the best results are to b
Nv obtained. Besides grass, beets, whea
lie and barley are benefited by lime, a
well as many other crops. Gas lime
good, but no experiments have bee
made with it en- account Of the diff
Guilty in obtaining it in sufficient guam
la, titles.
led It was further brought out at tn
.as session that a bushel of ashes weig
~. anywhere from ~ to as pounds. accord
va ing to the amount Of water in then
In their ability to hold moisture, the
tn are almost without an equal The fac
II. came out in this connection that Cal
&c, fornia wheat often pays it's freight I
" foreign countries by the additions
~. weight 1t acquires in moisture on tn
of way from its dry native state.
The afternoon session was called [
~. order at 2. 80 o'clock, by President {
b. Hadwen. Many who had attende
III the morning session remained to liste
- to q scholarly address on Some Of tn