The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-08-21
NOTES OF THE FARM. ::
BY w: F. MASSEY, Of A. & M. COLLEGE.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES q oeoe NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. ae


man in Randolph county writes !
r,, Il Letter of three pages, all in one
..ntcnce. for the purpose of telling me
that hc has made Il wonderful discoy-
fIy, Il have been experimenting for
some time with a vegetable prcpara-
tion as a fertilizer, and have got it to
ncrIccton and it is just us good as |
any commercial fertilizer as | have
tested them side by side" He fur
thrr. -ocs on to say that he thinks the
state ought to buy his secret for the |
hpncht of the farmers, as they can |
make the fertilizer much cheaper than
the ordinary commercial fertilizers
are sold for And if the State does
NOT buy it thc secret is certain to be
sold to the trusts, since two of them
have already offered him a good round
sum for il. Well, it is a fine thing if
Won can get two trusts bidding
%rainSt each ether, for with two
trusts in competition there is little
danger i'm the trusts. Now we would
like to give our friend some advice
From YOUR letter it is easy to see that
you are an uneducated man, and
hence peculiarly liable to error in any
matter hat requires scientific knowl-
,dar Chemists and educated cultiva-
tors everywhere know what is essen
fial i'm Il fertilizer. We know that a
comnlete fertilizer must have the
proper proportions of nitrogen, phoS-
phorl. acid and potash in it, as these
are the matters most generally def
t.icnt in q worn soil. Now we need
not buy the nitrogen, for we can get
that hy growing peas with the aid of
the other two constituents, phosphoric
acid and potash. To be effective in
the Improvement of Il soil needing
these your mixture must have a due
percentage of them. Now if YOU can
gct phCsphOric acid in Il cheaper way
than it is gotten from dissolved phos-
rhatt rock, and can get potash more
cleapy than it is gotten from the i'm
ported potash salts. YOU can make Il
1 fortune by manufacturing the article
Il and selling it, and YOU need not
hochcr about the trusts, for YOU
world heyc trust of your own which
win tgat them out of sight. But Of
course in this event YOU will have to
send >ImVlcS to the state Chemist for
analysis and will have to do as all
other fertilizer makers are required
tn do, mark your bags with the exact
percentage Of nitrogen, phospho"lc
Il acid and potash that is in the stuff,
and must buy tags for your bags to
show that YOU have paid the tax. But,
! have said. if YOU have found a way
to get these things cheaper than the
fertilizer trust gets them, yOu can
make q fortune easily and IT would
be silly for yea to sell the "sccret.
Thea too, the State is not in the
'ecrct-buyinm business, and there is
not The slightest chance that the
State viii buy YOUR discovery. The
BEST chance for YOU is to manufac-
ture it and make a fortune with Il lit
t.e trust Of your own. There is, how
ever, vegetable product largely
"ade In North Carolina, which at the
price it usually sells for, will make
a cheap fertilizer. as it has a large
percentage Of nitrogen and potash,
though little Of phosroric acid. l'ut
- This is about the cheapest lngred-
i,nt it can ha purchased. | refer to
H." tobacco stems from the stcmEcr-
"-. tnolV&is shows that these have
ever two per cent of nitrogen and over
y per og"t Of potash, with a very small
mouut of rhcsphoric acid. Col. Carr,
as We nave said. grows no tobacco,
but lac has used on his farm large
quantities Of the stems which have
gotten nitrogen and potash from
some ones land. The great advantage
Oh The tobacco stems as a fertilizer
Hr> i'm Tire fact that while most OF
'0'r nitrogen is in the form OF or
sam" matter, aud must go through
decay and nitrification to make II
"Wahic. there is Il considerable per
crhtagc in The Immediately available
itfm OF a nitrate of potash. vi
Eour~" tn" largest part of the pIahl
''oa I'm the stems must be dccaNed
ana rendered available rather slowly
nut at The price at which the stems
nave been sold. they are the cheap
tS' form in which we can get potash
At - per ton they are we'll worth the
| attention Of farmers.
Nlth the hot weather and the busy
season, we are getting fc Yer letter:
i'h our farmer friends. | do no
MO" how we can make tins page
more useful TO the farmers than bA
''~"trn~ their inquiries. | do no
assume TO know it all by any means
ana have always found that tn
more a man really knows about farm
"@ and gardening the more anxious
"H |s 10 learn more. and the more con
',""S h" becomes Of the vast amour
""''" hc does not know. Now ther'
Great deal OF talk about Farmer
''N'dH}eS. and have lcctured at
S""' many of them. and there ha
'" great deal of time, money an'
'''' spent in the effort to help tn
.''H'rS through these institute meet
d Doubtless they have been pro
"''\r Of much good where the far
a nave turned out. But in the n
'D5rS have found that the mos
,Il III part is the question box, I
fn'R written questions are droppc
answers, and the answering @
~' questions often leads to inter
NE that this farm page Of the Farmc
@Nd Mechanic can easily be made
regular weekly Farrrrs' Institut,
gno g@o We viii try to make it so II on
II"Hde will drop their question
me box. We will not promis