The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1900-07-10
So41he TN Planter

The grass has had is lrst cutting AMI /
Tie obsery"Iit farmer wlsi nave u cousid- +
er vha, is best 20 do on he second F
growth Now is the time when your home
made accumulation II manure wastes
faster il the stables ana baruyard than
al any other time q The scar Il dries /
up and lirefangs worse ty far than al
any other season, and no matter whether
It Is Lepy under shelter or is fuliy expos
ed. il viii Sc losing value II not cared
used plaster as ar absorbent aud this
is all right if there is not too much dry
ness already III the manure. The psaster
| is not going 10 check the fright os the am
| mcria unless il is dampened. and can
! bring about chemical changes. for dry
/ plaster is no better than dry dust OF any
| kind. The best plan is to get the ma
i nure out on the grass stubble as fast 2S
made But in many cases. this is not
practicable in the busy summer time. and
the next best thing is TO see that the
manure loses no more than can be helped.
| The best plan we have ever tried is TO
i mix kainit and plaster and give every part
| of the manure good sprinlling il is
! thrown cut Of the stable. Then. If il is
| to remain in the yard any time. put
il in nat piles. and on each layer. as pat
up sprinkle more Of the plaster and kai-
| nit. The salt in the kainit has strong
affinity for moisture. and Will not only
tend TO keep the manure moister and give
the plaster a better chance. but it will
be adding what manure lacks most-pot-
ash. Then when that manure is hauled
out en- the grass stubble. where it should
60 as scOn as possible, YOU have a dress
ing that Will do far more good than ordi-
nary manure, for The plaster and kainit
will also have tended largely TO the re-
tention of the ammonia in non-yola-
tile form. All the moving lands should
have dressing as soon as possible after
hay harvest. and no matter how large
the accumulation OF home made -Aa--l4n&e
may be it is seldom sufficient to go over
the whole. Then the judci0us use OF
fertilizer mixtures comes into play, and
ii will pay you to use them.
The best dressing we have ever used
on grass lands is a mixture of nitrate
OF soda raw bone meal and muriate of
potash. OF course. the PhCsphoric acid
in the bones is not as Immediately avail
able as that in a dissolved superphos-
, phate but it comes into play much soon
er than other terms Of the so-cailed inso-
luble phOsNhorc acid. as the bone meal
decays rapidly, and the plants are fed
more continuously aud gradually than
with the dissolved phosphate. Then, too
the bone meal, II a good article, contains
about per cent of nitrogen, which is
quickly available. Then, if We add to this
some of the Immediately available nitrate
OF soda. We encourage rank growth at
Cnce. During the growing season is the
: only time that the. nitrate should be
: used, and nitrogen is one of the most
important elements for grass 1t en-
courages the leaf growth rather than
the seeding But we want more than
this. We need the phosphoric acid to
tend to the perfection of the plant, and
to make the potash may use more ac-
tive and available for the plant for il
has been found that potash does not have
its best effect in deficiency of phos-
phoric acid. Hence we want to make q
fertilizer that will be complete, and that
will as nearly as possible substitute the
: lack of the stable manure. To this end
we would mix fer a ton Of fertilizer to be
used as a top-dressing for grass mead
! ows (and the permanent pastures wilt
also be greatly improved by tho same
; dresSine) say: Fine raw bone meal l. :
! 200 pounds, nitrate OF soda 100 pounds
: and muriale OF potash 100 pounds. II is
I and little while before rain. We used
G a similar mixture on our College lawns
. this spring, and the result has been ex-
ceedingly fine, and propose to repeat
+. | the dose OF the nitrate to keep up the
5 growt OF course, there Is a greater
: reason tor top dressing meadows than
q | there IS for top dressing lawns, for moth
ing is removed from the lawn the cut
@ ! grass being allowed to lie and form a
mulch for the roots, while the crop is
;. taken away from the moving field and if
. its pToductiveness is to be kept mp and
, increased. there is a real need for feed
o ing the grass. If the grass is to he plow-
( ed next year for corn or potatoes, it Is
all the more important that the dressing
\ should be given now, for you viii not only
! get heavier second crop of hay but
: you will be accommodating far more OF
q vegetable matter and organic nitrogen
: for the corn and potato crop; and then,
tee. as the potato and corn crops both
make large quantities OF starch, aud
! potash is an essential element in the
: formation of starch, it il important that
: it should not be deficient. But frequently
the addition Of potash in q caustic shape
: 10 the Immediate crop may retard the
germinatiCn of the seed. while If il is
8 applied some time in advance, il be-
i comes assinnated in the soil and IS in
: a better condition than if applied TO the
t crop direct. You need not be afraid that
' the phosphCric acid and potash will get
I away from you any more than the croT
4 will use for the soil Will hold on 10 them
= till the plants call for them, while the
2 nitrogen, in the form OF nitrate, must hr
: used at once by the plants or it will
o leach away from you Hence, while the
, ccrn crop needs nitrogen and potash more
o than anything else it IS well 10 have tho
t nitrogen in the shape Of organic matter
! that will nitrify during tho long hot sea