The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-03-05
DIR, JENKINS ADDRESS


ToRICAL SOCIETY LAST EVENTNG.
Soils-The Most Suitable Fertilizers
Horse Manure Deprecnted-Necd o
Sufficient Water--somc Hnmdy Tool
The regular meeting Of the New Ha.
ven County Horticultural society was
held at 1925 Chapel street, last evening
with Hon. Joel A. Sperry presiding.
Robert Vetch was secretary. The in
terest of the members was centered in
of the Yale Agricultural station, on
Grasses and Fertilizers for Lawns and
Pastures. Among other things the
| doctor said in speaking of the best va
rieties of grasses for lawns that while
there are a great many mixtures of
grass seeds on the market being ex-
plotted by seedsmen and purchased by
gardeners, who sometimes do not even
know the nature of the grasses they
grow, he has found from experiment
| that these mixtures are often COM
pounds Of seeds and chat that contain
worthless and oftentimes useless vari-
| eties of heritage, These, seed mixtures,
he said We're mostly composed of can
airy, red top, bent variety and Ken
lucky blue While some of these
grasses may be excellent on lawns If
cultivated singly, when they are put on
clover and the like, the lawn at once
becomes battlefield. Those which are
adapted to the soil wage q war on
those which are less fitted, and en-
deavor to kill them off. while the
weaker varities soon succumb to the
inevitable. Eventually instead of an
even sward, the lawn presents nothing
but a mass of patches. Thus, At Is to
be seen that If the gardener or turfer
were to know which of the grasses Were
best adaptable to the soil and climate
under his care 1t would be much more
economical to buy that variety in the
first place, because 1t Is an approved
fact that these mixed seeds are put on
the market at an advance in price OF
nearly an hundred per cent. of the price
OF the best lawn or pasture grasses IL
purchased separately. Speaking of
lawn driveways, the doctor said that
there are grasses that will stand much
heavy treading and not show much de-
cline in vigor throughout a season.
to,
and are much more comfortable and
smoother for driveways than asphalt.
Pine needles he preferred greatly more
than pebbles for driveways on seaside
lawns.
Turning to the subject of fertilizers,
DIR. Jenkins spoke at some length on
the nature of the soil and the affect
the various fertilizers have upon 1t. At
the station he had tried sulphate of
ammonia and found that 1t actually
killed the grass. He afterwards tried
sulphate of ammonia with nitrate of
soda and the result was wonderful. He
explained this by saying that the at
mosphere had absorbed the ammonium
and left the soil impregnated with sui
phuric acid. The nitrate of soda sup
piled the needed nitrogen, He depre-
Gated the use of horse manure on lawns
as we'll as the too often applied street
sweepings In cities. These fertilizers,
he said, contained too many weed |
seeds. Tobacco stems make very good |
fertilizers. Lime, ground bone, nitrate |
of soda, wood ash and finely sifted coal !
ash were among some of the fertilizers
that could be employed probably. /
Sulphate of ammonia may be useful on |
certain soils but where an alkaline fer
tilizer was needed 1t was useless as 1t |
was utterly deficient in nitrogen. The
doctor laid much stress on the sufficient |
of lawns. If person should |
attach a meter to his hose and measure
the amount of water that goes through
In a given time, he would be surprised !
to find how long 1t would be necessary
for him to stand there until the soil I
would receive the amount Of moisture
It receives in a one-quarter inch rain
storm. He gave some very useful d.
rections for preparing the soil before
seeding. Handy and ingenious tools TO.
wedding were also described. He said
t did not take a Castle Garden gradu-
lite to handle them.
Inc ADDRESS WIS lnCGISpeTSe0 with |
many humorous remarks and when, at
he close of his address he was rendered
~ the members a unanimous vote of
hanks for This talk" he wittily re-
)led that he had observed that those
armers that did the most talking had
he poorest fences.
The question box was opened near
he close of the meeting and some tick
ish questions were found therein. One
# the members wanted to know what
worms, moles and toads were good for,
nd what was the best thing to get rid
f cabbage worms. This question was {
he cause Of much hilarity.
AT the close Of the meeting a vote of ,
hanks was rendered to Hon. Joel A.
perry for his able manner of presid~ !
ng at the meeting. Among those pres !
Mt were: Hon. Joel A. Sperry, Robert i
fetch, William J. Rowe, John III. Slo-
ombe, Ernest F. Coe, Robert d. Pryde,
ohm Doughty Robert Patent, John
Iandyside, Superintendent of Parks A. !
(. Amphyn, David Kidd William Muir ,
ay, superintendent of Yale School of {
'orestry; James Bruce William Fer
er Gustave Ginter H. A. Grove, S. !
,eahy and Thomas Nye.
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