Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1908-11-17
Wood Ashes.

Il
this country wood is the material used
as fuel. Lucky is the man who has his
wood lot and who is taking care OF 1t.
Happy is the man who can 60 out and
cut his own wood on bis own place and
does not have to depend on paying high
price for coal; and then wood makes 30
much better fuel for farm use.
| Every man who burns wood has a
valuable by-product left which is seldom
half taken care of. Wood ashes are q
valuable material for many things and
are by all means worth saving. With
many houses there is dump place for
ashes, and they have been dumped there
for years, doing the land no good where
they were dumped on, for lying on q
pile like that they do no good.
Wood ashes are valuable fertilizer
for many crops, and do some good to
most all crops. The need for potash IN
many crops makes them more valuable
for some crops than for others. They
are worth saving and applying to the
soil. Do not dump them out all winter
and then in the spring haul them ON
the field, for the rains and weather will
have the best part of them leached out.
Save and care for the ashes as you
would for any other valuable material.
have been keeping the ashes down
cellar in barrels until l wanted to scat
ter them on the land in the spring. In
this way we get the whole benefit. Or
should we not want to bother that
much we can get about as much good
from them If we scatter each time where
they would do some good. 1t does
some good to put some in the hen yard
where the chickens can have good
time in busting themselves, but in doing
this l always put under or near some
fruit tree so that after the hen has had
her fun, then the apple tree will get
some good also. Why not teach the
boy every time he empties the bucket
of ashes to scatter under different
fruit tree in the orchard, and in this way
you will get much from them.
On the potato ground is good place
to put them. The potato is vegetable
which needs quite lot of potash in the
soil, and that is in the ashes from wood.
often have hauled 10 the field and scat
tered them, and note that 1t helps any
crop. 1t does not make much showing
on the corn crop, but later when the
land was put in oats We could see the
difference, and could more see the wide
difference when the land was put in
clover still later.
Now during this winter Is the season
to take care of the ashes and keep in the
dry or scatter where they will do some
good. / have had a furnace down cellar
and had plenty of room, and 30 could
handily keep in barrels in the cellar as
easy as not, and this is the best way,
though if / were crowded for room, /
would scatter as fast as made.
In scattering in the orchard do not
put too many in one place, but scatter
well, and do not put pile up against
the tree, but scatter all under the tree
and all over the ground and it will 60
into the soil and get to the roots of the
trees and help in the making of the
fruit.
1t is good place to scatter few over
the ground in the garden, for many OF
the vegetables require potash and lime.
These two elements in the ashes are
what makes it so valuable to the clover
crop. The farmer of this country Is too
wasteful, especially in allowing many OF
the by-products which would make
good fertilizer, to 60 to waste. We can
not afford to waste, and especially can
not afford to do so when it pertains to
anything that will increase the fertility
of the soil. We need to save the ashes
and all matter that will make manure,
and put it in the soil where 1t will do
some good, and at the same time get 1t
out of the way where it otherwise would
be rubbish and filth. We thus get
double gain--we clean up filth and make
things more sanitary, and increase our
soil in productive power.
If you have been wasting ashes begin
now and save them, and increase the
crops of your farm.-E. j. Waterstripe
in Inland Farmer.