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Show FERTILIZERS f , CORN. Conclusions Drawn fr Kcsnlts Obtained Ob-tained at the Exneri .nt stations. Potash, nitrogen and ho.;phorio acid are recognized as the e ntial elements in all fertilizers and ni ures. Often it occurs with certain so; and crops that only one of these ingreJ uts is essential. At the Kentucky state ;ricultural experiment ex-periment station the .tilts of trials with fertilizers on corn ado it appear that only in those casf where potash was a chief ingredient vas there any profitable use of a coiiir rcial fertilizer on corn. At the Hatch experim t station, Massachusetts, Mas-sachusetts, similar trial- rere made last season, showing very in- h the same results re-sults under different editions of soil and climate. In the Mi ;achusetts experiments ex-periments it was found uit "while soils differ widely in their retirements potash pot-ash more often or mor largely proves beneficial to corn than ei ler nitrogen or phosphoric acid. As a r e, it also most largely increases the yiel of both grain and stover, but its effec is greater on the latter. It is though that the deficiency de-ficiency of many soils in jotash may be accounted for from the ffct that barnyard barn-yard manures, as a rul, lack this ingredient, in-gredient, and farmers wit use fertilizers have usually bought thob rich in phosphoric phos-phoric acid, with little oino potash. Taking all the experinrnts of the station sta-tion into account, the graid average increase in-crease in hard corn and sover per acre i3 as follows: For potash 11.3 bushels; stover, 1,308 pounds; fo' nitrogen, 4.7 bushels; stover 8S9 poinds; for phosphoric phos-phoric acid, 3.6 bushes; stover, 163 pounds. The increase lue to potash, then, exceeded that due to nitrogen, as follows: Hard corn, 2.4C times; stover, 3.37 times. Over phospioric acid the average increase was resrectively: Hard com, 3.14 times; stover, 8..08 times. It thus becomes evident tint potash produces pro-duces relatively more efect upon the yield of stover than upon that of grain, and that it greatly exceedt either nitrogen nitro-gen or phosphoric acid ii this respect. Next to potash in its effect upon stover ranks nitrogen. Of the following two mixtures eittier one is recommended by the station as a good fertilizer for an acre of corn: First-Muriate First-Muriate of potash, 175 pounds; dissolved bone black, 175 pounds; nitrate of soda, 100 pounds. Second Wood ashes, 1,500 pounds; bono mealjJOO jMunds; nitrate and harrow in. r , Hay Loaders. At a meeting of Iowa farmers the hay loader question was discussed. One farmer farm-er said that he had found that hay was sometimes inj nred by the loader. Possibly Possi-bly this may be the case, but not often, says The Farmers' Review, in which is also exuressed tho oniniou that the loader and its contemporary inventions for speedy work in the hay field have proved of inestimable value to the farmers. E. C Bennett, commeuting on this subject, expresses it as his opinion that the accusation ac-cusation of injury may 'apply to the swath loader, because a'big patch has to be cut down before any can be hauled, and in bad weather considerable hay is dried long before the last mown grass is ready for hauling. Although this is the case, we feel sure that very few of those that use them will take kindly to hand pitching. pitch-ing. " '. " ' Theoretically the hay loader is the link needed to make a perfectchain in haying operations. But it must be a swath loader, says the journal juotnd, or else there must be a side delivery horse rake. Green grass is not materially injured by a shower. If only that .which has not dried is caught in a shower the farmer properly congratulates himself on hia luck. Well, in following the mower just far enough in the rear to tcke the hay as fast as dry enough and running right around the field, practically no dry hay is exposed to the weather. But if enough must be mowed to make windrows cros;.- wise before' commencing fo.stack, then considerable dry hay runs its chances of the weather. . . How Many Eggs a Hen Can Lay. .This is an interesting point, and one about which many conflicting-statements are heard. Of course som.e breeds are much better layers than others, and so no statement can be exact. Hat a French writer of considerable repute says that the ovarium of a fowl is composed of 000 ovals or eggs, and consequently a hen cannot lay more than COO eggs in her whole life, and, in a natural course, these are distributed over nine - years in the following proportion: First year after birth . 15 to 20 Second vear after birth ,,...100to ISA Third year after birth....- ....13) to 135 Fourth year after birth ...KXlto 115 Fifth year after birth GO to 80 Sixth year after birth r.j.., Ml to 60 Seventh year after birth....; ,J;.- 8.5 to 4(1 Eighth year after birth 15 to SI Ninth year after birth ..j.. 1 to 10 This table shows the larg number of eggs in the third year; yet "jnany of our poultry writers tell us that it is a mistake to keep hens after they are two years old, as they are then past- the best laying period. ' ' Sowing Wheat. Professor Blount, after ten years' experiments ex-periments in thick sowing of wheat, says: "In all cases and under all conditions, condi-tions, except late sowing, it has been found that thirty pounds of good, sound and pure wheat is enough for an acre, drilled or broadcast. In a bushel of common com-mon sized wheat there are in round numbers 822,000 kernels, half of which, if sown evenly upon an acre, wonld placo them less than four inches apart each way, giving each kernel about twelve square inches on which to grow and develop. de-velop. If sown early and the conditions of the soil are favorable, such thin sowing, sow-ing, it will be found, will produce more and better grain than the larger quantity, quanti-ty, because there will be room for each kernel to grow unobstructed." . . |
