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I TYPICAL SCENES AT 112
| THE DEPARTMENT J
I OF AGRICULTURE 1
O STUDYING SAHPLE SOILS. §
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The Department of Agriculture in
Washington has been wise in retain
ing during several successive admin
istrations its able Chief of the Division
of Chemistry. The result has been,
declares the Scientific American, from
which this article is taken, that dur
ing the years cf his tenure of office,
Dr. Harvey W.Wiley has been able to
plan and complete several valuable
series of experiments. None of these,
perhaps, has occupied his closer in
terest and attention more than those
which have had for their object the
study of the growth of various plants
under similar conditions but with vary
ing soils. In fact, the investigation
may be designated as a studyof typical
soils, and is perhaps the first attempt
ever made in this country to study any
number of soils under like conditions.
In a way the work is an extension
of that most excellent series of studies
that have been carried on at the cele
brated Experiment Station in Rotliam-
Kted, England, under the directiou of
Sir John Henry Gilbert and Sir John
Bennett Lawes, who for more than
half a century have had charge of the
scientific work in that place.
Typical soils from between thirty
and forty places scattered throughout
the United States were procured
through the agencies of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, and a direct com
parison was instituted with samples of
soils of known constituents obtained
from Rothamsted.
A plot of ground in the rear of the
main building of the Agricultural De
partment at Washington was set aside
for these experiments, which were be
gun in 1892, and a small green-house
ID
VEGETATION POT CONTAINING GROWING
OATS.
erected in which the plants are kept
during the night and in rainy weather,
but at other times they are rolled out
into the air. This is easily accom
plished, as the pots are all on trucks
which may be moved at will along the
tracks, as shown in the illustrations.
For a portion of the season oats and
beans were grown in duplicate samples
of typical soils. After the crops from
these plants had been harvested, the
THE DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE, WASHINGTON, D. C.-THE VEGETA
TION HOUSE AND CARS OF THE DIVISION OF CHEMISTRY FOB THE
STUDY OF SOILS.
soil in the pots was again prepared for
planting, and a crop of buckwheat
grown. By this means two crops are
secured during each season, so that
the value of the experiment is largely
increased, in consequence of duplicat
ing the data obtained.
Very careful attention is naturally
given to the water supplied k to the
pots, and formerly at proper intervals
a known amount of distilled water was
added to the soil by means of glass
measuring vessels, bnt as the work
has progressed, these have been dis
cardad and a number of tin vessels,
each holding two pounds of distilled
water, have been substituted. As the
amount of water added to every pot
must be known (so that the conditions
may be identical), this improved meth
od makes it possible to add one por
tion of water to eacb of the pots in
the course of two hours. This is ac
complished by inserting the tin fun
nels containing water in the funnel
holder on the side of the pot, as shown
in the illustration.
Next perhaps in importance to the
DR. H. W. WILEY WEIGHING VEGETATION POTS.
addition of water to the soil is the de
termination of the amount of moisture
contained in the pot at any given
period. For a long time this factor
was determined chiefly by an inspec
tion of the surface, with an occasional
weighiug of the pot. This method,
while capable of yielding excellent re
sults when under the immediate su
pervision of an expert, was frequently
interrupted, owing to the absence of
Dr. Wiley, who was liable to be called
elsewhere by other duties. Accord
ingly, it was deemed advantageous to
have a more rigid control of the quan
tity of moisture present. Conse
quently, weekly weighings of the pots
are now made, so that the quantity of
moisture which has been evaporated
during the seven days may be directly
determined. Knowing the quantity
necessary to produce complete satura
tion of the soil, a simple calculation
will show the quantity to be added in
order that the amount of moisture in
the soil shall be between sixty and
seventy per cent, of the total quantity
necessary for its complete saturation.
For a time the weighing of each in
dividual pot not only consumed a large
amount of time, but also proved a
very arduous undertaking for the at
tendant in charge of the pots. Ac
cordingly, the method of weighing
was improved by an ingenious me
chanical device which renders it pos
sible for one person, without assist
ance and without undue physical ex
ertion in the way of lifting the pots,
to weigLi the entire lot of 176 in about
four hours. This is shown in one of
the accompanying illustrations, which
is also of special interest as showing
Dr. Wiley himself in the act of writing
down the weights.
The single-column illustration shows
the screen or hood that has been de
vised for the purpose of protecting the
plants from the action of the wind and
from the attacks of birds.
The laboratory work includes deter
minations of the total amount of dry
matter produced in each pot, together
with the amounts of nitrogen, phos-
phoric acid, and potash removed from
the soil by each crop. The data from
seven seasons is now at hand, and the
preparation of a preliminary report is
under way. It will contain state
ments in regard to the composition of
the soils, their physical character, their
water-holding capacity, their contents
of humus, and the percentage of nitro
gen, phosphoric acid, and potash con
tained therein, both as regards total
content and in respect of the quanti
ties removed by different solvents.
This report will be illustrated, not
only by analytical tables, but also
graphically in such a way as to show
in the most evident manner the rela
tion whioh exists between the physical
composition of the soil, its contents of
moisture, and the quantity of dry or
ganic matter produced.
This is but one of several investiga
tions now being conducted under the
direction of the Chief of the Chemical
Division of the Department of Agri
culture. The great value to the
farmer is obvious, for as a result of
this investigation a chemical analysis
of a given soil will at once determine
what plant foods may be deficient iu
it for the production of a given crop
and at the same time it will show the
farmer how to supply these deficien
cies when practicable by the judicious
application of fertilizers or by a suit
able rotation of crops. Thus in the
end it will demonstrate what crops
grown on a given soil will yield the
greatest amount of profit to the farmer.
The slow and even tedious work
necessary for the satisfactory comple
tion of investigations carried on in the
scientific bureaus of our Government
is not always appreciated by the gen
eral public, but when the results that
are Insure to ensue are so far-reach
ing in effects as those of the investiga
tion which has just been so briefly out
lined, then, indeed, does the wisdom
of the work become clearly manifest.
Went to Jail For a Dog.
Mark A. Diamond, who died at the
Charity Hospital here recently, had
become locally famous on account of
his love for his dog.
Three times Diamond had been to
jail to save the dog's life, and the dog
survives his master. It was not a dog
with a pedigree upon which Diamond
lavished his affection, but a plain
everyday cur with a bad temper. This
bad temper caused all the trouble.
The dog bit a child about a year ago
and Diamond was arrested oil the
charge of keeping a vicious canine.
Recorder Finuegau gave him the al
ternative of killing the brute or going
to jail. Diamond went to jail. The
same thing happened over again when
Diamond had served out his first
sentence.
The second term having expired, he
was again with his dog, which cele
brated his release by biting a young
man ten days ago. Diamond's health
was poor aud the case against him was
continued two or three times, the ac
cused saying he would suffer impris
onment again rather than have his pet
put to-death. On his way from the
Court House several days ago he fell
unconscious in the street and was
taken to the Charity Hospital, where
death came this morning. The case
has aroused much sympathy.—New
Orleans Dispatch to Baltimore Sun.
Glove-Making Animals.
Among the more popular materials
used in modern glove-making are kid,
lamb, buck, doe and dog skins. The
kids are specially reared for the use
of their hides. They are all kept in
pens, and thus are prevented from in
juring their skins against hedges, pal
ings or rocks. They are fed only with
milk, so as to preserve the quality of
the hide, which becomes very deli
cate, and, naturally, more valuable.
At one time Senator Mackay, of Ne
vada, conceived the idea of buying up
all the goats in the world, so as to ob
tain a monopoly of kid leather, but the
scheme did not flourish. Following
closely upon this was a plan projected
by several French capitalists to catch
all the rats in Chicago and establish a
preserve whioh would supply the
French glove-makers with ratskins to
be converted into "kid" gloves.—
Woman's Home Companion.
Man's Ingratitude to HI. Horse.
Spokane, the horse that beat Proc
tor Knott in one of the finest Derbys
that was ever run, winning his owner
$30,000 and the fleeting but bright re
nown of the turf, has been brought
back to the scene of his former tri
umphs and sold at auotion for a paltry
$l7O. Once a horse that kings would
have been proud to own, now he
stands the chance of becoming a miser
able hack in a road-wagon. The in
gratitude that men who own race
horses show to the animals whioh
served them so well is an old story.—
Louisville Courier- Journal.
A TREADMILL DOC.
One That Burn a Printing Prtu In a
Wisconsin Establishment.
A dog which runs a press is a curi
osity in Plymouth, Wis., and is prob
ably the only animal in the world do
ing this kind of service. "Gyp," as
the dog is known, is owned by the
Plymouth Review Company, and not
only runs off the edition of the paper
once a week, but is also employed to
run a large job press.
The clog is an English mastiff,
weighing 150 pounds, and formerly
belonged to a showman who became
stranded there and left the animal at
one of the hotels. The proprietors of
ttie Review secured him, and his
tricks of operating a wheel were de
veloped.
A wocilen feet in di
ameter and four feet wide, was con
structed and balanced on a shaft on
the end of which was placed a pully to
drive a main shaft. This shaft was
connected with a nine-column power
press, capable of carrying the forms
of a six-column quarto paper. In the
wheel Gyp was placed and in a short
time taught to tread. Though usually
tractable, there are two things which
throw the dog into a rage. The first
is to have any one turn the wheel,
which Gyp has come to look upon as
his own, and second the sight of a
particular cat. The latter fact is
taken advantage of when the dog does
not tread fast enough. A glimpse of
the cat is sufficient to increase the
speed of the wheel, and if the cat is
THIS DOG PRINTS A NEWSPAPER.
not taken away after a time the dog
would work himself into such a pas
sion that the press would be toru to
pieces by the speed. Gyp has been
doing the work for two yi-ars, never
missing a day, and seems to enjoy the
work, frequently getting into the
wheel in the middle of the night and
running half an hour or more just to
"warm up," as it were. When com
manded, the dog will start up or stop
like a horse.
This Tree Is I.earnliiK the Alphabet.
There is a curious oak tree on tho
New Jersey bank of the Hudson
River whose gnarled, misshapen
branches clearly form nine letters of
the alphabet. It is known throughout,
iis neighborhood as the alphabet tree.
It stands a few feet back from the
water's edge nearly opposite 1551 h
street, New York City. In the summer
its rugged irregular branches are cov
ered with thick foliage which complete
ly hides the letters traced by the
branches, but when tho leaves disap
pear its curious orthography is out
lined clearly against the sky.
The alphabet tree stands upon his
toric ground. At the tiiue of the Revo
lution this spot was several times
visited by Washington and was once
the camp of the colonial army.
oJ 112
11 /
THE ALPHABET TREE.
One of the most remarkable of the
limb formations near the top of the
tree form the letter "R," clearly
marked out by half a dozen oddly
crooked branches, and below it a per
fect "H" Las been formed in the same
way.
A little lower down there is a perfect
"X,"and near it a well-defined capi
tal "N." The lower branches are
decorated with an "E," a trifle mis
shapen, an "L"and a "Z." A cur
ious curved fork at the end of a short,
straight limb make a monster "U,"
and there are in all three "Y's" on the
tree and a creditable capital "P." In
addition to thwe are a number of
other letters not so clearly formed
which many persons have discovered.
In 1800 New York City got its
water out of wells.
|FOR FARM AND GARDEN^
Diffefttorn for Piff Food.
An agricultural paper suggests the
following as aids to digestion for the
pig pen:
First: A mixture of six pounds of
salt to a bushel of wood ashes.
Second: to six bushels of charcoal
oroken fine add six pounds of salt,
ane bushel wheat shorts and 1 1-4
pounds of copperas dissolved iu a
pail of water.
Third: One bushel of wood ashes,
four pounds of charcoal, six pounds of
salt and 1 1-4 pounds of copperas dis
solved in a pail of water.
One or the other of these should be
Kept in an open box—but protected
from the weather—in every pig pen
and where the animals may help them
selves.—New York Weekly Witness.
Manuring Fruit Trees in Winter.
Manures applied to trees when their
buds are dormant, as in winter, are
sure to largely increase wood growth
the followingyear, especially on young,
rigorous trees. Even when examina
tion of the buds shows that the tree
will blossom freely next spring, it is not
safe to apply now much rich manure,
as it will make so much sap that the
blossom will be drowned out and not
set its fruit. This is often the reason
why fruit fails to set where there are
plenty of blossoms. Only old trees
zan be thus mauured with certainty
that the manure will help the fruit
yield. And even when manuring old
orees, potash and phosphate in avail
able form are better than stable man
ure or other fertilizers rich in nitro
gen.
ll#*ifers Going Dry Too Loin;.
If there is any carelessness in milk
ing it is apt to occur when heifers are
milked afte'r their first calf. Their
teats are small, auil it is slow, hard
work to draw the last drops from the
adder, as should always be done.
Besides, the heifer that calved last
spring probably gives only a small
mess at the best, and there is great
temptation to dry her off, as the milk
she gives scarcely pays the troublo of
milking. Rut that is not the main
point. Keeping the heifer up to her
usual flow of milk is all important for
her own future value as a cow. When
a heifer is allowed togo dry two,
three or four months,the cow is after
wards extremely liable to stop further
milk production at about the same
time.
The (iHiine of Mottled Hotter.
The prime cause of mottles is the
ase of too cold water in washing the
butter and the manner in which it is
introduced into the churn. By using
too cold water the outside of tho but
ter granules becomes crusted or hard
ened like the shell of an egg, while
the inside is soft. Now, when this
mass is worked together these little
shells remain iu the same condition,
and no amount of working or temper
ing salt, or even distribution of salt
when added, will change the condi
tions. They do not work up, conse
quently do not take salt, hence the
line, threadlike streaks iu the butter.
The manner in which the water is
Introduced into the churn is respon
«ible for the large mottles or seeming
tumps of white butter throughout the
mass. In the majority of creameries
throughout the country the water is
pumped directly int#the churn,either
through a hose or a pipe. Now, when
the water strikes the butter these
granules become hard and solid as in
the tirst case, ouly that these hard
granules are not broken down at all,
and the large mottles are tho result.
Tho wash water should be tempered
to within two or three degrees of the
churn temperature.
Keepinc l'nths Open.
One of tho most important winter
works on the farm is to open the paths
after each snowfall. Where the path
lies across places that usually drift
full of snow much of the work of
keeping the path open may be avoided
by removing tho obstruction to the
wind which causes the drift. Most
generally a drifting snow remains
Beveral days, so that the path will
drift full every even though no
fresh snow has fallen. Iu opening
roads a team of steady, stout oxen
hitched to a sleigh, or sometimes to a
stone sled, will make a broad path bet
ter than horses could do it. We have
often seen, when a boy, most of the
cattle in the neighborhood brought
out to follow after an ox team and
sled. By the time those had been
driven twice over the road, it was con
sidered safe for sleigh vehicles drawn
by horses. A flock of sheep driven
after all else will compact the snow
best of all. But if snow drifts into
the tracks thus made, it will often be
piled nearly as high as the loose snow
on either side. It may be all right so
long as the cold weather lasts, but let
a thaw come,and this solid snow must
be abandoned, and a new track made
in the loose snow on one side of what
has been used during the winter.
Utilizing Farm Manures
It is generally understood that all
fertilizing eloments must dissolve be
fore they become plant food. Hence
the more thoroughly decomposed they
become iu the compost heap, the more
quickly raius and dews will dissolve
them after they are applied to the
soil. My plan of caring for farm
manures is to make three bins by
placing posts eight feet apart and sid
ing up with boards. The size of these
bins will be determined by the amount
of waste to be converted into fertilizer.
Board up the first and second bins
three fert high. The third bin I make
larger than tho others, as it must hold
the entire output of compo.it until it is
distributed.
To provent waste of the liquid
manures by leaching, spread a thick
layer of dry muck, peat or marsh sod
over the bottom of the bins. This will
act as nn absorbent. If this is too
much trouble putin a layer of coarsa
grass or straw instead. Bin No. lls
to receive all fresh manures, night
slops from the house, ashes, droppings
from poultry houses and pig peus, old
shoes, bones and trash of all kinds.
Make bin No. 1 a general dumping
ground for everything that can possibly
be utilized, such as dish water and
wash water, unless you have hogs and
prefer to give this last to them. Kee
that the stable manure and rubbish
are thoroughly mixed in bin No. 1.
By thus incorporating all the trash
with the stable manure you prevent
its heating too rapidly, or burning.
Sprinkle lime, or better, sulphate of
potash over all. This will hasten de
composition. Keep all the bins that
contain anything covered with straw,
earth or coarse grass to prevent the
ammonia escaping.
tork over (joutents of bin No. 1 a
little every three or four days to
thoroughly mix coarse with fine and
in three or four days after bin No. 1
is full fork it all over into bin No. 2,
then proceed to till bin No. 1 again.
When bin No. 1 is full this time,
empty bin No. 2 into bin No. 3, and
repeat the process with bin No. 1.
Every plant that grows in garden or
Held Las a taste for food peculiar to
itself. The old shoes, bones and
even the dead cat thrown into bin
No. 1 and mixed with the other com
post will find its way into the little
rootlets of some plant.
While this method does not make a
complete fertilizer for any special
plaut, it makes a most excellent gen
eral fertilizer. We are much too apt
to think of worn out articles as dead
or worthless Matter. An article serves
a? long and well as it can in one farm
and then disintegrates only to allow
the individual particles to come to
gether in some new and often higher
form. —C. M. Drake iu New England
Homestead.
Unrierri raining Muck Swamp.
There is a far better way to make
use of u swamp of rich black muck
than to draw it out, season it a year or
two by exposure to freezing, and then
spread it on uplands. No doubt there
are places where this plan may pay,
but it is not economy. The black
muck is probably not nearly so rich
in fertilizing material as is supposed,
and so much handliug of it as is re
quired to draw it iu its raw state, sea
son it and then handle it again to ap
ply it, very rarely pays. The better
way is to make underdrains through
the swamp, possibly if there is a great
deal of water leading all these drains
into an open ditch, which should have
a growth of sod on its sides as early as
possible. In two or three years frost •
will penetrate to the depth of two
feet or more in the pliable muck, and
the surface if left bare through the
winter can easily be cultivated until
it is as mellow as an ash heap.
Usually these muck swamps are
underlaid with a clay subsoil. That
is a good sign, for it means that less
of the fertility has been washed away
and lost. In all cases the drains
should be put down deep enough to
reach the cluv, and some gravel should
bs put over the joiuts of the tile,so as
to not only keep the clay from stop
ping the water from entering.but also
to prevent the tine bla-k mould from
above from sifting into the tile.
Sometimes when we get down to the
clav springs of water will burst forth.
Where R spring is found, much caro
will be required in laying the tile, as
there will be n great deal of sand
brought up by the water, and this is
likely to get into and choke the tile.
The best way probably is to leave an
opening here in the drain and make a
small pond there with the spring of
water iu the centre. It is slow, dirty
work dredging out such a pond so as
to have the water rise tip from a lower
depth than the drain. It will require
attention every year to keep this hole
from tilling up. But such a spring
once found will furnish water at any
time through the open ditch into
which the tile carries it.
After the swamp is drained.it should
be cultivated with ordinary farm crops,
but reserved for those which require
mucky soil to do their best. If grain
is sown it will probably make a rank
growth of straw, which, lacking mineral
fertility, will not be able to sustain its
own weight. The grain crop will
probably rust, and both that and the
straw will prove a failure. But 11
drained muck bed fertilized with pot
nsh and phosphate makes a first rate
place for celery, for cabbage and for
corn. These can be better grown on
the draiued muck bed than on uplands
fertilized with the swamp muck spread
over them. Almost all mucky soils
aredeticieut in potash. They are the
remains of vegetation that has very
little mineral matter in it. A dressing
of phospbato and potash applied to
mucky soils makes them almost as
rich as fermented cow manure. Iu
time the muck bed will waste away bj
exposure to the air,and for this reason
it should every few years grow a crop
of clover to renew the vegetable mat
ter it has lost. It may seem needless
where the soil is still black with the
remains of old vegetation to plow
under a clover growth, but the clovei
is far more nitrogenous than any veg
etable matter this soil ever produced
before, and it also contains a greatei
amount of mineral fertility. So there
is probably uo way of makiug clovei
produce a better effect thau by grow
ing it on soil which is apparently al
ready full of vegetable matter. —Amer-
ican Cultivator.
An "ice-creeper," for wearing oo
the shoes in slippery street'- has been
invented by a Missouri lady. It has
email steel teeth to piert-o the ice as
the wearer walks and cau be applied
to the aole in 10 seconds.