Jasper County Democrat, Volume 5, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 April 1903 — GARDEN AND FARM [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

GARDEN AND FARM

WOOD ASHES ON FARMS. Wood ashes have been known for many years as excellent for alFkinda_ of crops. Long before fertilizers were placed on the market wood ashes were highly esteemed by farmers, and if they can be had at fair prices, on guarantee, they sell readily. But ashes vary greatly, those from hardwoods being more valuable than the ashes from soft wood, and yet it is difficult to decide upon the value of ashesheven when the kind of wood is known. The ingredient sought in ashes is potash. Hickory ashes contain as high as 9.17 per cent.; red oak, 5.75 per cent.; rock elm, 6.30; walnut, 4.65; cherry, 5.28; quince, 6.30; pear, 9.70; butternut, 3.98; plum, 4.50, and peaeli, 6.95. The cuttings of grapevines produce j ashes that are exceedingly rich in pot- j ash, containing 12.20 per cent., while the pear tree, as may be noticed, pro- j duces more potash in its ashes than does hickory. These facts make the purchase of wood ashes a matter of uncertainty, so far as the actual value to the farmer is concerned, for unless he is informed of the kind of wood from which they are made he will have no* .Jfhowledge of the amount of potash diey contain. Should he purchase butternut tree ashes he will not get one-half as much peftash .as from hickory ashes, while ashes from old trees, young shoots, limbs, trunks and j branches differ, even from the same tree. The bags containing a lot. of ashes will also vary In percentage of potash, while he will also find it very i difficult to distinguish ieached from unleaehed ashes. 'Then, again, the. weight of ashes dep«ncs largely upon the humidity of the atmosphere. If purchased when the weather is damp ! there will be more moisture in the 1 ashes than during dry weather, as they quickly absorb moisture. Analysis of ashes shows that different lots vary greatly.

Potash alone does not give value to ashes, as they contain phosphoric acid and lime. The recognized average for unleaehed ashes is 5 per cent, of potash, per cent., of phosphoric acid and 32t£ per cent, of lime. A ton of ashes, therefore, contains 100 pounds of potash (worth about $5), 30 pounds of phosphoric acid (worth about $1.50>, and 650 pounds of lime. The value of the ashes depends upon the potash and phosphoiic acid, the total being $6.50, as the lime is given no value in fertilizers that are purchased as such, yet it really has a value, which is the same as the market value for stone lime. The proportions of phosphoric arid and lime also vary according to the kind of ashes, but owing to their hulk for shipment, and the fact that they are sometimes leached before put upon the market, the price of ashes is frequently much greater than their actual value to the farmer. Every farmer, however, should carefully save all the ashes made from wood on the farm. Coal ashes have little or no value as fertilizers. Com cobs, the cuttings from vines and trees; and even dead weeds, make ashes which are rich in potash! hut the ashes should be kept under shelter and not allowed to become wet, as they are more easily applied on the land when in a perfectly dry condition. If mixed with barnyard manure they cause loss of ammonia from the heap, hut ashes and manure may be applied on land at the same time and worked into the soil. Potash in ashes is in a pure, uncombined state, very caustic, and at once exerts a chemical and mechanical effect on the soil, while that in fertilizers is combined as a ‘‘salt,’’ with acids, of which about one-half only is pure potash.

As there are about 600 pounds of lime in a ton of wood ashes, it is apparent that some of the benefits imparted io land by ashes is through the lime, which is in the finest possible condition, and is also produced from vegetable matter; that is, unlike stone lime, it has been used in the growth of plants and returned for use again in the wood ashes. But the objection to buying lime in wood ashes is that in such form it is costly, for if a ton of wood ashes costs $lO, and the value of the potash and phosphoric acid is $6.60, as staled, the 650 pounds of lime would cost the farmer $3.50, and, as he can buy stone lime much cheaper, he will not be benefltted correspondingly by purchasing ashes in order to procure the lime. Lime sells at from 60 cents to $1 per barrel, the cost of the pure lime being 3H4 cents per 100 pounds when lime is 75 cents per barrel, while the cost of transportation may he but a small sum if the lime can bo procured near the farm. Ashes contain all the mineral elements of the woods from which they are derived, which includes also soda, magnesia, silica, etc., hut the nitrogenous matter Is eliminated during the burning of the wood. Farmers who desire to use ashes will probably find them profitable If the price does not exceed $7 per ton for unleaehed, but some lotß may be worth more. Fruit growers have a preference for ashes, as they serve to neutralize the acids of the soil when vegetable matter la plowed under, and for clover, peas, etc., ashes are also excellent.—Philadelphia Record. SOME SHEEP SENSE. The more experience one has with sheep the more convinced he becomes that success depends to a large extent upon what might be called good “sheep sense,” as distinguished from

horse sense so commonly used. It It impossible to make profit out of sheep unless one possesses or acquires thi3i sense. Such a little thing will sometimes upset all the good work that a man can do. Here is a neighbor who had a fine herd of sheep which he carefully bred and fed, and seemed to do everything for them; but a good deal of his pasture land was low and wet, and the sheep spent about half or three-quarters of their time with wet feet. They seemed to prefer the low, wet lands, but that was because there was better vegetation therfe, and not because they liked wet feet. Well, about half the herd oecame sick and after a disastrous season the owner woke up to the necessity of fencing off his low, wet lands fiom the sheep pasture. Rape for sheep Is much like clover for the pigs: or potash for peach trees. One might just as a,-ell give up sheep feeding if he will not try rape for their food. Sheep and rape must go together, and they do on most farms where the owner has good ‘‘sheep sense.” Yet it is not necessary to go into many counties in almost any State to find sheep raised without the owner ever having once thought of rape for them. It is not at all strange that so many claim there is no money in sheep laising or farming. Considering the ignorance in some quarters of all changes and improvements that have been going on in this country in the past quarter of a century, it is not at all surprising that failures are common. Do men who know nothing about modern farming ever read? Or are they so set in their ways that they refuse to adopt any methods except those which their fathers taught them? I met a farmer oi this character recently. He had one of the scrubbiest lot of sheep that a man could find anywhere. He had been raising that kind of sheep for half a century. Did they pay? No, there was no money in sheep raising any more. Price of wool was too low. It was ruining farmers and sheep raisers. How much wool did he raise? He wasn’t sure, hut lirobably five pounds of wool to a head. Now is it possible for any man to make money from wool raising when each sheep averages five pounds of wool? Over against this I told him of two-year-old rams of mine shearing twenty and thirty pounds, and good fat ewes giving a similar proportion o# wool. He listened respectfully, but when I was through I could see that he was impressed, teat unbelieving. That man had no “sheep sense,” and all ye can expect of such a case is that his children may wake up and study modern conditions and read of what is going on in their particular indust ' T .—T. M. Mandrake, in American Citiavatqr.

AVOIDING FOOD LOSSES. It has been affirmed that from one- : half to one-third of all the food which ' enters the average American home is j wasted. There is the waste in paring ! and preparing vegetables, the bone in meat, and'the scraps which are left from meals and which cannot appear cn the table a second time. But this loss in rural homes can be readily, and is in most oases, reduced j to a minimum. The parings, vegeta- j ble tops, etc., go usually to the pigs, 1 by which animals they are converted into pork. If pigs are not kept, they can be fed twice each day to the cows, for when fresh, they are absolutely wholesome for either pigs or cows. The scraps from the table can with profit be fed to the chickens, to be returned in eggs. Thus there Is no loss at all of any food which has entered tho house. In our own case the cow gets the garbage (parings, vegetable tops, pea pods, etc.), night and morning, and the chickens get the crumbs from the table. All is gathered up, there is no waste. In our town, where it is not convenient for many to keep either cows, pigs or chickens, the scraps and garbage are gathered daily by a number of poor persons, who make a living assorting the same and feeding it to pigs and chickens. These persons call daily at the kitchen door and remove the accumulations while they are in a fresh and wholesome state. In this case, there is no waste either for one may consWer what is not eaten as given to those who can utilize it, and hence, as one form of charity. It is one way of aiding the poor to help themselves. The plan is applicable to all small towns. —C. G. Gross in New York Tribune Farmer. RED CLOVER. Red clover is valuable for the abundance of pasture it produces and for its excellence as food. Rich in lime and nitrogen, as well as containing a large proportion of starchy matter, It is one of the best balanced foods used, and is also highly relished by ail kinds of stock. In addition to promoting a large flow of milk from cows, it is unexcelled as pasturing for hogs. Its value as a fertilizer is also admitted, and many farmers grow it for that purpose as well as for food. Muocie, Ind., has almost been having halrpulllng over its new library, a gift from Andrew Carnegie. The title over the entrance is "Muncie Public Library," the two words being spelled with the old Roman “U,” which is a “V.” There is unanimous approval In art circles, the old letter conforming to tho architecture of the building. Tho ‘‘plain citizens’’ want plain United States letters, and con ♦end that the town may be thought a “dead one” if it uses old style letters. The sculptor says that tho lettering cannot be altered without marring . the front of the library, and still the factions squabble.