Lime is valuable for its effect on the soil properties which

constitute fertility.

Physically lime acts on the texture of the soil making clay soils

mealy and crumbly, and causing the lighter soils to adhere or stick

together more closely.

Chemically, lime decomposes minerals containing potash and other plant

foods, thus rendering them available for the use of plants. It also

aids the decay of organic matter and sweetens sour soils.

Biologically lime aids the process of nitrification.

The action of lime is greatest in its caustic or unslacked form.

Too much or too frequent liming may injure the soil. It should be

carefully tried in a small way, and its action noted, before using it

extensively.

A common way of using lime is to place twenty to forty bushels on an

acre in heaps of three to five bushels, covering them with soil until

the lime slacks to a fine powder. The lime is then spread and harrowed

in. Lime tends to hasten the decay of humus. It should not be applied

oftener than once in four or five years.

_Gypsum_, a sulphate of lime, is similar to lime in its action on the

soil. Its most important effect is the setting free of potash from its

compounds.

_Gas lime_ should be used with great care as it contains substances

that are poisonous to plant roots. It is best to let it lie exposed to

the weather several months before using.

_Marl_ is simply soil containing an amount of lime varying from five

to fifty per cent. It has value in the vicinity of marl beds but does

not pay to haul very far.

CHAPTER XXII

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS–CONTINUED

MIXED FERTILIZERS

_What they are._

There are a large number of business concerns in the country which buy

the raw materials described in Chapter XXI, mix them in various

proportions, and sell the product as mixed or manufactured

fertilizers. If these mixtures contain the three important plant

foods, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, they are sometimes called

“complete” manures or fertilizers. In some parts of the country all

commercial fertilizers are called “guano.”

_Many brands._

These raw materials are mixed in many different proportions and many

dealers have special brands for special crops. There are consequently

large numbers of brands of fertilizers which vary in the amounts,

proportions and availability of the plant foods they contain. For

instance, in 1903, twenty-three fertilizer manufacturers offered for

sale ninety-six different brands in the State of Rhode Island. In

Missouri one hundred and ten brands, made by sixteen different

manufacturers, were offered for sale. Eighty-three manufacturers

placed six hundred and forty-four brands on the market in New York

State during the same year. Of one hundred and twenty brands

registered for sale in Vermont in the spring of 1904, there were

seventeen mixtures for corn and thirty-four for potatoes.

The result of this is more or less confusion on the part of the farmer

in purchasing fertilizers, and with many a farmer it is a lottery as

Lime is valuable for its effect on the soil properties which

constitute fertility.

Physically lime acts on the texture of the soil making clay soils

mealy and crumbly, and causing the lighter soils to adhere or stick

together more closely.

Chemically, lime decomposes minerals containing potash and other plant

foods, thus rendering them available for the use of plants. It also

aids the decay of organic matter and sweetens sour soils.

Biologically lime aids the process of nitrification.

The action of lime is greatest in its caustic or unslacked form.

Too much or too frequent liming may injure the soil. It should be

carefully tried in a small way, and its action noted, before using it

extensively.

A common way of using lime is to place twenty to forty bushels on an

acre in heaps of three to five bushels, covering them with soil until

the lime slacks to a fine powder. The lime is then spread and harrowed

in. Lime tends to hasten the decay of humus. It should not be applied

oftener than once in four or five years.

_Gypsum_, a sulphate of lime, is similar to lime in its action on the

soil. Its most important effect is the setting free of potash from its

compounds.

_Gas lime_ should be used with great care as it contains substances

that are poisonous to plant roots. It is best to let it lie exposed to

the weather several months before using.

_Marl_ is simply soil containing an amount of lime varying from five

to fifty per cent. It has value in the vicinity of marl beds but does

not pay to haul very far.

CHAPTER XXII

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS–CONTINUED

MIXED FERTILIZERS

_What they are._

There are a large number of business concerns in the country which buy

the raw materials described in Chapter XXI, mix them in various

proportions, and sell the product as mixed or manufactured

fertilizers. If these mixtures contain the three important plant

foods, nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash, they are sometimes called

“complete” manures or fertilizers. In some parts of the country all

commercial fertilizers are called “guano.”

_Many brands._

These raw materials are mixed in many different proportions and many

dealers have special brands for special crops. There are consequently

large numbers of brands of fertilizers which vary in the amounts,

proportions and availability of the plant foods they contain. For

instance, in 1903, twenty-three fertilizer manufacturers offered for

sale ninety-six different brands in the State of Rhode Island. In

Missouri one hundred and ten brands, made by sixteen different

manufacturers, were offered for sale. Eighty-three manufacturers

placed six hundred and forty-four brands on the market in New York

State during the same year. Of one hundred and twenty brands

registered for sale in Vermont in the spring of 1904, there were

seventeen mixtures for corn and thirty-four for potatoes.

The result of this is more or less confusion on the part of the farmer

in purchasing fertilizers, and with many a farmer it is a lottery as

washed in a day with a cradle, varies from one to three cubic

yards. The dirt is usually shovelled into a pan or bucket, from

which it is thrown into the hopper. The miners usually measure

the amount of dirt washed by the number of” pans.” One man

working alone with a Cradle ought to wash from seventy-five to

one hundred and fifty pans in a day, and two men will wash

twice as much. A pan may contain one-third or one half of a

cubic foot. Two men can work more conveniently with the

rocker than one. There is enough work to give constant employ-

ment to a cradler and a shoveller. The latter has a couple of

buckets or pans, which he fills alternately, always keeping one

full and near the cradler, so that without moving his feet he can

pick it up and empty it into the riddle-box. If the rocker have

only one man, he must stop rocking after washing every pan and

get more dirt. This delay is injurious to the process of washing,

because it allows the dirt in the bottom of the cradle to harden

and pack, and some gold is always lost as a consequence. If the

dirt and water be convenient, not more than two men can work

to a profit with a rocker. But sometimes it happens that water

cannot be led to the claim, and in such case the dirt must

20

be carried to the water, a greater weight of which is used

than of dirt. At least three times as much water as dirt is required

for washing. If the distance from the hole to the water be not

over ten or twenty feet, the miners will usually carry the dirt in

buckets ; if farther they will use wheelbarrows ; and sometimes

for greater distances pack-mules or waggons. The greater the

distance, the more the men required for carrying the dirt. Some-

times, too, it happens that the claim is troubled by water, and then

?one man may be constantly employed in bailing.

It is of great importance in mining with the cradle, to have the

xsradle placed within four or five feet of the hole from which the

pay-dirt is obtained, and to have a good supply of water at the

head of the cradle, and then to have a good descent below the

cradle, so that the tailings may all be carried away by the water,

so as not to accumulate. The rocker washes about one-half the

amount of dirt that can be washed by an equal number of men

with the torn, one-fourth of what can be washed with the sluice,

and one -hundredth of the amount that can be washed with the

hydraulic process ; but it is peculiarly fitted for some kinds of

diggings.- Many little gullies, containing coarse gold in their

“beds, cannot obtain water for washing except during rains, and

then only for a few days at a time. In these gullies the cradle

can be used to the best advantage, for it can easily be transported,

and it is very good for saving coarse gold. While dirt that would

pay from ten to twenty-five cents, was abundant at the surface of

the earth in the Californian mines, the cradle was extensively used,

but now it has been abandoned by the whites, and is left to the

Chinamen, who think themselves doing well if they make

: seventy-five cents or one dollar per day.

‘The great difficulty in mining with the cradle is, that the sand

will ” pack,” or make a hard mass on a level with the top of the

riffle-bars, and the gold then is lost. So long as the cradle is in

motion the dirt does not pack, but when the rocking ceases, the

mass hardens in a few minutes. If the miner leaves his cradle

standing for fifteen minutes, he stirs up the dirt with his spoon

before commencing again to wash. One device to prevent pack-

ing is to put a little block under each end of the rockers, so that

at the end of every motion the cradle receives a shock. Quick-

silver is sometimes used in cradles, but not usually.

Pan. The pan is used in all branches of gold mining, either as

an instrument for washing, or as a receptacle for gold, amalgam,

or rich dirt. It is made of stiff tin or sheet-iron, with a flat bottom

about a foot across, and with sides six inches high, rising at an

angle of furty-five degrees. A little variation in the size or shape

of the pan will not injure its value for washing. Sheet-iron is

preferable to tin, because it is usually stronger and does not amal-

to whether or not he is buying what his crop or his soil needs.

Some of the manufacturers are not above using poor, low grade, raw

materials in making these mixtures.

This means that the farmer should make himself familiar with the

subject of fertilizers if he desires to use them intelligently and

economically.

_Safeguard for the farmer._

As a safeguard to the buyer of fertilizers the State laws require that

every brand put on the market shall be registered and that every bag

or package sold shall have stated on it an analysis showing the

amounts of nitrogen, or its equivalent in ammonia, the soluble

phosphoric acid, the reverted phosphoric acid, the insoluble

phosphoric acid, and the potash.

This registration is generally made at the State experiment station,

and the director of the station is instructed to take samples of these

brands and have them analyzed, and publish the results together with

the analysis guaranteed by the maker.

These analyses are published in bulletin form and should be in the

hands of every farmer who makes a practice of using commercial

fertilizers.

The manufacturers of fertilizers comply with the law by printing on

the bag or package the per cents of plant food in the fertilizers, and

these statements in the great majority of cases agree favorably with

the analyses of the experiment stations, but they do not in all cases

state what materials were used to furnish the different kinds of plant

food, and it is not always possible to find this out by analysis.

_Low grade materials._

For instance in mixing a fertilizer one manufacturer may use dried

blood to furnish nitrogen and another may use leather waste or horn

shavings. The latter contains more nitrogen than the dried blood, but

they are so tough and decay so slowly that they are of little benefit

to a quick growing plant.

_Inflating the guarantee._

Although the dealer states correctly the per cents of plant food in

the fertilizer, he is quite frequently inclined to repeat this in a

different form, and thus give the impression that the mixture contains

more than it really does.

The dealers also give the nitrogen as ammonia because it makes a

larger showing.

Phosphoric acid is often stated as “bone phosphate” because in this

the amount appears to be greater.

For example, an analysis taken from a fertilizer catalogue reads as

follows:

Ammonia 2 to 3 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 to 10 “

Total Phosphoric Acid 11 to 14 “

Total Bone Phosphate 23 to 25 “

Actual Potash 10 to 12 “

Sulphate of Potash 18 to 20 “

A better statement would be as follows:

Nitrogen 1.65 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 “

Total Phosphoric Acid (furnished in Bone Phosphate) 11 “

Potash (furnished in Sulphate of Potash) 10 “

Ammonia is reduced to terms of nitrogen by multiplying by .824. All

bone phosphate is forty-six per cent. phosphoric acid. When bone

phosphate is given instead of phosphoric acid it simply makes the

to whether or not he is buying what his crop or his soil needs.

Some of the manufacturers are not above using poor, low grade, raw

materials in making these mixtures.

This means that the farmer should make himself familiar with the

subject of fertilizers if he desires to use them intelligently and

economically.

_Safeguard for the farmer._

As a safeguard to the buyer of fertilizers the State laws require that

every brand put on the market shall be registered and that every bag

or package sold shall have stated on it an analysis showing the

amounts of nitrogen, or its equivalent in ammonia, the soluble

phosphoric acid, the reverted phosphoric acid, the insoluble

phosphoric acid, and the potash.

This registration is generally made at the State experiment station,

and the director of the station is instructed to take samples of these

brands and have them analyzed, and publish the results together with

the analysis guaranteed by the maker.

These analyses are published in bulletin form and should be in the

hands of every farmer who makes a practice of using commercial

fertilizers.

The manufacturers of fertilizers comply with the law by printing on

the bag or package the per cents of plant food in the fertilizers, and

these statements in the great majority of cases agree favorably with

the analyses of the experiment stations, but they do not in all cases

state what materials were used to furnish the different kinds of plant

food, and it is not always possible to find this out by analysis.

_Low grade materials._

For instance in mixing a fertilizer one manufacturer may use dried

blood to furnish nitrogen and another may use leather waste or horn

shavings. The latter contains more nitrogen than the dried blood, but

they are so tough and decay so slowly that they are of little benefit

to a quick growing plant.

_Inflating the guarantee._

Although the dealer states correctly the per cents of plant food in

the fertilizer, he is quite frequently inclined to repeat this in a

different form, and thus give the impression that the mixture contains

more than it really does.

The dealers also give the nitrogen as ammonia because it makes a

larger showing.

Phosphoric acid is often stated as “bone phosphate” because in this

the amount appears to be greater.

For example, an analysis taken from a fertilizer catalogue reads as

follows:

Ammonia 2 to 3 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 to 10 “

Total Phosphoric Acid 11 to 14 “

Total Bone Phosphate 23 to 25 “

Actual Potash 10 to 12 “

Sulphate of Potash 18 to 20 “

A better statement would be as follows:

Nitrogen 1.65 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 “

Total Phosphoric Acid (furnished in Bone Phosphate) 11 “

Potash (furnished in Sulphate of Potash) 10 “

Ammonia is reduced to terms of nitrogen by multiplying by .824. All

bone phosphate is forty-six per cent. phosphoric acid. When bone

phosphate is given instead of phosphoric acid it simply makes the

21

gamate with mercury. The pan is the simplest of all instruments

used for washing auriferous dirt. Some dirt, not enough to fill it

full, is put in, and the pan is then put under water. The water

ought to be not more than a foot deep, so that the pan may rest on

the bottom, while the miner inserts his fingers in and under the

dirt and lifts it up a little, so that the whole mass is wet. If the

water be deep, the pan may be held in one hand while the other

is used to stir up the dirt, but it is more convenient to take both*

The dirt having been filled with water, the miner catches the pan

at the sides, raises that part toward his body, and lowers the outer

edge a little, and commences to shake the pan from side to side,

holding it so that all the dirt is under water, and so that a little of

the dirt can escape over the outer edge. The earthy part of the

dirt is rapidly dissolved by the water, assisted by the shaking of

the pan and the rolling of the gravel from side to side, and forms 1

a mud which runs out while clean water runs in. The light sand

flows out with the thin mud, while the lumps of tough clay and

the large stones remain. The stones collect on the top of the

clay, and they are scraped together with the fingers and thrown

out. This process continues, the pan being gradually raised in

the water, and its outer edge depressed, until all the earthy matter

has been dissolved, and that as well as the stones swept away by

the water, while the gold remains at the bottom. Panning is not

difficult, but it requires practice to learn the degree of shaking,

which dissolves the dirt and throws out the stones most rapidly

without losing the gold. If the shaking be too mild and slow, the

process consumes too much time ; whereas if it be too rapid and

violent, the gold is carried off with the stones. Sometimes the pan

is shaken so that the dirt receives a rotary motion. This is the

most rapid method of washing dirt, but also the most dangerous.

The pan must always be used in cleaning up the dirt which col-

lects in the cradle, in prospecting, and frequently in washing small

quantities of dirt collected in other kinds of placer mining. Amal-

gam can be separated from dirt by washing, almost as well as

gold. In panning out, it frequently happens that considerable

amounts of black sand containing fine particles of gold are

obtained, and this sand is so heavy that it cannot be separated

from the gold by washing, while it is easily separated by that

process from gravel, stones and common dirt. The black sand is

dried, and a small quantity df’it is placed in a “blower,” a shallow

tin dish open at one end. The miner then holding the pan with

the open end from him, blows out the sand, leaving the particles

of gold. He must blow gently, just strong enough to blow out the

sand, and no stronger. From time to time he must shake the

blower so as to change the position of the particles, and bring all

the sand in the range of his breath. The gold cannot be cleaned

perfectly in this manner, but the sand contains iron, and the littler

22

of it remaining is easily removed by a magnet. The blower

should be very smooth, and made of either tin, brass or copper.

Dry Washing. Dry washing is a method of winnowing gold

from dirt. In many parts of the mining districts of California,

water cannot be obtained during the summer for mining purposes.

The miner therefore manages to wash his dirt without water.

He takes only rich dirt, and putting it on a raw hide, he pulverizes

all the lumps and picks out the large stones. He then with a

large flat basin throws the dirt up into the air, catches it as it

comes down, throws it up again, and repeats this operation until

nothing but the gold remains. Of course a pleasant breeze, that

will carry away the dust, is a great assistance to the operation.

Sometimes two men have a hide or a blanket, with which they

throw up the dirt. The process is very similar to the ancient

method of separating grain from chaff. The miner who devotes

himself to dry washing must be very particular to take only rich

dirt, so he scrapes the bed-rock carefully. He never digs very

deep not more than twenty feet ; and when he goes beyond

mixture appear to have more in it, and when both phosphoric acid and

bone phosphate are stated one is merely a repetition of the other. The

same is true of the statements, potash and sulphate of potash, one is

a repetition of the other only a different form.

VALUATION

The experiment stations not only publish comparative analyses of the

registered fertilizers but they also compute the market values of the

plant food contained in them and compare these valuations with the

selling price of the fertilizers.

They also furnish a list of trade values of the plant foods in raw

materials for the convenience of fertilizer buyers in testing the

values of the brands offered them on the markets.

In the following list are given the “trade values agreed upon by the

Experiment Stations of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New

Jersey and Vermont, after a careful study of prices ruling in the

larger markets of the southern New England and Middle States.”

Trade values of fertilizing ingredients in raw materials and chemicals

for 1904:

Cents per lb.

Nitrogen in Nitrates 16

Nitrogen in Ammonia Salts 17?

Organic Nitrogen in dry and fine ground fish, blood,

and meat, and in mixed fertilizers 17?

Organic Nitrogen in fine ground bone and tankage 17

Organic Nitrogen in coarse bone and tankage 12?

Phosphoric Acid soluble in water 4?

Phosphoric Acid soluble in ammonium citrate 4

Phosphoric Acid in fine ground bone and tankage 4

Phosphoric Acid in coarse bone and tankage 3

Phosphoric Acid (insoluble in water and in ammonium

citrate) in mixed fertilizer 2

Potash as high-grade sulphate and in mixtures free

from muriate (chloride) 5

Potash as muriate 4?

For example, in calculating the commercial value of the plant food in

a fertilizer we will take the formula mentioned on page 205, namely:

Ammonia 2 to 3 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 to 10 “

Total Phosphoric Acid 11 to 14 “

Total Bone Phosphate 23 to 25 “

Actual Potash 10 to 12 “

Sulphate of Potash 18 to 20 “

This fertilizer is evidently a mixture of bone meal and sulphate of

potash and the plant food contained in it is as follows:

Nitrogen 1.65 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 “

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 3 “

Potash 10 “

One hundred pounds of the mixture would contain:

Pounds. Value per

100 lbs.

Nitrogen 1.64 value at 17?? .29

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 ” ” 4? .32

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 3 ” ” 2? .06

Potash 10 ” ” 5? .50

—–

Total $1.17

In one ton the whole value would be twenty times this or $23.40. Add

to this $8, which is about the average charge for mixing, bagging,

shipping, selling and profit, and we find that $32 is probably the

lowest figure at which this fertilizer could be purchased on the

mixture appear to have more in it, and when both phosphoric acid and

bone phosphate are stated one is merely a repetition of the other. The

same is true of the statements, potash and sulphate of potash, one is

a repetition of the other only a different form.

VALUATION

The experiment stations not only publish comparative analyses of the

registered fertilizers but they also compute the market values of the

plant food contained in them and compare these valuations with the

selling price of the fertilizers.

They also furnish a list of trade values of the plant foods in raw

materials for the convenience of fertilizer buyers in testing the

values of the brands offered them on the markets.

In the following list are given the “trade values agreed upon by the

Experiment Stations of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New

Jersey and Vermont, after a careful study of prices ruling in the

larger markets of the southern New England and Middle States.”

Trade values of fertilizing ingredients in raw materials and chemicals

for 1904:

Cents per lb.

Nitrogen in Nitrates 16

Nitrogen in Ammonia Salts 17?

Organic Nitrogen in dry and fine ground fish, blood,

and meat, and in mixed fertilizers 17?

Organic Nitrogen in fine ground bone and tankage 17

Organic Nitrogen in coarse bone and tankage 12?

Phosphoric Acid soluble in water 4?

Phosphoric Acid soluble in ammonium citrate 4

Phosphoric Acid in fine ground bone and tankage 4

Phosphoric Acid in coarse bone and tankage 3

Phosphoric Acid (insoluble in water and in ammonium

citrate) in mixed fertilizer 2

Potash as high-grade sulphate and in mixtures free

from muriate (chloride) 5

Potash as muriate 4?

For example, in calculating the commercial value of the plant food in

a fertilizer we will take the formula mentioned on page 205, namely:

Ammonia 2 to 3 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 to 10 “

Total Phosphoric Acid 11 to 14 “

Total Bone Phosphate 23 to 25 “

Actual Potash 10 to 12 “

Sulphate of Potash 18 to 20 “

This fertilizer is evidently a mixture of bone meal and sulphate of

potash and the plant food contained in it is as follows:

Nitrogen 1.65 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 “

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 3 “

Potash 10 “

One hundred pounds of the mixture would contain:

Pounds. Value per

100 lbs.

Nitrogen 1.64 value at 17?? .29

Available Phosphoric Acid 8 ” ” 4? .32

Insoluble Phosphoric Acid 3 ” ” 2? .06

Potash 10 ” ” 5? .50

—–

Total $1.17

In one ton the whole value would be twenty times this or $23.40. Add

to this $8, which is about the average charge for mixing, bagging,

shipping, selling and profit, and we find that $32 is probably the

lowest figure at which this fertilizer could be purchased on the

seven or eight feet he ” coyotes,” or burrows after the pay-dirt.

He may coyote into the side of a hill, or sink a shaft and coyote

in all directions from it. This style of mining is named from the

resemblance of the holes to the burrows of the coyote, or Californian

wolf. Coyoting is not confined to the dry washing, but is used

also by miners washing with the pan and cradle. One of the

Congressmen elected some years ago to represent California at

Washington, was a miner at the time of his nomination, and was

so fond of coyoting, that he was generally known as” Coyote Joe.”

Dry Digging. Dry digging is that mining where the miner,

after using the shovel to strip off the barren dirt, scrapes the pay-

dirt over with a knife, picking out the particles of gold as he

comes to them, and throwing away the earthy matter. This is a

slow process, but in rich placers may be profitable. The miner

is, of course, particular to examine all the crevices in the bed-rock ;

and if the material be slate, he digs up part of it, to see whether

the gold has not found its way into cracks scarcely perceptible on

the surface. ” Dry digging,” as a mode of mining, must not be

confounded with ” dry diggings,” a kind of mining ground which

has been described near the beginning of this chapter.

Knife-mining differs a little from dry digging. In the latter, a

shovel is used to strip off the barren dirt ; whereas the knife-

mining is practised in those places where the gold is deposited in

crevices in rocks along the banks of streams, without any covering

of barren dirt, so that the knife alone is used in scraping out the

dirt ; and afterward the dirt, being placed in a pan, may be

washed in water, which is never used in dry digging.

Puddling -Box. The puddling-box is a rough wooden box, about

a foot deep and six feet square, and is used for dissolving

23

very tough clay. The clay is thrown into the box, with water,

and a miner stirs the stuff with a hoe until the clay is all thoroughly

dissolved, when he takes a j)lug from an auger-hole about four

inches from the bottom, and lets the thin solution of the clay run

off, while the heavier material, including the gold, remains at

the bottom. He then puts in the plug again, fills up the box with

water, throws in more clay, and repeats the process again and

again until night, when he cleans up with a cradle or .pan. The

puddling-box is used only in small mining operations, and never

with the sluice, or in hydraulic claims.

Quicksilver -Machine. The quicksilver-machine, or Burke rocker,

is a cradle about seven feet long, two feet wide, and two feet

high. In the bottom are a number of compartments, all containing

quicksilver. One man rocks the machine without cessation. A

constant stream of water pours into the machine at its head. The

riddle extends the whole length of the machine ; and the stones,

after being washed clean, foil off the riddle at the lower end.

One man is employed constantly working with a shovel to keep

the dirt on the riddle under the stream of water, and in throwing

off the big stones. If the pay-dirt is very convenient, two men

can shovel enough to keep the machine in operation. The Burke

rocker was extensively used in California eight and ten years ago,

but now it is a great rarity.

Tunnel-Mining. A tunnel, in California mining,. is an adit or

drift entering a hill-side, or running out from a shaft. Mining-

tunnels are usually nearly horizontal those entering hill-sides

having a slight ascent, for the double purpose of draining the

mine, and to facilitate the remoyal of the pay-dirt. In a few hills

the tunnels run downward at an angle of twenty degrees or more,

to avoid veins or ledges of rock, which would have to be blasted

through if the tunnel were cut horizontally ; but this can only be

done with safety in hills which are drained by older horizontal

tunnels.

The mining-tunnel does not run through a hill, but only into it.

The length of tunnels varies greatly ; the longest are about a

markets, and very likely the price would be higher as we have taken

the lowest guaranteed per cent. of plant food for our basis of

calculation.

Fertilizers are generally mixed and sold to the farmer on the ton

basis.

LOW GRADE MIXTURES

Most dealers, to meet a certain demand, furnish mixtures ranging from

$15 to $25 per ton. These mixtures are necessarily low grade and are

more expensive than the higher priced high grade mixtures.

For example:

A certain potato fertilizer on the market, which we will call mixture

A, has the following guaranteed analysis:

Ammonia 7 to 8 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 6 to 7 “

Actual Potash 5 to 6 “

A ton of this would contain:

Pounds.

Nitrogen 115.4 value at 17?? $20.19

Available Phosphoric Acid 120 ” ” 4? 4.80

Potash 100 ” ” 5? 5.00

—– ——

Totals 335.4 $29.99

Add to this the average charge for mixing, bagging, selling, profit,

etc., $8, and the cost will be $37.99.

The selling price of this fertilizer would probably be not less than

$40. Now suppose the farmer thinks this a high priced and expensive

fertilizer and looks about for something cheaper. He finds a low grade

potato fertilizer, which we will call mixture B, that has the

following guarantee:

Ammonia 3? to 4 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 3 to 3? “

Actual Potash 2? to 3 “

Just one-half the guarantee of the high grade mixture A. A ton of this

contains:

Pounds.

Nitrogen 57.7 value at 17?? $10.10

Available Phosphoric Acid 60 ” ” 4? 2.40

Potash 50 ” ” 5? 2.50

—– ——

Totals 167.7 $15.00

Add average charge for mixing, etc. 8.00

——

$23.00

The selling price of this would very likely be not less than $25.

This seems at first sight to be cheaper and more reasonable. But let

us see.

In a ton of mixture A he gets 335.4 pounds of plant food for $40, or

at an average cost of twelve cents per pound, while in a ton of

mixture B he gets 167.7 pounds of plant food for $25, or at an average

cost of fifteen cents per pound.

To put it another way, in a ton of the high grade mixture A, he gets

335.4 pounds of plant food for $40. To get the same amount of plant

food, 335.4 pounds, in the low grade mixture, B, it will be necessary

to buy two tons at a cost of $50.

A low grade fertilizer is always expensive even if the plant food is

furnished by high grade materials.

markets, and very likely the price would be higher as we have taken

the lowest guaranteed per cent. of plant food for our basis of

calculation.

Fertilizers are generally mixed and sold to the farmer on the ton

basis.

LOW GRADE MIXTURES

Most dealers, to meet a certain demand, furnish mixtures ranging from

$15 to $25 per ton. These mixtures are necessarily low grade and are

more expensive than the higher priced high grade mixtures.

For example:

A certain potato fertilizer on the market, which we will call mixture

A, has the following guaranteed analysis:

Ammonia 7 to 8 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 6 to 7 “

Actual Potash 5 to 6 “

A ton of this would contain:

Pounds.

Nitrogen 115.4 value at 17?? $20.19

Available Phosphoric Acid 120 ” ” 4? 4.80

Potash 100 ” ” 5? 5.00

—– ——

Totals 335.4 $29.99

Add to this the average charge for mixing, bagging, selling, profit,

etc., $8, and the cost will be $37.99.

The selling price of this fertilizer would probably be not less than

$40. Now suppose the farmer thinks this a high priced and expensive

fertilizer and looks about for something cheaper. He finds a low grade

potato fertilizer, which we will call mixture B, that has the

following guarantee:

Ammonia 3? to 4 per cent.

Available Phosphoric Acid 3 to 3? “

Actual Potash 2? to 3 “

Just one-half the guarantee of the high grade mixture A. A ton of this

contains:

Pounds.

Nitrogen 57.7 value at 17?? $10.10

Available Phosphoric Acid 60 ” ” 4? 2.40

Potash 50 ” ” 5? 2.50

—– ——

Totals 167.7 $15.00

Add average charge for mixing, etc. 8.00

——

$23.00

The selling price of this would very likely be not less than $25.

This seems at first sight to be cheaper and more reasonable. But let

us see.

In a ton of mixture A he gets 335.4 pounds of plant food for $40, or

at an average cost of twelve cents per pound, while in a ton of

mixture B he gets 167.7 pounds of plant food for $25, or at an average

cost of fifteen cents per pound.

To put it another way, in a ton of the high grade mixture A, he gets

335.4 pounds of plant food for $40. To get the same amount of plant

food, 335.4 pounds, in the low grade mixture, B, it will be necessary

to buy two tons at a cost of $50.

A low grade fertilizer is always expensive even if the plant food is

furnished by high grade materials.

mile. The usual height is seven feet, the width five feet.

Ordinarily the top must be supported by timbers, to prevent it

from falling in, and not unfreque,ntly the sides must also be pro-

tected by boards. The cost of cutting a tunnel varies from two

to forty dollars a longitudinal foot, according to the nature of the

ground, the cost of getting timbers, &c. Tunnels are usually made

by companies of eight or ten men, of whom one-half may be mer-

chants, lawyers, physicians or office-holders, and the remainder

laboring miners. The latter class do the work ; the former furnish

provisions and tools, and a certain amount of cash weekly until

the pay-dirt is reached. Two or three men work at a time cutting

a tunnel ; one or two to dig the earth, and one or two to haul it

24

out. The dirt of the first fifty yards is hauled out in a wheel-

barrow ; beyond that distance a little tram-way or railroad is laid

down, and the dirt is hauled out in cars, pushed by the miners.

It is not customary to use horses. It is common to have two

relays of laborers one set working from noon to midnight, the

other from midnight to noon. Work in a tunnel is as pleasant at

night as in the daytime. When a company is rich, or has many

laborers, it may have three relays, each to work eight hours in the

twenty-four.

It is not uncommon for two companies, owning adjacent claims

in a hill, to unite and cut a tunnel on joint account along the

dividing line. They go in until they reach the pay-dirt, and then

a surveyor is employed to run the line between their claims, and

the tunnel is continued through the pay-dirt.”" The dirt from the

tunnel is washed for the joint account of the two companies.

After the dividing line has been established, each company keeps

on its own side, and each has its time to use the tram-way. They

may also have a joint-stock sluice at the mouth of the tunnel

one company having the privilege of using the sluice one week,

and the other the next. All the dirt brought out in a week can

readily be washed in a day. The work of taking out the pay-dirt

after the main tunnel has been cut, is called ” drifting ;” and the

holes made by the men engaged in it are termed ” drifts.” The

drifts are usually not so high as the tunnels. The large stones

and barren dirt obtained in the drifts are piled up here and there to

sustain the earth overhead. Sometimes wooden posts are likewise

necessary.

Shafts. Shafts are used in prospecting, and also in mining,

where the claims are deep and cannot be reached by either the

hydraulic process or the tunnel. The prospecting shaft is some-

times sunk into hills supposed to be auriferous, where the shaft is

far less expensive than the tunnel. After the shaft demonstrates

that the dirt is rich, and precisely the altitude at which it lies, a

tunnel is cut to strike it. The shaft may be the cheaper for

prospecting, but the tunnel is usually the cheaper if any large

amount of dirt is to be taken out.

The shaft is dug by one man in the hole, and one or two are

employed at a windlass in hauling up the dirt. Mining-shafts

in placer diggings are rarely over one hundred feet deep ; but one

was dug in Trinity county to the depth of six hundred feet, for

the purpose of prospecting, but it found neither pay-dirt nor the

bed-rock.

River -Mining. River-mining is mining for gold in the beds of

rivers, below low-water mark. The only practicable method of

doing this is by damming the stream, and taking the water out of

its bed, in a ditch or flume. It has been proposed by persons who

never saw the mines, to get the gold by dredging, or with a

25

diving-bell ; but such schemes are absurd in the eyes of miners.

The rivers in which the gold is found are mountain-torrents, in

BUY ON THE PLANT FOOD BASIS

The farmer generally buys his fertilizer on the ton basis. A better

method is to buy just as the fertilizer manufacturers buy the raw

materials they use for mixing, namely, on the basis of actual plant

food in the fertilizer. The dealers have what they call the “unit

basis,” a “unit” meaning one per cent. of a ton or twenty pounds of

plant food. A ton of nitrate of soda, for instance, contains 310

pounds or 15? units of nitrogen, which at $3.20 cents per unit would

cost $49. Buy your mixture of a reliable firm, find out the actual

amounts of the plant foods in the mixture and pay a fair market price

for them.

CHAPTER XXIII

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS–CONCLUDED

THE HOME MIXING OF FERTILIZERS

When a considerable amount of fertilizer is used a better plan than

buying mixed fertilizer is to buy the raw materials and mix them

yourself. For example, a farmer is about to plant five acres of

cabbages for the market. He finds that a certain successful cabbage

grower recommends the use of fifty pounds nitrogen, fifty pounds

phosphoric acid and seventy pounds potash per acre. For the five acres

this will mean 250 pounds nitrogen, 250 pounds phosphoric acid and 350

pounds potash. To furnish the nitrogen he can buy 1,613 pounds of

nitrate of soda or 2,500 pounds dried blood or 1,250 pounds sulphate

of ammonia, or a part of each. To furnish the phosphoric acid he can

buy 1,786 pounds acid phosphate. Seven hundred pounds of either

sulphate or muriate of potash will furnish the potash. These materials

can be easily mixed by spreading in alternate layers on a smooth floor

and then shovelling over the entire mass several times. The mixture

can be further improved by passing it through a sand or coal screen or

sieve.

By following this method of buying the raw materials and mixing them

on the farm, the farmer can reduce his fertilizer bill by quite a

considerable amount and at the same time can obtain just the kinds and

proper amounts of plant foods needed by his crops.

KIND AND AMOUNT TO BUY

The farmer should make the best use of farm manures and through

tillage to render plant food available for his crops before turning to

commercial fertilizer for additional plant food.

If he grows leguminous crops for green manuring, for feeding stock or

for cover crops, he can in many cases secure, chiefly through them,

sufficient high priced nitrogen for the needs of his crops, and it is

necessary only occasionally to purchase moderate amounts of phosphoric

acid, potash and lime.

For special farming and special crops it may be necessary to use the

commercial fertilizer more freely.

It is impossible to say here just what amounts or what kinds of

fertilizer should be purchased, because no two farms are exactly alike

as to soil, methods of cropping or methods of tillage.

There are certain factors, however, which will serve as a general

guide and which should be considered in determining the kind and

amount of fertilizer to buy.

These factors are:

The crop.

The soil.

BUY ON THE PLANT FOOD BASIS

The farmer generally buys his fertilizer on the ton basis. A better

method is to buy just as the fertilizer manufacturers buy the raw

materials they use for mixing, namely, on the basis of actual plant

food in the fertilizer. The dealers have what they call the “unit

basis,” a “unit” meaning one per cent. of a ton or twenty pounds of

plant food. A ton of nitrate of soda, for instance, contains 310

pounds or 15? units of nitrogen, which at $3.20 cents per unit would

cost $49. Buy your mixture of a reliable firm, find out the actual

amounts of the plant foods in the mixture and pay a fair market price

for them.

CHAPTER XXIII

COMMERCIAL FERTILIZERS–CONCLUDED

THE HOME MIXING OF FERTILIZERS

When a considerable amount of fertilizer is used a better plan than

buying mixed fertilizer is to buy the raw materials and mix them

yourself. For example, a farmer is about to plant five acres of

cabbages for the market. He finds that a certain successful cabbage

grower recommends the use of fifty pounds nitrogen, fifty pounds

phosphoric acid and seventy pounds potash per acre. For the five acres

this will mean 250 pounds nitrogen, 250 pounds phosphoric acid and 350

pounds potash. To furnish the nitrogen he can buy 1,613 pounds of

nitrate of soda or 2,500 pounds dried blood or 1,250 pounds sulphate

of ammonia, or a part of each. To furnish the phosphoric acid he can

buy 1,786 pounds acid phosphate. Seven hundred pounds of either

sulphate or muriate of potash will furnish the potash. These materials

can be easily mixed by spreading in alternate layers on a smooth floor

and then shovelling over the entire mass several times. The mixture

can be further improved by passing it through a sand or coal screen or

sieve.

By following this method of buying the raw materials and mixing them

on the farm, the farmer can reduce his fertilizer bill by quite a

considerable amount and at the same time can obtain just the kinds and

proper amounts of plant foods needed by his crops.

KIND AND AMOUNT TO BUY

The farmer should make the best use of farm manures and through

tillage to render plant food available for his crops before turning to

commercial fertilizer for additional plant food.

If he grows leguminous crops for green manuring, for feeding stock or

for cover crops, he can in many cases secure, chiefly through them,

sufficient high priced nitrogen for the needs of his crops, and it is

necessary only occasionally to purchase moderate amounts of phosphoric

acid, potash and lime.

For special farming and special crops it may be necessary to use the

commercial fertilizer more freely.

It is impossible to say here just what amounts or what kinds of

fertilizer should be purchased, because no two farms are exactly alike

as to soil, methods of cropping or methods of tillage.

There are certain factors, however, which will serve as a general

guide and which should be considered in determining the kind and

amount of fertilizer to buy.

These factors are:

The crop.

The soil.

which a canoe can scarcely float in summer, much less a dredging

machine ; and any large scoop working under water would miss

the crevices and corners in the rocks, where most of the gold is

found. As the water is very seldom more than a couple of feet

deep, a diving-bell would be of little service. The flume, the

ditch, and the wing-dam, are the chief tasks of the river-miner.

The ditch is rarely used, because the banks of the mining-streams

are. usually so steep, high, rocky and crooked, that a flume is

cheaper. The wing-dam is not often used, because the river-beds

are in most places too narrow. The flume is almost universally

employed.

The work of river-mining can be done only during the summer

and fall, while the water is low, and while the miner can have

confidence that it will not rise. It may be as low in January as

in August, but the winter is the season of rains ; and when the

flood comes, it sweeps dams, flumes and every thing before it. If

the dam and flume be commenced too early in the season, they

may be carried off before they are finished j and it frequently

happens that they are destroyed in the fall just when the miners

are commencing to reap the reward of their summer’s labor.

River-mining has many disadvantages, as compared with other

branches of mining. The miner cannot work at it more than half

the year ; he cannot prospect the dirt which is hidden under

water ; he must erect expensive dams and flumes, which can be

used for only a few months ; aud then he is exposed to floods

which may come and destroy all his work before he has com-

menced to wash. These disadvantages, and the exhaustion of

most of the river-diggings in the state, have almost put an

end to river-mining in California. In a few cases, extensive

fluming enterprises have proved profitable ; but, as a general rule,

river-mining in this state has cost more than it has produced. A

river is seldom flumed for less than three hundred yards, and

sometimes for a mile ; and the lumber and labor required to make

so long a flume, and one large enough to hold all the water of a

river, are very expensive. The dam will always leak, and water

will run into the bed from the adjacent hills and mountains, and

this water must be lifted out by pumps driven by wheels placed

in the flume. The river-beds are full of large rocks, weighing from

one to ten tons, and these must be moved by machinery, to allow

the dirt to be taken out.

River-mining is now never undertaken by an individual, but

always by large associations, generally called ” fluming companies,”

sometimes composed of miners exclusively, sometimes of miners

and all the principal business-men living near the place where the

work is to be done. The lawyers, doctors and office-holders, pay

26

their assessments in cash ; the merchants furnish provisions, the

lumbermen supply lumber, and the miners make the dam, and

help the carpenters build the flume.

Beach-Mining. Beach-mining is’ the business of washing the

sands of the ocean-beach. Between Point Mendocino, in California,

and the mouth of the Umpqua River, in Oregon, the beach-sand

contains gold, and in some places it is very rich. The beach is

narrow, and lies at the foot of a bluff bank of auriferous sand. In

times of storm, the waves wash against this bank, undermine it,

sweep away the pieces which tumble down, leaving the gold on

the beach. The gold is in very fine particles, and it moves with

the heavier sand, which alters its position frequently under the

influence of the waves and surf. One day, the beach will have.

six feet depth of sand ; the next, there will be nothing save bare

rocks. The sand differs greatly in richness at various times : one

day, it will be full of golden specks ; a few days later, at the same

place it will be barren. The sand in the mean time has been

moved by the waves, and replaced by other sand.

It is a very difficult matter to know where the sand is rich and

where it is not. The companies employed in mining on the beach

The system of farming.

THE CROP

Crop roots differ in their powers of feeding, or their powers of

securing plant foods. Some roots can use very tough plant foods, while

others require it in the most available form. Some roots secure

nitrogen from the air. The cowpea roots, for example, can take

nitrogen from the air and they can use such tough phosphoric acid and

potash that it seldom pays to feed them directly with fertilizers.

A bale per acre crop of cotton requires for the building of roots,

stems, leaves, bolls, lint and seed:

103 pounds of Nitrogen.

41 ” ” Phosphoric Acid.

65 ” ” Potash.

and yet experiment and experience have proved that the best fertilizer

for such a crop contains the following amounts of plant food:

Nitrogen 20 pounds

Phosphoric Acid 70 “

Potash 20 “

This means that cotton roots are fairly strong feeders of nitrogen and

potash, but are weak on the phosphoric acid side.

The small grains, wheat, oats, barley and rye, can use tough

phosphoric acid and potash, but are weak on nitrogen, and as they make

the greater part of their growth in the cool spring before

nitrification is rapid, they are benefitted by the application of

nitrogen, particularly in the form of nitrate, which is quickly

available.

Clover, peas, beans, etc., have the power of drawing nitrogen from the

air, but draw from the soil lime, phosphoric acid and potash. Hence

the phosphates, potash manures and lime are desirable for these crops.

Root and tuber crops are unable to use the insoluble mineral elements

in the soil, hence they require application of all the important plant

foods in readily available form. Nitrogen is especially beneficial to

beets. Turnips are benefitted by liberal applications of soluble

phosphoric acid. White and sweet potatoes require an abundance of

potash.

If we are growing tender, succulent market garden crops, we need

nitrogenous manures, which increase the growth of stem and foliage.

Fruit trees are slow growing plants and do not need quick acting

fertilizers.

The small fruits, being more rapid in growth, require more of the

soluble materials.

A dark, healthy green foliage indicates a good supply of nitrogen,

while a pale yellowish green may indicate a need of nitrogen.

A well developed head of grain, seed pod or fruit indicates liberal

supplies of phosphoric acid and potash.

THE SOIL

Soils that are poor in humus are generally in need of nitrogen.

Heavy soils are generally supplied with potash but lack phosphoric

acid.

Sandy soils are apt to be poor in potash and nitrogen.

SYSTEM OF FARMING

The system of farming.

THE CROP

Crop roots differ in their powers of feeding, or their powers of

securing plant foods. Some roots can use very tough plant foods, while

others require it in the most available form. Some roots secure

nitrogen from the air. The cowpea roots, for example, can take

nitrogen from the air and they can use such tough phosphoric acid and

potash that it seldom pays to feed them directly with fertilizers.

A bale per acre crop of cotton requires for the building of roots,

stems, leaves, bolls, lint and seed:

103 pounds of Nitrogen.

41 ” ” Phosphoric Acid.

65 ” ” Potash.

and yet experiment and experience have proved that the best fertilizer

for such a crop contains the following amounts of plant food:

Nitrogen 20 pounds

Phosphoric Acid 70 “

Potash 20 “

This means that cotton roots are fairly strong feeders of nitrogen and

potash, but are weak on the phosphoric acid side.

The small grains, wheat, oats, barley and rye, can use tough

phosphoric acid and potash, but are weak on nitrogen, and as they make

the greater part of their growth in the cool spring before

nitrification is rapid, they are benefitted by the application of

nitrogen, particularly in the form of nitrate, which is quickly

available.

Clover, peas, beans, etc., have the power of drawing nitrogen from the

air, but draw from the soil lime, phosphoric acid and potash. Hence

the phosphates, potash manures and lime are desirable for these crops.

Root and tuber crops are unable to use the insoluble mineral elements

in the soil, hence they require application of all the important plant

foods in readily available form. Nitrogen is especially beneficial to

beets. Turnips are benefitted by liberal applications of soluble

phosphoric acid. White and sweet potatoes require an abundance of

potash.

If we are growing tender, succulent market garden crops, we need

nitrogenous manures, which increase the growth of stem and foliage.

Fruit trees are slow growing plants and do not need quick acting

fertilizers.

The small fruits, being more rapid in growth, require more of the

soluble materials.

A dark, healthy green foliage indicates a good supply of nitrogen,

while a pale yellowish green may indicate a need of nitrogen.

A well developed head of grain, seed pod or fruit indicates liberal

supplies of phosphoric acid and potash.

THE SOIL

Soils that are poor in humus are generally in need of nitrogen.

Heavy soils are generally supplied with potash but lack phosphoric

acid.

Sandy soils are apt to be poor in potash and nitrogen.

SYSTEM OF FARMING

number about ten men ; and there is a foreman who rides out

early every morning, following the beach about two miles to the

northward and two miles to the southward of the camp, for the

purpose of finding where the sand is the best. So changeable is

the sand, that a new examination is made every day ; and only

three or four men are supposed to be good judges of the quality of

sand, from its appearance.

When the foreman has selected a place, he orders all the men

to it, and they go with twenty pack-mules, which carry the sand

in alforjas, or raw hide sacks, to the place of washing, which is up

on the bluff, probably a mile or more distant from the spot where

the sand is obtained. It happens occasionally that the foreman

rides long distances on the 43each, and sometimes he will order

the sand to be obtained ten miles from the washing-place. The

sand must, of course, be very rich, to pay for such transportation,

but the beach-sand at times in the sunlight is said to be actually

dazzling yellow with gold. The purpose of going upon the bluff

to wash it, is to get fresh water for washing ; for the sea-water is

not so good, nor can it be obtained conveniently. The richest dirt

is that the farthest down on the beach, so still weather and low

tide are the best times for getting it. When a rich place is dis-

covered low down on the beach, great exertions are made to get

as much of the sand as possible before the tide rises. When high

tide and storm come together, little can be done. The sand,

having been separated from all clay and soluble matter by the

action of the sea, is very easily washed, and all collected in a

month can be washed in two days in a sluice.

27

Mining -Ditches. The placer-mines of California would yield

very little gold, were it not for the numerous ditches which supply

them with water for washing. The auriferous districts are very

dry in summer, and in some places there is not a spring nor a

brook within many miles. The artificial ditch supplies the want.

The ditches are made by large companies, which sell the water,

by the ” inch.” An inch of water is as much as will run out of

an orifice an’ inch square, with the water standing six or seven

inches deep in the flume over the orifice. The depth of water

over the orifice is called the ” head.” The orifice is usually two

inches high, and as long as necessary to give the amount of water

desired. Nobody wants less than ten or twelve inches for mining :

a ” sluice-head ” is about eighteen inches ; a ” hydraulic-head ”

is from forty to two hundred inches. The water, however, is not

measured accurately. Of course the amount which runs through

the orifice will depend to a considerable extent upon the ” head,”

which is usually greater in the morning than at night. At sunrise

there may be fifteen inches head, and at sunset only three. The

water collects during the night, and is exhausted during the day.

The price of water is in no place less than ten cents an inch per

day ; in some places it is forty cents ; the average is about twenty

cents.

Many of these ditches are extensive enterprises, and have cost

hundreds of thousands of dollars. When they cross ravines and

valleys, large flumes wonders of carpentry must be built.

Some of these are two hundred feet high and a mile long, and so

large that a horse and waggon can be driven through them. In

all, save length and durability, they are as wonderful as the great

Roman aqueducts, whose tall ruins still stand in the Campagna,

near the Eternal City. In some cases iron tubes have been used,

and although they are very expensive, yet they may pay for them-

selves, by preventing evaporation, leaking and soaking, which

take away much of the water from flumes and ditches.

Prospecting. “Prospecting” is the search for gold. The

instruments used by the prospector for placer-mines are usually

the pan, pick and shovel. He should be familiar with the general

laws of the distribution of gold, and then try the dirt in the most

favorable places. If there is any gold in a district, he can scarcely

fail to find specks of it by washing dirt, from the bed-rock in the

ravines, and in bars. The existence of gold in a district having

A system of general or diversified farming embracing crop products and

stock raising, requires much less artificial manuring than does a

system which raises special crops or quick growing crops in rapid

succession, as in the case of truck farming or market gardening.

TESTING THE SOIL

Every farmer should be more or less of an investigator and

experimenter.

The factors mentioned previously as indicating the presence or absence

of sufficient quantities of certain plant foods serve as a general

guide, but are not absolute. The best method of determining what plant

foods are lacking in the soil is to carry on some simple experiments.

The following plan for soil testing with plant foods is suggestive: To

test the soil for a possible need of the single plant foods, a series

of five plots may be laid off. These plots should be long and narrow

and may be one-twentieth, one-sixteenth, one-tenth, one eighth acre or

larger. A plot one rod wide and eight rods long will contain

one-twentieth acre. The width of the plot may be adjusted to

accommodate a certain number of rows of crop and the length made

proper to include an even fraction of an acre. A strip three or four

feet in width should be left between each two plots. These strips are

to be left unfertilized and are for the purpose of preventing one plot

being affected by the plant food of another.

The plots are all plowed, planted and cared for alike, the only

difference in treatment being in the application of plant food. If the

plots are one-twentieth acre in size, plant foods may be applied as

follows.

+—————————-+

PLOT 1. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 2. | Acid Phosphate 16 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 3. | Nothing. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 4. | Muriate of Potash 8 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 5. | Lime 1 bushel. |

+—————————-+

Plot 3 is a check plot for comparison.

The measuring of the plots, weighing and application of the

fertilizers, planting and care of the crops, weighing and measuring at

harvest, should be carefully and accurately done.

A number of additional plots may be added if desired to test the

effect of plant foods in combination. For instance:

+—————————-+

PLOT 6. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 7. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Muriate of Potash 8 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 8. | Nothing. |

| |

A system of general or diversified farming embracing crop products and

stock raising, requires much less artificial manuring than does a

system which raises special crops or quick growing crops in rapid

succession, as in the case of truck farming or market gardening.

TESTING THE SOIL

Every farmer should be more or less of an investigator and

experimenter.

The factors mentioned previously as indicating the presence or absence

of sufficient quantities of certain plant foods serve as a general

guide, but are not absolute. The best method of determining what plant

foods are lacking in the soil is to carry on some simple experiments.

The following plan for soil testing with plant foods is suggestive: To

test the soil for a possible need of the single plant foods, a series

of five plots may be laid off. These plots should be long and narrow

and may be one-twentieth, one-sixteenth, one-tenth, one eighth acre or

larger. A plot one rod wide and eight rods long will contain

one-twentieth acre. The width of the plot may be adjusted to

accommodate a certain number of rows of crop and the length made

proper to include an even fraction of an acre. A strip three or four

feet in width should be left between each two plots. These strips are

to be left unfertilized and are for the purpose of preventing one plot

being affected by the plant food of another.

The plots are all plowed, planted and cared for alike, the only

difference in treatment being in the application of plant food. If the

plots are one-twentieth acre in size, plant foods may be applied as

follows.

+—————————-+

PLOT 1. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 2. | Acid Phosphate 16 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 3. | Nothing. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 4. | Muriate of Potash 8 lbs. |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 5. | Lime 1 bushel. |

+—————————-+

Plot 3 is a check plot for comparison.

The measuring of the plots, weighing and application of the

fertilizers, planting and care of the crops, weighing and measuring at

harvest, should be carefully and accurately done.

A number of additional plots may be added if desired to test the

effect of plant foods in combination. For instance:

+—————————-+

PLOT 6. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 7. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Muriate of Potash 8 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 8. | Nothing. |

| |

been established, close observation will suggest to the prospector

where he may reasonably expect to find the best diggings. It is

usually found that placer-gold is collected in those places where,

if he had been familiar with the ancient topography of the country,

he should have had reason to suppose that it would be.

Quartz Mining. Quartz mining differs much from placer

mining. For the former, more capital, more 3xperien.ce, more

28

complicated machinery and richer material are required than for

the latter. The placer miner throws the dirt into the water,

which then does the work ; whereas the pulverizing of rock is a

nice operation, requiring constant attention. Quartz requires a

mill and water-power ; placer dirt is washed in a simple sluice.

Dirt containing ten cents in the cubic yard may pay the hydraulic

miner, but the quartz miner must have a hundred times as much

in a cubic yard of vein stone, or he cannot work. The placer

gold, when freed from the baser material surrounding it, is much

of it in coarse particles, which are easily caught by their specific

gravity ; the quartz gold must be reduced to a fine powder before

it be set free from its gangue, and with the fineness of the par-

ticles increases the difficulty of catching them.

Auriferous quartz lodes are often found by accident. Not unfre-’

quently it happens that a rich streak of rmy-dirt in a placer claim

is followed up to the quartz vein from which it came. While

miners are out walking or hunting, they occasionally will come

upon lodes in which the gold is seen sparkling. Some good leads

have been found by men employed in making roads and cutting

ditches. The quartz might be covered with soil, but the pick and

shovel revealed its position and wealth. In Tuolumne county in

1858, a hunter shot a grizzly bear on the side of a steep canon, and the

animal tumbling down, was caught by a projecting point of rock.

The hunter followed his game, and while skinning th’e animal,

discovered that the point of rock was auriferons quartz. In

Mariposa county, in 1855, a robber attacked a miner, and the latter

saw the rock behind his assailant sparkle in the sunlight, at a spot

where a bullet struck a wall of rock. He killed the robber, and

found that the rock was gold-bearing quartz. In Nevada county,

several years ago, a couple of unfortunate miners who had prepared

to leave California, and were out on a drunken frolic, started a

large boulder down a steep hill. On its way down, it struck a

brown rock and broke a portion of it off exposing a vein of white

quartz which proved to be auriferous, induced the disappointed

miners to remain some months longer in the state, and paid them

well for remaining. Science and experience do not appear to

give much assistance in prospecting for quartz lodes. Chemists,

geologists, mineralogists and old miners, have not done better than

ignorant men and new-comers. Most of the best veins have been

discovered by poor and ignorant men. Not ond has been found

by a man of high education as a miner or geologist. No doubt

geological knowledge is valuable to a miner, and it should assist

him in prospecting ; but it has never yet enabled any body to find

a valuable claim.

Distribution of Gold in Quartz. The rich quartz-veins of Cali-

fornia extend from Kern River to the Siskiyou, are found on hills,

in canons and in vales. They are at least two thousand feet above

29

the level of the sea, and not more than ten thousand feet above it.

Their course is generally from north-north-west to south-south-east,

and they dip steeply to the eastward, sometimes being nearly

perpendicular. They differ in thickness from a line to sixty feet.

Quartz veins are very numerous in most of the mining districts, so

the task is not to find the veins, but rather to find those which are

gold-bearing. It is supposed that nearly all large veins come to

the surface of the bed-rock or ” country ;” but many of them are

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 9. | Muriate of Potash 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 10. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

| Muriate of Potash 8 ” |

+—————————-+

If the amount of fertilizer is too small to distribute evenly over the

plot, mix it thoroughly with a few quarts of dry earth or sand to give

it more bulk and then apply it.

In the use of fertilizers it should always be remembered that small

crops are not always due to lack of plant food, but may be caused by

an absence of the other conditions necessary for root growth and

development. The soil may not be sufficiently moist to properly supply

the plants with water. Too much water may check ventilation. Poor

tillage may check root development. Unless the physical conditions are

right the possible effects of additional plant food in the form of

fertilizers are greatly diminished. The farmer who gets the largest

return from fertilizers is the one who gives greatest attention to the

physical properties of the soil. He makes use of organic matter and is

very thorough in his methods of tillage. Every farmer should apply to

his State Experiment Station for bulletins on the subject of

fertilizers.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE ROTATION OF CROPS

SYSTEMS OF CROPPING

There are two methods or systems of cropping the soil:

The One Crop System, or the continuous cropping of the soil year after

year with one kind of crop.

The Rotation of Crops or the selection of a given number of different

crops and growing them in regular order.

The purpose of this chapter is to inquire into the effect of these two

systems of cropping:

On the soil conditions necessary for the best growth and development

of the crops.

On the market value of the crops.

On the increase of or the protection from injurious diseases and

insects.

On the distribution of labor throughout the year.

On the caring for farm stock.

On the providing for home supplies.

This inquiry and the conclusion will be based on the following facts

learned in the foregoing chapters.

Plant roots need for their growth and development (see Chapter II):

A mellow yet firm soil.

A moist soil.

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 9. | Muriate of Potash 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

+—————————-+

+—————————-+

PLOT 10. | Nitrate of Soda 8 lbs. |

| Acid Phosphate 16 ” |

| Muriate of Potash 8 ” |

+—————————-+

If the amount of fertilizer is too small to distribute evenly over the

plot, mix it thoroughly with a few quarts of dry earth or sand to give

it more bulk and then apply it.

In the use of fertilizers it should always be remembered that small

crops are not always due to lack of plant food, but may be caused by

an absence of the other conditions necessary for root growth and

development. The soil may not be sufficiently moist to properly supply

the plants with water. Too much water may check ventilation. Poor

tillage may check root development. Unless the physical conditions are

right the possible effects of additional plant food in the form of

fertilizers are greatly diminished. The farmer who gets the largest

return from fertilizers is the one who gives greatest attention to the

physical properties of the soil. He makes use of organic matter and is

very thorough in his methods of tillage. Every farmer should apply to

his State Experiment Station for bulletins on the subject of

fertilizers.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE ROTATION OF CROPS

SYSTEMS OF CROPPING

There are two methods or systems of cropping the soil:

The One Crop System, or the continuous cropping of the soil year after

year with one kind of crop.

The Rotation of Crops or the selection of a given number of different

crops and growing them in regular order.

The purpose of this chapter is to inquire into the effect of these two

systems of cropping:

On the soil conditions necessary for the best growth and development

of the crops.

On the market value of the crops.

On the increase of or the protection from injurious diseases and

insects.

On the distribution of labor throughout the year.

On the caring for farm stock.

On the providing for home supplies.

This inquiry and the conclusion will be based on the following facts

learned in the foregoing chapters.

Plant roots need for their growth and development (see Chapter II):

A mellow yet firm soil.

A moist soil.

covered with soil and thus are hidden. Hidden veins are called

” blind ;” those plainly visible on the surface are called” croppings

veins,” because their position is shown by the out-croppings.

Experience has not ascertained whether large or small veins are

more likely to contain gold. It is found in both. The porous

quartz, or that containing many cavities, is more frequently found

auriferous and richly auriferous, than the very compact quartz.

The best gold-bearing veins are usually yellowish or brownish i^

tinge, near the surface at least ; but very rich specimens are found

in white and bluish-white rock. Most quartz veins in California

contain a little gold ; the metal seems to have been distributed most

lavishly, but unfortunately in nine-tenths of the veins, the propor-

tion of metal is too small to pay. Most of the large veins are sup-

posed to run for miles upon miles, though they can rarely be traced

clearly on the surface for more than a furlong. The auriferous

veins vary much in richness. No vein is wrought for more than

a few hundred feet. Beyond that, it is either too poor to pay, or

the vein is hidden. Some persons have supposed that there is

one great gold-bearing quartz vein running along the side of the

Sierra Nevada, from Mariposa to Plumas county, and that many

of the richest claims are really in this one vein ; but this a suppo-

sition which cannot be proved now. Sometimes a vein seems to

spread out and divide into a number of smaller veins, all of which

afterward unite again. These points of junction, and the narrower

places in the vein, are usually richer than other parts of it. When

two veins cross each other, one may be auriferous on one side of

the intersection and not on the other ; but in this case the other

vein will be auriferous on both sides. It is as though they were

streams, one rich, the other barren, and that after meeting,

the wealth of the one was divided between them. It is a general

rule that metalliferous veins running parallel with the strata of

the bed-rock or country are not extensive. In fact they are rather

deposits than veins, and though often extremely rich are soon

exhausted, while the lodes which run across the stratification, run

far and deep, and have a regular and straight course and dip.

Lodes lying between two different kinds of rock, are usually

richer than those which have the same kind of rock on both sides.

Thus it is said that the richest veins of auriferous quartz in

California, have been discovered at the intersection of trap and

30

serpentine, and the richest places in veins are where they cross

from one kind of bed-rock into another. The richest part of a

lode of auriferous quartz is almost invariably on the lower side of

the vein, near the foot- wall. All these are facts to be remembered

by the prospector as a guide, and an assistance to him in his search

for a rich gold-bearing vein. If the lode is covered with earthy

matter, he may sometimes trace its course by the difference in

the color of the dirt . and stones over it from that elsewhere.

When the prospector finds dirt and stones on a vein, evidently

disintegrated portions of it, he should wash some of the dirt in a

pan, and if he finds no gold, there is a strong presumption that the

vein is barren.

Prospecting Quartz Rock. After finding a gold-bearing vein,

the question arises whether it will pay. Great sums are lost in

gold-mining countries by injudicious investments in mills and

machinery to work the auriferous rock, and persons going into the

business should be particularly careful not to commit this great

error. The business of quartz mining has great profits, but also

great pecuniary dangers connected with it. It, is rarely that all

the rock of a vein will pay for working. In some lodes, the vein-

stone will average one hundred dollars to the ton, for all the stone

found in a certain part of the lode, but beyond that the rock may

be poor or worthless. Picked specimens may be worth several

thousand dollars to the ton, but perhaps not more than a ton of

such specimens has been obtained in the best lode ever opened in

the state. The most profitable lodes are those which have a large

supply of rock, easily to be obtained, and all of it yielding some-

thing above the cost of working. The common method of ascer-

taining whether rock will pay, is to pulverize a little of it and

wash it in a horn spoon. In taking out the quartz rock in large

A ventilated soil.

A warm soil.

A soil supplied with plant food.

Decaying organic matter or humus is one of the most important

ingredients of our soils. Because:

It greatly influences soil texture and therefore the conditions

necessary for root growth.

Its presence or absence greatly influences the attitude of soils

toward water, the most important factor in plant growth. Its presence

helps light, sandy soils to hold more water and to better pump water

from below, while it helps close, heavy soils to better take in the

water which falls on their surface. Its absence causes an opposite

state of affairs.

The presence of organic matter checks excessive ventilation in too

open, sandy soil by filling the pores, and improves poor ventilation

in heavy clay soils by making them more open.

Humus, on account of its color, influences the heat absorbing powers

of soils.

The organic matter is constantly undergoing more or less rapid decay

unless the soil be perfectly dry or frozen solid. Stirring and

cultivating the soil hasten this decay.

As the organic matter decays it adds available plant food to the soil,

particularly nitrogen.

As it decays, it produces carbonic acid and other acids which are

able to dissolve mineral plant food not soluble in pure water and thus

render it available to plants.

Plants, although they require the same elements of plant food, take

them in different amounts and different proportions.

Plants differ in the extent and depth of root growth and therefore

take food from different parts of the soil. Some are surface feeders

while others feed on the deeper soil.

Plants differ in their power to take plant food from the soil; some

are weak feeders, and can use only the most available food; others are

strong feeders, and can use tougher plant food.

Plants vary in the amount of heat they require to carry on their

growth and development.

THE ONE CROP SYSTEM

We are now ready for the question. What effect has the continuous

cultivation, year after year, of the same kind of crop on the soil

conditions necessary to the best growth and development of that crop

or any other crop? Suppose we take cotton for example.

How does cotton growing affect soil humus?

During the cultivation of cotton, the organic matter or humus of the

soil decays in greater quantities than are added by the stalks and

leaves of the crop. Therefore, cotton is a humus wasting crop, and

the continuous cultivation of this crop tends to exhaust the supply

of organic matter in the soil.

How does cotton growing affect soil texture?

Cotton growing wastes soil humus and therefore injures soil texture by

making the lighter soils more loose and open, and the heavier soils

more dense and compact.

How does cotton growing affect soil water?