Application of Manure Ashes.
Having recently got a lot of manure plentifully supplied with redwood shavings that had been used with the bedding, and being afraid to use the same in that shape, as it takes such a long time for the wood to rot, I reduced the pile to a heap of ashes. How can it be best applied to ornamental trees and shrubbery in a light gravelly soil?
You have done unwisely in burning the manure. We would have taken the risk of a single use of shavings for the sake of the manurial matter associated with them, and this risk of too much lightening of a gravelly soil would be especially small in connection with deep rooting plants like ornamental trees and shrubbery. You have left merely the skeleton of the manure, and much of that of doubtful solubility, if the temperature ran very high by burning in a mass. You need not be fearful about using these ashes. Scatter or spread them over the ground just as you would have spread the manure, let the rains dissolve and carry down what they can and go on with your usual methods of cultivation.
The Best Fertilizer for Sand.
How can I best fertilize soil that is pure sand?
The best fertilizer for pure sand is well-rotted stable manure, because it not only supplies all kinds of plant food, but increases the humus in the soil, which is exceedingly important in making the sand more retentive of moisture as well as more productive.
Fertilizers in Tree Holes.
Would it be harmful to add 2 or 3 pounds of steamed bone meal to the hole of a young tree just before planting?
There would be no injury, providing you mix it with a considerable amount of soil by digging over the bottom of the hole, but our conviction is that on lands which are good enough for the commercial planting of fruit trees, it is not necessary to stimulate a young tree in this way, but that it is better to postpone the use of fertilizers until the trees come into bearing and show the desirability of more liberal feeding. Of course, if young trees do not make satisfactory growth, they may be stimulated either with some kind of a fertilizer or with a freer use of water, and it is generally the latter that they are chiefly in need of.
Wood Ashes and Tomatoes.