10 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



and in a 'ff-arm, moist soil they are sufficienth" numerous to increase tlie 

 absorbing surface several fold. 



"Entering the roots, the water, bearing the dissolved plant food in 

 solution, passes upward to the leaves, and there the chlorophyll, under the 

 influence of sunlight, transforms the materials thus gathered from the soil 

 and air, into organic compounds that can be utilized by the plant in its 

 upbuilding. 



ELEMENTS OF PLANTS. 



" ^Tiile the proportions in which the elements occur in plants may vary 

 within certain limits, yet no plant can grow unless it has provided for it in 

 a soluble form, eleven elements, viz: oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, 

 potash, phosphoric acid, lime, magnesia, iron, sulphur, and soda, while 

 chlorine and silica are also generally present. 



"As all of these are required for the growth of plants, it cannot be said 

 that any one of them is of greater value than any of the others. Virgin 

 soils generally contain sufficient quantities of all of these elements to 

 supply an abundance of food, but if they are continuously cropped and 

 none of the elements are replaced, the time will come when the supply of 

 at least one of the elements will be reduced and the plants will not be able 

 to develop to perfection. 



"The elements most likely to fail are potash, phosphoric acid, and nitro- 

 gen. As a rule, the other elements will be present in sufficient abundance 

 to furnish food in proper quantities. 



USE OF FERTILIZEKS. 



"In order to grow profitable crops, the farmer and horticulturist is com- 

 pelled to supply his plants with food in the form of fertilizers, in order to 

 supplement that furnished by the soil. 



" For ordinary farm and garden crops, the best fertilizer will be found 

 in stable manure, and, if it is thoroughly composted and decomposed it 

 can be applied in large quantities without harm. When it is used for 

 garden crops it should be applied in the fall, in liberal quantities, from 

 twenty to sixty loads per acre, and then plowed under, 



"Farmers often make a mistake, when they apply manure to their 

 orchard, in placing it close around the trunks of the trees, as the great 

 bulk of feeding roots are outside the circle formed by the ends of the 

 branches. In order that it may do the most good it should be spread 

 broadcast, covering the entire ground in the case of large trees. Manure 

 may be applied to orchards at any time from November to April. Care 

 should be taken not to apply undecomposed manure to fruit trees of any 

 kind, and not to manure them during the season of growth, as it would be 

 likely to cause a rank, late growth, likely to be winter-killed. 



"Another fertilizer that is too much neglected, but which is better and 

 safer for the fruitgrowers, is unleached wood ashes. These, contain all 

 the mineral elements that were in the trees from which they came, and 

 therefore they will furnish to other trees, approximately, the mineral 

 elements they will require. Leached wood ashes also make a valuable 

 fertilizer, but are not worth more than half as much as the unleached, as 

 most of the potash and other soluble elements have been washed out. 



