Jd-ne I, 1883.] 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



993 



INFLUENCE OF THE STOCK ON THE GRAFT, AND 



OF THE GRAFT ON THE STOCK. 

 Some contest this influence. Very lately my friend 

 Alphonse Karr has cited an example, that of hybrid 

 perpetual ro.se flowering better when grafted on' the 

 common China rose than on the briar. In my opinion that 

 influence is general, althougli not always perceptible. Let 

 those who have doubts make an experiment. Let them 

 plant two wild briMS, like those used for standard roses, 

 near one another, graft one of them with a tea rose, and 

 let the other grow at random. After three or four 

 years they will fiml that the grafted one has scarcely 

 growii thicker, and that the one left to itself has nearly 

 doubled in circiunference ; and perhaps the grafted one 

 h.as died. A\'ho does not know that pears are grafted on 

 the quince to obtain pyramidal forms, growth not too vigor- 

 ous, and in consequence earlier fruit? fjot those who 

 ar(! not acquainted with this matter graft the same 

 v.^riety of pears on a quince stock and on a seedling 

 pear of the same age, and they will soon perceive that 

 tlie latter is by far the more vigorous. I had in the severe 

 winter of 1871 a sad experience; all the pear trees in my 

 garden grafted on quinces were killed by the hard frost, 

 while those on pear stocks survived. AVhy do tea roses, 

 and ijarticularly the more delicate varieties, acquire more 

 vigour wlien grafted on the seedling briar than on their 

 owii roots?— .Jean Sisley, Monplaisir, Lyons. — Field. 



TENNYSON AND TREES. 

 It is interesting to notice the frequency mth which 

 our conmion forest trees are mentioned in the writings 

 of Mr. Tenny.son. To the Oak many felicitous epithets 

 are applied, the most remarkable of them, perhaps, being 

 " gouty, " which is used, — playfully of com-se, — in " Am- 

 phion." Everyone remembers the Oak — 



" So hollow, huge, an<l old. 

 It looked a tower of ruined masonwork,'' 

 before which the fan- but false-hearted Vivien Lay at the 

 feet of the great enchanter; and also the tree de.scribed 

 in that lightest a.\\<\ brightest and most airily-sweet of 

 poems, " The Talking Oak." 



The Beech, despite its inexjjressible beauty, not only 

 when clad in freshest summer green, but also in autumn, 

 when its leaves are dyed a miUion glorious colours, has 

 been somewhat neglected by the I,aureate, as well as by 

 most of our poets ; but in '' Edwin .Morris " we read of a 

 thought 



" That like a purple beech among the greens 

 Looked out of place." 

 The Ash has received more attention. In "The Garden- 

 er's Daughter " .Juliet's hair is said to be black 



" As ash-buds in the front of March ; " 

 and in •' The Princess " we find the following lines : — 

 " Why lingereth she to clothe her heart with love, 

 Delaying, as the tender ash delays. 

 To clothe herself when all the woods are green." 

 In " The Miller's Daughter " we read of 

 " Gummy chestnut buds 

 All glistening to the breezy blue"; 

 in "In Memoriam" of the Sycamore's "breadth and height" 

 of foUage : and in '■ Aniphion " of the '* Birch's fragrant 

 hair." 



The joyful Elm is spoken of as " full foliaged " ; and 

 notice is taken of 



" The moan of doves in immemorial elms 

 And ninrmm- of innumerable bees " ; 

 while the lines — 



" Witch-elm, that coimter-change the floor 

 Of this flat lawn with dusk and bright, " 

 show that the poet recognizes the beauty of the less 

 stately Wych or Scotch Elm. The dark and gloomy Yew 

 is noticed almost as frequently as in the writings of 

 Wordsworth. Probably the finest lines ever written on 

 what is pre-eminently the *' tree of bitter gall and ebon 

 sad " * form section 2 of " In Memoriam. " — Fkaxk Miller. 

 — Jou.nud of Foresiiy. 



* Spenser. 

 1'25 



ANALYSIS OF MANURES. 



During a course of lectures at Aberdeen, Mr. .Jamieson 

 F.I. C, dealt very fully with the subject of the analyses of 

 manm;es, which at present, he declared, have neithej' the 

 essential of accuracy, nor the vu-tue of simplicity. He 

 stated th(! errors arose from incapacity, accidents, and 

 unequal samples; but outside these inaccurate processes 

 were used. Analyses and phosphates were usually '•high," 

 and he quoted a series of experiments to show that the 

 maccm-acy was gcmerally from 1 to 3 per cent, and he 

 suggested that, in their own interests, farmers should 

 insist on their phosphatic manures being analysed l>y the 

 Molybdenum method, and checked by the Uranium method. 

 Pho.sphate of lime was the only useful phosphate as a 

 manure; but in analyses, phosphates of u-o.i and alumina 

 were included, and usually weut as high as 5 per cent 

 These should be stated separately. To make his meaning 

 clear, he showed that 3101b of insoluble phosphate of lime 

 mixed with sulphuric acid makes a qu,antity of gjiismn, 

 and only 2341b of soluble phosphate ; but credit is usually 

 given by the chemist for 3inib., there being here an error 

 of 7CIb. Other errors similar in principle arose in de- 

 nommating the essential ingredient in phosphate, and in 

 using the term ammonia when it was necessary only to 

 determine the amount of nitrogen, and in using the word 

 potash instead of potassium. After explaning his riews 

 on these matters, Mr. Jamieson urged that we ought to 

 have a uniform system of stating an analysis that shall 

 be intelligible. He recommends that the "ordinary form 

 of analy.sis shall be treated in the following manner- 

 The useless matter— riz., the water, the sand, the organic 

 matter, and the alkaline salts— .shall be first struck out. 

 Then a circle .shoidd be put round the matter of little 

 value, viz., the magnesia and lime, and a cross put against 

 the probably injurious matter, viz., sulphuric acid. You 

 would than be aljle finally to determine how much there 

 is of the three useful elements, viz., nitrogen, phosphorus, 

 .and potas.sium. For this purpose he recommended the 

 following practice: 



To Change To 



Ammonia Nitrogen 



Sulphate of ammonia ,, 



Dry potash Potassium 



Wet potash.. 



Sulphate of potash 



Insoluble phosphate of lime... 



Soluble ditto ditto 



Biphosphate of lime 



Phosphoric anhydride 



Phosphoric acid.. 



Pho.sphorous 



Multiply by 

 0-823 

 0-212 

 0-83 

 0-7 

 0-45 

 0-2 

 0-26.5 

 0-313 

 0-44 

 0-32 



But, as even with thi.s there woidd still be to some 

 e.xtent a difficulty in farmers knowing what the actual 

 value of the manme was, and as to the kind of potash 

 or phosphorus meant, Mr. .Jamieson m-ged that all ana- 

 lyses of maures should be stated in the follo\ving manner r 



'Nitrogen 

 Phosphorus, as 

 soluble phos- 

 Useful I phate of lime, 

 matter j Phosjihorus, as 

 insoluble phos- 

 I phate of lime. 

 I Potassium. 

 Matter ( , . 



of uttie-5 ^;""'- . 



value. (Magnesia 



Matter probably ) 



.Sulphuric acid 



Useless matter.. 



'Water. 

 Organic mat- 

 ter. 

 Sand. 



Alkaline salts 



Phosphorusas 



phosphateof 



iron and al- 



L umina. 



Such a form as this would give farmers a fairly intel- 

 ligible idea as to the manure they were purchasing, and 

 on the gi-ound of both simplicity and greater accur»cy, 

 it was recommended to their attention. — Field. 



FRUIT .VND VEGETABLE CULTFTATION IN 

 ITALY. 



In a report on the fruit cultivation in Italy, it is stated 

 that this branch of culture cannot be said to be skilfully 

 managed, and its results are rendered uncertain by tlii^ great 

 variety of the climate and the preilominance of high winds, 

 jnid winters are often followed hy hard weather in spring, 

 ■which destroys the buds; but the supply of fruit can generally 

 be kept up from other parts which have not suffered In 



