STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION. 



DK. HULL'S PAPER ON STRAWBERRIES AND THEIR NUTRITION. 



BY SAMUEL AV. JOHNSON. 



The ngricultural and horticultural publications of the present day, are teeming with 

 the applications of science to the processes of husbandry and gardening. This is a fact of 

 happy signiificance, and indicates how deeply the true means of advancement have taken 

 hold, in the intelligent mind of the community. 



Ordinary experience is the most usual, and an invaluable means of attaining excellence 

 in the art of vegetable production. 



Extraordinary experience or experiment, is a necessary adjunct to the former. 



It is easy to make experiments and to multiply observations. It is just as ea.sy to specu- 

 late upon them : but to make complete and exhaustive observations, and to plan and con- 

 duct strictly pertinent experiments, is quite another thing; as is likewise the arrival at 

 Truth, which, to even the most patient and profound, often is liable to be confounded 

 with speciousness. 



Dr. Hull has made experiments, and written a lengthy article on the "nutrition of 

 strawberries." I propose to inquire dispassionately — what are the merits of his investi- 

 gations? 



The article opens with a quotation from Prof. Emmons' " j^griculturc of New- York," 

 as follows : " The soil must possess all the inorganic substances, as well as organic, which 

 are essential to the perfection of vegetables; if any one is wanting it must be supplied." 



It will be necessary to remark somewhat upon this statement of Prof. Emmons. It is 

 m a .sense true, and is true as Prof. Emmons intended it to be understood, yet standing 

 alone, it is capable of gross misconstruction. 



The soil must contain all the inorganic substances that are essential to the growth of 

 the plant, or the plant will refuse to mature. It must also contain all the organic elements 

 of the plant in order to a profitable growth, but to grow the lemon, it must not neces- 

 sarily contain citric acid, because citric acid is essential to the perfection of the lemon; 

 nor need it contain morphine to produce the poppy, although morphine is essential to the 

 perfection of the poppy plant. 



In addition to all the inorganic substances of the plant, the soil must contain a quan- 

 tity of decayed vegetable matter, in order to make it profitably fertile. 



Such I deem a true expression of the sense of Prof. Emmons' proposition. 



Dr. Hull remarks substantially, that although this rule is apparently true, and con- 

 forms to common sense; yet in its ultimates it admits of exception. 



He states the groimd of exception as occurring with reference to tannic acid, and al- 

 ludes to other data bearing on the point, which di.sclose " evidence of the caprice of plants 

 in imbibing nutrition at proportional variance with their analysis." 



He says, further: "These discrepancies from the general rule, and the desire to 

 awaken inquiry and experiment to the highest degree, in order to mature the finest fruit, 

 have rendered me a little presumptuous, perhaps, in suggesting another rule of specific 

 nutrition : 



" That some fruits — whatever the organic or inorganic analysis of the plant or of the 

 fruit may disclose and seem to require — possess one or more special constituents, each 

 one of which is demanded as an increased, correspondent, and specific nutrition that bears 

 no proporti^ to that of the exact analysis." 



