314 



GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



more or less destroyed when a bench of soil in a greenhouse is 

 allowed to dry out all the Summer, and treating soils with steam 

 while killing harmful organisms leaves at least some of the 

 beneficial ones unharmed, otherwise the great good which a 

 soil derives from the steaming process would not come about. 



In many parts of the world, especially in India, brush is burned 

 upon the surface, a process which greatly benefits succeeding 

 crops, an effect which is undoubtedly brought about by the 

 heat from the burning brush destroying the harmful organisms. 

 Such organisms may be also killed by the use of germicidal 

 preparations applied to the soil. 



Experimental work at Rothamsted and elsewhere has re- 

 peatedly brought out the fact that conditions harmful to life 

 in the soil, such as extremes of heat or cold, use of liquid germi- 

 cides, and so on, always lead to greater activity on the part of 

 the beneficial organisms as soon as such harmful conditions have 

 passed, owing to the fact that such condition have at least con- 

 siderably decreased the numbers of those bacteria which prey 

 upon the beneficial ones. 



All -oils worth cultivating contain a large supply of phosphoric 

 acid, the proportion of it which is availalile will depend upon 

 the treatment which the soil has received. The store of phos- 

 phoric acid in the soil is always in some form of phosphate, 

 in the absence of cultivation, etc., it is generally and largely in 

 the unavailable forms of phosphates of iron and alumina. The 

 production of available phosphoric acid is mainly brought about 

 by chemical action, such action being set in motion by culti- 

 vation, green manuring and the application of lime. So far as 

 is known the soil micro-organisms have no direct action in this 

 direction, but doubtless their work in the way of breaking up 

 animal and vegetable residues has considerable indirect action. 



Lime is what is known by chemists as a very active base. 

 When it is added to the soil it seizes upon the phosphoric acid 

 contained in the phosphates of iron and alumina and forms 

 phosphate of lime, which easily becomes available as actual 

 plant food. 



Unlike available nitrogen, available phosphoric acid is not 

 easily washed out of the soil, although under certain conditions 

 it does sometimes revert back to its unavailable form, but this 

 of course involves no actual loss. When it is necessary to 

 apply phosphoric acid to the soil, as might be the case for 

 instance when ground has been neglected, it is best to apply 

 it by means of fertilizers having an organic origin, of which 

 ground bones is an example, and the finer they are ground the 

 quicker will be their action. Phosphoric acid of an inorganic 

 nature, such as superphosphate or acid phosphate, is not so good 

 as these and has a detrimental effect upon the nitrifying organisms. 



With regard to potash, this important plant food is present 

 in abundance in all soils worth cultivating, and it is never, or 

 very rareiy, necessary to apply it, still less is it necessary to 

 import it into the country so far as feeding plants is concerned. 



It is present naturally in the soil in a very insoluble state, 

 generally as a complex form of potash and alumina. In this 

 case, too, lime is an important medium of bringing it into an 

 available form, as when this active base comes into contact with 

 dormant compounds of potash it takes the place of the potash, 

 which, being thus liberated, goes into solution and becomes 

 available for the plant. In this connection, sulphate of lime 

 (gypsum) is more active in regard to potash than carbonate of 

 lime. There is practically never any soluble potash in an acid 

 soil, and soils in this condition must first have their acidity re- 

 moved before the lime can act upon the potash. Rocks known 

 as feldspar and also granite are very rich in potash and there 

 is generally a superabundance of it in all soils formed funda- 

 mentally by their disintegration. 



It will have become apparent that the application of lime 

 is necessary in connection with the production of the available 

 forms of all of the three important plant foods, nitrogen, phos- 

 phoric acid and potash, and it is only for this purpose that it 

 is really necessary to apply lime, as plants use ver\- little of it 

 as actual food and all soils contain an abundance looked at from 

 this point of view only. 



A liritish agriculturist wrote some 400 years ago, "Tillage is 

 manure." His observations showed him that land well tilled, 

 receiving little or no manure, produced better crops than that 

 receiving an abundance of manure but little cultivation. 



In connection with all plant foods contained in the soil con- 

 tinual cultivation always tends to render them available. As 

 much of the breaking down of the original rocks was brought 

 about by the action of weather changes, exposure of the soil 

 to the weathering action of Winter frosts is another active agency 

 in producing available plant food. The presence of organic 

 matter in the soil is also another active factor in this direction. 

 This organic matter can be cheaply supplied by the turning under 

 of green crops. The fact that organic matter is a very potent 

 agent in the breaking up of insoluble plant foods, is doubtless 

 due to the amount of carbon dioxide formed during the de- 

 caying process of vegetable matter, such as green manures ; this 



carbon dioxide renders mineral matter more soluble. Also the 

 organic matter forms a medium for the growth of various bac- 

 teria, ferments, etc., which assist in breaking down soil com- 

 ponents. 



Stable manure, while being a direct plant food, is equally as 

 valuable for its indirect action in assisting very materially in 

 unlocking dormant phosphoric acid and potash already con- 

 tained in the soil. 



While we are not advocating the entire discontinuance of 

 manuring, a greater dependence upon the practically inex- 

 haustible supplies of potash and phosphates in the soil and of 

 the nitrogen in the atinosphcre by taking the steps necessary to 

 render them available and less dependence upon purchased 

 plant foods, will be found to produce at least equal results at a 

 considerable reduction in cost. 



THE SAMENESS IN GARDENS 



I NOTICE in your "Here and There'' column of July 

 number just received the writer deprecates the formal 

 (hardens of -which we have got so tired in favor of some- 

 thing more natural. No doubt they have even now their 

 I)lace in large establishments where all sorts of gardens 

 can be indulged in. But it is in the small villa gardens 

 which are to be seen by the thousands in the subitrbs of 

 our cities, that formalism and sameness seem so pitiful. 

 \\'here as soon as Spring comes a row or two of Lobelias, 

 Geranium, Calceolarias, Alyssum or Marguerites are just 

 put out and for about two months or so in the middle of 

 Summer are just bright and gay. But one soon tires of the 

 row of red, white, yellow and blue and all interest in the 

 garden is lost and add to this the miles of Privet Hedges 

 which have to be clipped every few weeks. Oh, my, 

 the sameness of it all ! But it is fashionable for the bed- 

 ding out to be done and so it is done and oftentimes the 

 plants are left till every one is killed by Frost and the 

 bedding out time comes round again. 



I know a front garden of a detached suburban villa 

 in which for at least eight months there is always some- 

 thing worth looking at. It only measures 36 by 24 feet, 

 includes a grass plot and rockery and in it are more than 

 100 varieties of plants, and passers-by invariably and hab- 

 itually look over the low fence to see what is newly in 

 bloom, and often pull themselves up sharp to see some- 

 thing strikingly fresh or distinct. 



The front of the house is well covered with Red Pyra- 

 cantlia, backed on one side with Ceanothus dentatus and 

 on the other with Clematis Jackman, Tamarisk and Rose 

 Crimson Rambler. In middle of the grass plot is an oval 

 bed planted with Rose Antoine Rivoire. but also filled 

 with Forget-Me-Not, Asters, Wallflower — and now inost 

 effective of all, Lobelia cardlnalis. It is quite a picture 

 for months. The rockwork is prettily covered with such 

 things as Dwarf Veronica, Red Valerian, Primroses, 

 Polyanthus-Crocus, Cat Mint, Hcuchcra san^^ulnca, 

 Sedums, Llthospernmin fruflcosum, Funkias. Arabis, 

 It has confolla. Hardy Ferns, Ccrastlmn, Aubretias, Gen- 

 tian, Violas, Saxifrage, Pulmonarla mollis. Verbena 

 chamcrdroldes in the front and on either side are stand- 

 ard double white Lilac, Standard Golden Privet, White 

 and Crimson Rhododendron, Gum Cistus, Silver Eiion- 

 ymus, Acer Polymorphum Atropitrpureum, Bambusa 

 Fortunei. Phlox, Hydrangeas on either side, Rose Tea 

 Ramblers, Dorothy Perkins, Yellow Broom, Erica vcltchli, 

 Sak'la patens, Lygiisfrnm Henryi, Buddlela variabilis, 

 ^lagnifica Rose Hiawatha, Golden Rod, Daffodils, Fox- 

 gloves. Helianthemums, Azalea mollis, etc., etc., etc. 



As I said before over 100 varieties and only 3 Geran- 

 iums and 2 Fuchsias that will not stand the Winter. 



The owner thoroughly enjoys "messing about" as he 

 calls it in his garden — pruning this, tying that and chat- 

 ting with neighbors as they pass by. Truly a big lot of 

 fun can be gotten out of a little garden. H. A. B. 



London, England. 



