AND GENERAL HORTICULTURE. 



153 



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RutacecB, is common throughout India, Bur- 

 mah, Ceyion and Java, and forms a iarge tree, 

 yielding a hard heavy wood, of great strength, 

 but not durable. The leaves have the odor of 

 Anise, and the fruit is edible. Increased by 

 cuttings of the ripe young wood. Introduced 

 from Coromandel, in 1804. 



Ferra'ria. Named after Ferrari, an Italian bot- 

 anist. Nat. Ord. IridacecE. 



A genus of dwarf bulbs from the Cape of 

 Good Hope, producing verj' curious, oddly- 

 colored flowers, perhaps more singular than 

 beautiful. They are of easy culture, requir- 

 ing to be kept drj- during winter. They 

 should be started in the green-house in Feb- 

 ruary, in small pots and as soon as they com- 

 mence growth, given plenty of air, sunlight, 

 and water, and they will come into flower in 

 April. They Avill grow finely in a cold frame 

 if carefully protected from frost during win- 

 ter, and are increased freelv by offsets. In- 

 troduced in 1800. 



Ferruginous. Iron-colored ; rusty light brown, 

 with a little mixture of red. 



Fertile. Producing fruit. Also, capable of ef- 

 fecting the process of fertilization ; or of pro- 

 ducing perfect seeds, as the anthers when 

 filled with pollen ; fertilized. 



Fertilization. The reproductive function by 

 which the action of the pollen renders the 

 ovule fertile. 



Fertilizers. This word is generally used onlj' 

 in connection with commercial fertilizers, 

 or concentrated fertilizers, though, of course, 

 in its full significance it refers to any sub- 

 stance suitable for the food of plants. The 

 best known fertilizers of commerce are Pe- 

 ruvian Guano and Bone Dust, though there 

 are numbers of others, such as Fish Guano, 

 Dry Blood Fertilizer, Blood and Bone Fertil- 

 izer, with the various brands of Superphos- 

 phates, all of more or less value for fertilizing 

 purposes. It is useless to go over the list, 

 and we will confine ourselves to the relative 

 merits of pure Peruvian Guano and pure 

 Bone Dust. Guano at $65 per ton we consider 

 relatively equal in value to Bone Dust at $10 

 per ton, for in the lower priced article we find 

 we have to increase the quantity to produce 

 the same result. Whatever kind of concen- 

 trated fertilizer is used, we find it well repays 

 the labor to prepare it in the following man- 

 ner before it is used on the land : to every 

 bushel of Guano or Bone Dust add three 

 bushels of either leaf mould (from the woods), 

 well pulverized dry muck, sweepings from a 

 paved street, stable manure so rotted as to be 

 like pulverized muck, or, if neither of these 

 can be obtained, any loamy soil will do ; but 

 in every case the material to mix the fertili- 

 zers with must be fairly dry and never in a 

 condition of mud ; the meaning of the opera- 

 tion being, that the material used is to act as 

 a temporary absorbent for the fertilizer. The 

 compost must be thoroughly mixed, and if 

 Guano is used, it being sometimes lumpy, it 

 must be broken up to dust before being mixed 

 with the absorbent. The main object of this 

 operation is for the better separation and di- 

 vision of the fertilizer, so that, when applied 

 to the soil, it can be more readily distributed. 

 Our experiments have repeatedly shown that 



FER 



this method of using concentrated fertilizers 

 materially increases their value probably 

 twenty per cent. The mixing should be done 

 a few months previous to spring, and it 

 should, after being mixed, be packed away in 

 barrels, and kept in some dry shed or cellar 

 until wanted for use. Thus mixed, it is par- 

 ticularly beneficial on lawns or other grass 

 lands. The quantity of concentrated fertil- 

 izer to be used is often perplexing to begin- 

 ners. We give the following as the best rules 

 we know, all derived from our own practice in 

 growing fruits, flowers, and vegetables : Tak- 

 ing Guano as a basis, we would recommend 

 for all vegetables or fruit crops, if earliness 

 and good quality are desired, the use of not 

 less than 1,200 pounds per acre (an acre con- 

 tains 4,810 square yards, and cultivators for 

 private use can easily estimate from this the 

 quantity they require for any area), mixed with 

 two tons of either of the materials recom- 

 mended. If Bone Dust is used, about one 

 ton per acre should be used, mixed with three 

 tons of soil or the other materials named. 

 When used alone without being mixed with 

 the absorbent, it should be sown on the soil 

 after plowing or digging, about thick enough 

 to just color the surface, or about as thick as 

 sand or sawdust is sown on a floor, and then 

 thoroughly harrowed in if plowed, or, if dug, 

 chopped in with a rake. This quantity is used 

 broadcast by sowing on the ground after 

 plowing and deeply and thoroughly harrowing 

 in, or, if in small gardens, forked in lightly 

 with the prongs of a garden fork or long- 

 toothed steel rake. When applied in hills or 

 drills, from 100 to 300 pounds should be used 

 to the acre, according to the distance of these 

 apart, mixing with soil, etc., as already di- 

 rected. 



When well-rotted stable manure is procur- 

 able at a cost not to exceed $2 or $3 per ton, 

 whether from horses or cows, it is preferable 

 to any concentrated fertilizer. Rotted stable 

 manure, to produce full crops, should be 

 spread on the ground not less than three 

 inches thick, and should be thoroughly 

 mixed with the soil by plowing or spading. 

 The refuse hops from breweries form an ex- 

 cellent fertilizer, at least one-half more valu- 

 able, bulk for bulk, than stabl-e manure. 

 Other excellent fertilizers are obtained from 

 the scrapings or shavings from horn or whale- 

 bone manufactories. The best way to make 

 these quickly available is to compost them 

 with hot manure in the proportion of one ton 

 of refuse horn or whalebone with fifteen tons 

 of manure. The heated manure extracts the 

 oil, which is intermingled with the whole. 



The manure from the chicken or pigeon 

 house is very valuable, and when composted 

 as directed for Bone Dust and Guano, has at 

 least one-third their value. Castor oil pom- 

 ace is also valuable. 



Ashes. The ashes of vegetable matter con- 

 sist of such elements as are always required 

 for their perfect maturity, and it is evident 

 they must furnish one of the best saline 

 manures which can be supplied for theit 

 growth ; they contain in fact every element, 

 and generally in the right proportions, foi 

 insuring a full and rapid growth. The annua,' 

 exhaustion of salts from a large crop of grain, 

 roots, or grass, is from 180 to 250 pounds per 

 acre, and the aggregate of a few years will so 



