THE POSSIBILITIES OF ARTIFICIAL MANURES IN FORESTRY. 249 
for various reasons, seems to be the favourite. The quantity of 
seed sown varies from 1} to 14 cwt. per acre. 
There is thus plenty of phosphorus, lime and_ potash 
for the vigorous growth of the nitrogen-collecting plant which 
can work with full energy, and extract the maximum amount of 
nitrogen from the atmosphere. This repays the liberal dose of 
artificial manures recommended, since the basic slag and kainit 
are not removed from the soil, but are returned with the green 
manure, and are still available for the future forest-plants. It is 
important that the lupines should be strong and vigorous. If 
they are not so, then sufficient nitrogen will not be collected from 
the air, and this deficit must be made good by the application 
of artificial nitrogenous manure in the form of nitrate of soda. 
When green manuring is not possible in the nursery, then the 
application of artificial nitrogenous manures is necessary. It is 
important that the young plants should develop rapidly—hence 
the best form of nitrogenous manure is nitrate of soda, applied 
when the plants are coming into or are in full vegetation. 
Where the use of artificial manures in the nursery is un- 
successful, the explanation is generally to be found in their 
improper use. It is necessary here, as in agriculture, to know in 
the first place what substance the soil requires, and also in what 
form, and when it should be added. Further, the fault not 
infrequently lies in adding too little to cover the requirements of 
the plants for several years. Nevertheless there are those who 
maintain that plants raised in a nursery with a rich soil are 
not suitable for planting in poor forest soils. Some even go so 
far as to say that the nursery should consist of the very poorest 
soil, in order that the starved plants so raised should be better 
able to exist later, on the less fertile forest areas. This is a great 
physiological error. It is true that plants do not stand well 
a change from a mild, warm climate to a raw, cold one. At the 
same time there is no ground to suppose that well-nourished 
plants suffer more than badly-nourished ones. The success in 
planting depends principally upon the quality of the plants, and 
on the vigour of the stem- and root-systems; especially essential 
are plenty of fibrous rootlets. Comparative experiments have 
proved that the most rapid development and the best growth are 
to be expected from properly nourished plants, such as are raised 
in a nursery with good soil. It stands to reason that a strong 
vigorous plant, with a sufficiently developed root-system, is 
