The Canadian Horticulturist. 199 



natural supplies of plant food in such form as to have a specific crop producing 

 value. The constant use of farm-made manures has contributed no little to 

 this exhaustion. The nitrogen of manures is always supplemented by nitrifying 

 organisms in the soil, nitrates in rain water, and other sources ; farm-made 

 manures usually contain an excess of nitrogen as compared with the other ele- 

 ments, the formula (under actual growing conditions) in fertilizing language is 

 practically as follows : — 



Ammonia, ........ 10 



Potash, 6 



Phosphoric acid, ....... 3 



With many staple crops, this is not a properly balanced manure. The 

 proportions for wheat are : Ammonia, 10 ; potash, 4, and phosphoric acid, 3. 

 The minerals are deficient as compared with the manure, but the discrepancy is 

 not on the wrong side. With corn, however, the conditions are very different ; 

 the proportions become : ammonia, 10 ; potash, 10 ; phosphoric acid, 4. Tak- 

 ing into consideration the quantity of ammonia obtainable from other sources 

 than the manure itself, this crop seems fairly well adapted for home made 

 manures. But how is it with potatoes ? The proportion in this case is : Am- 

 monia, 10 ; potash, 14 ; phosphoric acid, 5 — the potash is deficient. Clover is 

 one of the most important crops to the farm ; rather, the most important one. 

 The proportions for clover are : Potash, 1 7 ; phosphoric acid, 5. Clover being 

 a leguminous plant, accumulates a larger part of its nitrogen from the atmos- 

 phere. By the continued use of farm manures, the natural supplies of soil 

 minerals have been exhausted. It is well understood that farm-manures contain 

 an excess of nitrogen, relatively. Grain lodges badly by its continued use, 

 without added potash and phosphate. Potatoes produce a diminished crop, or 

 go to vines and produce little or ;iothing ; on every hand are evidences of defi- 

 cient minerals, particularly in the case of potash. 



It follows, that the farmers of the North and East should pay especial 

 attention to the minerals in their manures. Potash is the weak point almost 

 invariably, and measures the crop possibilities, fixes the limit of production, so 

 to speak. Incorporate potash with the home made manures, and also a small 

 portion of phosphate, and the full value of the manure may be obtained ; other- 

 wise, the greater portion of the expensive ammonia must surely suffer loss. 



New York. P. 



The Legfend of the Rose. — There is a most sensational stor)' attached to 

 the Gen. Jacqueminot rose. Finding his daughter in the garden in the embrace 

 of a lover he had forbidden her to meet, the General killed him on the spot, his 

 blood flowing where a pale rose bush stood. The daughter soon died of 

 despair, and asked to be buried in the garden where her lover died. Out of the 

 grave grew the blood-red rose that is now called the Jacqueminot. 



