il8 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



SOIL TREATMENT FOR FRUIT GROWING. 



T the recent meeting- of the British 

 '^^ Columbia Fruit Growers' Associa- 

 % tion, held in Vancouver on Tuesday, 

 the 9th of January, Prof. Shutt, 

 chemist of the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Avas present and g^ave an address on fruit 

 g-rowing of which the following is a synopsis: 

 In appearing' for the first time in his official 

 capacity as chemist of the experimental farms 

 before the convention of British Columbia 

 Fruit Growers, Mr. Shutt said there were 

 two thoughts uppermost in his mind; the first 

 was that he mig^ht be able to say something 

 of real value to his hearers, something- that 

 mig-ht be ot practical assistance to them in 

 the prosecution of their occupation. The 

 second thought or wish was that during his 

 visit, though it was at an inauspicious sea- 

 son, he mig-ht be able to learn much reg^ard- 

 ing- the nature of the various evils to be met 

 with in the province, the fertilizers necessary 

 to increase production and the climatic in- 

 fluences that prevailed. For many years he 

 had endeavored to solve in the laboratories 

 at Ottawa some of the problems that con- 

 fronted B. C. ag-riculturists, and he hoped 

 on this visit to g-ather information which 

 would help him in this work, for he had the 

 interests of British Columbia as much at 

 heart as those of Prince Edward Island or 

 any other province of the Dominion. 



Commencing with a brief outline of the 

 nature of soils in g-eneral, Mr. Shutt ex- 

 plained their origin and gave the chief char- 

 acteristics as reg-ards chemical composition 

 and mechanical texture of soil of various 

 classes. The importance of correct propor- 

 tions of mineral and organic ing-redients was 

 then dwelt upon, if the best results as to 

 crop production were to be expected. Min- 

 eral matter, including lime, phosphoric acid 

 and potash were necessary for plant g-rowth; 

 org-anic matter was the store house of nitro- 



g-en — an essential element oi' plant food — ■ 

 and also the conserver of soil moisture — 

 perhaps the most important of all the factors 

 which go to make up fertility. 



The next matter taken up in detail by the 

 speaker was the nature and sources of plant 

 food, explaining that the carbonic acid always 

 present in the air furnished the larg-er portion 

 of plant nutriment. This g^as was absorbed 

 by the leaves throug-h the ag-ency of sunshine. 

 The mineral portion was extracted and ab- 

 sorbed by the rootlets from the soil. 



The question of availability of plant food 

 in the soil was then emphasized. It was 

 only such plant food as was soluble that was 

 of v^alue to crops. Continuous cropping 

 necessarily reduced the amount oi such in 

 the soil. Not only must plant food be re- 

 turned if fertility is to be maintained or in- 

 creased, but g-ood cultural methods must be 

 followed to render inert or locked up food 

 assimilable, as well as to make the soil 

 absorbent of moisture and a comfortable 

 medium in which the roots can forag-e. 



Acidity or sourness of soils was injurious 

 to luxuriant g^rowth. This wa« to be over- 

 come by drainage and if necessary by an 

 application of lime. Drainage is necessary 

 for both lig-ht and heavy soils, not only to 

 take away superfluous water but to render 

 them mellow and improve their capacity for 

 moisture and heat, for wet soils are cold 

 soils. Many soils are deficient in lime, such 

 are frequently sour. Mr. Shutt expounded 

 a ready means or process whereby every 

 farmer might easily ascertain whether a soil 

 is lacking in this element, which is not only 

 a direct source of plant food, but also useful 

 in liberating potash from the rock matter in 

 the soil. The exclusive use of lime was 

 pointed out as an injurious practice, but to- 

 gether with organic manures was to be 

 highly recommended. Light and frequeuj. 



