AGRICULTUKAL VALUE OF. 787 



and dead ferns come next to these in value, while coniferous 

 needles and heather are less suitable. The absorptive power of 

 woods and branch-litter varies inversely with their more or less 

 woody nature. 



[Ebermayer states that animal manure containing much 

 ammonia has a basic action ; vegetable debris, except when 

 mixed with lime or ashes, is acid. Tr.] 



The absolute value of the various kinds of forest-litter 

 depends chiefly on their value as manure and bedding, but, 

 as noted above, other factors also intervene. Taking all 

 these into consideration, the kinds of litter may be classed 

 as follow : 



1. Moss, either alone, or mixed with needles. 



2. Straw. 



3. Dead ferns. 



4. Dead leaves, of beech, sycamore, lime, alder, and hazel. 



5. Coniferous needles, and dead leaves of species not 



included in 4. 



6. Weeds and branch-litter. 



Moss, when used dry, is the best of all forest-litter : it is more 

 absorptive than straw, and contains more nitrogenous matter, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash. Its rate of decomposition varies 

 with the species of moss. Mosses that occur usually in spruce 

 and silver-fir forest become comv.rU-.d rapidly into a fairly light 

 soil ; the more fibrous- kinds of moss, which grow on swampy 

 ground, decompose more slowly. 



Dead ferns also form a valuable kind of litter, containing 

 not only the largest quantity of ash, but also, when thoroughly 

 dry, being highly absorptive of liquid manure. Ferns also rot 

 rapidly, and improve the porosity of a soil. 



Litter of dead leaves of beech, lime, sycamore and hazel is 

 very nearly as valuable as straw ; when used for manure, 

 however, unless thoroughly rotten, it is rather harmful to light 

 soils, in which it forms stratified layers, does not decompose 

 uniformly and often renders the soil too loose. Thus, light, 

 sandy soils manured with it often become superficially dry, and 

 the leaves and dung applied to them are blown about by the 

 wind. 



3 E 2 



