116 GENERAL ADVICE 



be piled and composted. If the pile is turned 

 several times a year, the material becomes fine and 

 uniform in texture. 



The various questions associated with the fer- 

 tilizing of the land are too large to be considered 

 in detail here. Persons who desire to familiarize 

 themselves with the subject should consult Rob- 

 erts' "Fertility of the Land" and King's "Soil:" 

 and if it is desired to make application of the 

 knowledge directly to the growing of fruit, they 

 should consult Bailey's "Principles of Fruit- 

 Growing." 



It may be said, however, that, as a rule, most 

 lands contain all the elements of plant -food in 

 sufficient quantities except potash, phosphoric acid 

 and nitrogen. In many cases, lime is very bene- 

 ficial to land, usually because it corrects acidity 

 of the soil and has a mechanical effect in pulver- 

 izing and flocculating clay and in cementing sands, 

 rather than in the direct addition of plant -food. 

 The chief sources of commercial potash are mu- 

 riate of potash, sulfate of potash and wood ashes. 

 For general purposes, the muriate of potash is 

 now recommended, because it is comparatively 

 cheap and the composition is uniform. A normal 

 application of muriate of potash is from two 

 hundred to three ,hundred pounds to the acre ; but 

 on some garden lands, where the greatest results 

 are demanded, sometimes as much as twice this 

 application may be made. Phosphoric acid is got 



