12 WOKCESTEE COUNTY HORTICULTUKAL SOCIETY. [1880. 



less can yon believe it ? I certainly cannot, becanse I know that 

 in the cnltivation of plants in a greenhouse the perfection of 

 growth and fertility conjes from the use of liquid manure. Why ? 

 because the fertilizing matter is so minutely diffused that it 

 presents itself to the plant in that form that is immediately 

 available and readily assimilated and taken into its circulation. 

 How far the use of liquid manure would be practicable in field or 

 gaiden culture I am not prepared to say, but that it would 

 accomplisii great results as to the production of crops I have no 

 doubt whatever ; there may be too much labor and trouble in the 

 application to be profitable. And now, after showing the uses of 

 water in plant growth, I should be unwilling to admit that the 

 water in manure, even divested of all the salts, is of no use. 



Our own bodies are made up, chemically speaking, of a large 

 portion of water. We tind it necessary to our health, growtli 

 and comfort, and we believe in it as a class, although once in a 

 while we find a person who, if we jndge by his appearance, does 

 not approve of it even for washing purposes. There are 92 parts 

 of water in 100 of turnips, and who thinks it wrong to feed them to 

 cows at the present prices of milk. The uieats, fruits and vege- 

 tables, in fact almost everything we consume, is, when divided up 

 by the chemist, found to be largely made up of water. Without 

 water we cannot grow anything. With water, by irrigation on 

 meadows, we can increase the grass very much, even from the 

 very small amount of plant food contained in it. 



In the analysis of manure by Dr. Nichols, three-fourths of the 

 value was in the nitrogen, $2.60 in the cord. It is an article that 

 is very volatile, and therefore liable to waste; a small quantity 

 of plaster of paris, or dry earth, does much towards holding it. 

 Prof. Johnson's analysis of certain plants from their ashes, and 

 to ascertain the amount of potash they contain : 10.000 pounds 

 of turnips and leaves show 56 pounds of potash ; 10,000 pounds of 

 carrots without leaves, show 35 pounds of potasli ; 10,000 pounds 

 of parsnips without leaves, show 21 pounds of potash ; 10,000 

 pounds of potatoes and their tops show 122 pounds of potasli ; 

 10,000 pounds of potatoes is 166| bushels of 60 pounds, nearly 

 f to every bushel ; 1000 pounds red clover has 20 pounds potash ; 

 1000 pounds white clover has 81 pounds potash. 



The exhaustion of potash from the soil you will see is quite 

 large. The same is true of bone or phosplioric acid, more par- 

 ticularly on farms where the selling of milk is the leading 

 business, a large quantity being sold in the milk itself. To keep 

 up the fertility of tlie soil, these two articles must be supplied in 

 some form sufficient to replace tlie loss. Potash and l)one are 

 said not to waste to any extent, either by evaporation orleacliing. 



