LBCT. iv THE FOOD OF CROPS 61 



soil over the roots of fruit trees and bushes. Refuse 

 heaps thus prepared are of great service in gardens. 



Peat Moss as Manure. An excellent form of 

 manure is now to be had in most large towns where 

 peat moss litter is used for bedding horses. It is 

 largely employed for this purpose. It comes saturated 

 with urine and mixed with horse droppings, and is as 

 frequently used for top dressings as for working into 

 the soil. 



Nothing can be better than this for fruit planta- 

 tions. A good top dressing of such manure attracts 

 roots to the surface, and its rich juices enter the soil 

 with every passing shower. No spade should enter 

 such a plantation to lacerate and destroy the roots, 

 the feeders of tree and bush. 



In the culture of root crops such as turnips, as well 

 as celery and green crops generally, farm-yard manure 

 is invariably recommended as affording sustenance 

 enriched moisture to the young plant, and so en- 

 abling it to withstand the effects of drought, which so 

 often does harm at this critical stage of growth. 



Artificial or Chemical Manures. Important 

 experiments with different kinds of these fertilizers 

 have been carried on for a long time in various parts 

 of the country. The Sussex Association for the im- 

 provement of Agriculture, under the guidance of 

 Professor Jamieson, proved to demonstration how un- 

 necessary was the application of sulphur, calcium, 

 magnesia and iron there as manure. The omission 

 of phosphorus, or of nitrogen, gave the same blank 

 results as when all seven forms of manure were 

 omitted ; the omission of potash did not similarly 

 stop growth, though it resulted in small, unhealthy 

 plants ; but the omission of sulphur, of magnesia and 

 even of lime, had no lowering effect upon the crop. 

 Subsequent analyses of turnips grown without the 



