APPLES 

 Percentage of Important Constituents in Ash 



315 



In this table the composition of the 

 ash In detail is given. Of its components, 

 phosphoric acid and potash are the prin- 

 cipal. The latter constitutes over half of 

 the ash (55.26 per cent), while the for- 

 mer is about 9 per cent, the average being 

 8.98 per cent. 



No great differences between the vari- 

 eties are here to be noticed, though the 

 Northern Spy presents some striking va- 

 riations from the average. Its ash con- 

 tains nearly 3 per cent more phosphoric 

 acid, nearly 1 per cent less soda, about 

 .5 per cent more silica than the ash of 

 the other apples. 



The ratio of the potash to the ])hos- 

 phoric acid in the ash of the fruit is 

 to 1 : in the ash of the old leaves it is 2 

 to 1. Relatively, therefore, the demands 

 of the leaf and the fruit on the soil of 



these two constituents are very different. 

 It might here be remarked that the 

 greater quantity of the ash ingredients 

 of the fruit is contained in the seeds and 

 walls of the ovary, comparatively little 

 being found in the flesh of the apple. 



A comparison of this table with that 

 showing the composition of the ash in 

 the leaf, will reveal further interesting 

 features. The total percentages of ash in 

 similar weights of leaf and fruit, are as 

 3.46 to .28. Lime is much more abundant 

 in the ash of the leaf, while magnesia, 

 oxide of iron and silica are about the 

 same, taking the older leaves for com- 

 parison. 



For the purpose of a practical presenta- 

 tion of the subject, the data presented in 

 the following table have been prepared: 



Weight of Important Fertilizing Constituents Withdrawn from the Soil 



