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OUR QUESTION AND ANSWER DEPARTMENT 



Readers of TKo Horticulturist are Invited to Submit Questions on any Phase of Horticultural "Worh 



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Cost of 'Wood AsKes 



Are wood ashes at 15 cents a bushel, deliv- 

 ered in orchard, expensive? — S.W.C, Swea- 

 burg, Ont. 



Woo'd ashes at 15 cents a bushel, de- 

 livered in the orchard, may be very 

 cheap, and, again, may be very expen- 

 sive. All will depend upon the amount 

 of potash that there is in the ashes. If 

 we were to value what is taken as the 

 average composition, say five per cent, 

 of potash and one and a half per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid, the wood ashes 

 would be worth $6.50 a ton, without 

 allowing anything for the Ume. It is, 

 however, impossible to say what amount 

 of potash there is in the ashes. We 

 have analyzed samples containing five 

 per cent., and have also analyzed sam- 

 ples containing one per cent., said to be 

 unleached hardwood ashes. If you know 

 the history of the ashes, whether they 

 have been mixed with earth or hard coal 

 ashes, and that they have not been 

 leached, I think you are safe in paying 

 15 cents a bushel for them. — Answered 

 by Prof. R. Harcourt, O.A.C., Guelph. 



CHarcoal as a Fertilizer 



What is the value of charcoal as a fertilizer? 

 Is it worth using in large quantities on a small 

 fruit plantation?— Mrs. C. S., Nelson, B.C. 



Charcoal acts as an absorbent of gases 

 and is used to sweeten the soil. It is of 

 little value on a fruit plantation tmless 

 obtainable at little or no cost and then 

 not unless the soil is acid. 



Analysis of A.sKes 



Please publish the analysis of hard and soft 

 wood ashes and of coal ashes. — E.G.F., Shed- 

 iac, N.B. 



It is impossible to publish an average 

 analysis of soft and hard wood ashes 

 that will truly represent the composition 

 of ashes under all conditions. Different 

 kinds of soft and different kinds of hard 

 wood will differ in their percentage 

 amounts of the constituents. The com- 

 position of the wood from which these 

 are t aken will vary greatly and will have 

 a marked effect on the composition of 

 the ashes. In general, it may be stated 

 that soft wood ashes are light and, 

 weight for weight, will not contain as 

 much potash as hard wood ashes. On 

 the other hand, it is claimed by many 

 that, bulk for bulk, one will contain 

 about as much potash as the other. 



We have made a number of analyses 

 of the ash from different kinds of woods, 

 and do not find any very wide percent- 

 age difference, except in the case of elm 



and black ash, in which the percentage 

 of potash was very high. It would, 

 therefore, be impossible to give any 

 figures that would represent the com- 

 position of the two samples. It is also 

 impossible to give the composition of 

 any kind of ashes, because they vary so 

 much that one can never buy ashes that 

 will contain the amount that might be 

 given as average. For instance, in our 

 analysis we found wood of the hard 

 maple to contain 9.3 per cent, of potash. 

 We have also analyzed what have been 

 said to be unleached hardwood ashes, 

 which contained a little over one per 

 cent, of potash. 



Hard coal ashes contain very little of 

 anything that is of value. Several sam- 

 ples were analyzed in our laboratory, 

 and these we found to contain little or 

 no potash, but they did contain a small 

 amount, less than two-tenths of a per 

 cent, of phosphoric acid, and a trace of 

 lime and magnesia.— Answered by Prof. 

 R. Harcourt, O.A.C., Guelph. 



Pruning Spruce Hedges 



When is the best time to prune a Norway 

 spruce hedge that has been allowed to grow in 

 a wild condition? How should it be treated? — 

 J.S., Cayuga, Ont. 



The hedge should be pruned this 

 spring, before growth begins. The top 

 may be pruned back severely, but great 

 care should be taken in pruning the 

 sides, as if the trees are cut back to 

 W'Ood without foliage they will not 

 throw- out new leaves as deciduous trees 

 do. Prune to bring the hedge into 

 shape, but leave sufficient green foliage 

 all over the sides and top so that there 

 will be enough buds left to furnish new- 

 growth all over. — Answered by W. T. 

 Macoun, C.E.F., Ottawa. 



PHospKates for "Vegetables 



Which is the cheapest source of phosphoric 

 acid for growing vegetables, ground bone or 

 superphosphate? How should each of these be 

 applied, at what time, and in what quantities? 

 — R. S., Picton, Ont. 



The phosphoric acid in ground bone is 

 in the tri-calcic phosphate form, and is, 

 therefore, insoluble in water; while a 

 large part of that in the superphosphate 

 is soluble in water and consequently 

 immediately available to the plant. 

 The tri-calcic phosphate of the ground 

 bone is, however, quite readily brought 

 into solution through the action of the 

 carbonic acid in the soil, but it is not so 

 available as the superphosphate. The 

 ground bone contains about 14 per cent. 



of total phosphoric acid, with 12 to 13 

 per cent, of available phosphoric acid. 

 The ground bone will sell at about $30 

 a ton and the superphosphate at $16 

 to $17 a ton. The cost will depend 

 largely upon the nearness to some source 

 of supply. 



Potash substances should be applied 

 on the surface of the ground and har- 

 rowed or worked into the top soil. The 

 application had best be made during the 

 time when preparing the ground for seed. 

 The ground bone may be applied at the 

 rate of 100 to 200 pounds an acre, 

 larger quantities would do no harm, and 

 the phosphoric acid would not be leached 

 from the soil. The superphosphate may 

 beapphed at the rateof 200 to300 pounds 

 an acre. Too large quantities of this 

 substance, especially on soils that are 

 rich in organic matter, may be detri- 

 mental in that it will tend to make the 

 soil acid. Soils that have been heavily 

 manured, and are therefore rich in organ- 

 ic matter, tend to become sour unless 

 there is abundance of lime. Superphos- 

 phate is naturally somewhat acid, and 

 will, therefore, make conditions worse. 



On soils that have been heavily 

 manured, I would prefer to recommend 

 the use of ground bone rather than 

 superphosphate. The decaying organic 

 matter will furnish sufficient carbonic 

 acid to bring the phosphoric acid in the 

 ground bone into an available condition. 

 The results may not be quite so promi- 

 nent immediately after sowing, but I 

 think the best all-round results would be 

 got from the use of the ground bone. — 

 Answ-ered by Prof. R. Harcourt, O.A.C., 

 Guelph. 



Pruning Moss Roses 



When is the proper time to prune mosSi 

 roses and how should it lie done? — J. R., Ham- 

 ilton, Ont. 



Moss roses maj- be pruned either in 

 autumn or spring. The w-eak canes 

 should be removed and those that are 

 left pruned back from one-fourth to 

 one-half. — Answered by W. T. Macoun, 

 C.E.F., Ottawa. 



"The Keiflfer pear is not in as good 

 demand as it used to be," said Murray 

 Pettit, of Winona, to The Horticul- 

 turist, recently, "and I am therefore 

 grafting Duchess on my Keififer trees. 

 During the past two years I have graft- 

 ed 2,000 trees in this way. The Duchess 

 is more free from blight than almost any 

 variety of pear, and it bears regularly 

 and ships'well to the old country." 



