4 MANUFACTURE OF FERTILIZING MATERIALS 



of its influence upon the development of the 

 woody parts of stems and fleshy portions of fruits. 



Experiments have shown that plants will die 

 before reaching maturity unless they have phos- 

 phoric acid to feed upon. Phosphates appear 

 to perform three distinct functions of plant life. 



They aid in the nutrition of the plant by 

 furnishing the needed quantities of phosphoric 

 acid. 



They aid the plant, in some way not well 

 understood, to make use of or assimilate other 

 ingredients. Phosphates are found in the seeds 

 of plants, and, as already stated, a plant does 

 not come to maturity and so does not produce 

 seeds, unless phosphates are present in the soil 

 for the plants to feed upon. The liberal applica- 

 tion of available phosphate compounds appears 

 to hasten the maturity of plants. 



Certain forms of phosphates render the al- 

 buminoids sufficiently soluble to enable them to 

 be carried from the growing parts of plants to 

 the seeds, in which they accumulate in quantity. 



The chief function of lime is to improve the 

 mechanical condition of the soil by loosening 

 heavy clay soils and also by holding together 

 and giving body to light sandy soils. Lime aids 

 in the decomposition of animal and vegetable 

 matter, such as vegetable mould, stable-manure, 

 etc., and tends to convert them into available 

 plant food. 



In using lime, care should be taken not to 



