208 OPEN AIK GliAPE CILTUEE. 



" Of these substances, tlie three first are of iha 

 utmost iniportauce, on acconnt of their entenng so 

 hirgely into the indispensable constituents of the food 

 by which vegetable life is sustained. The quantity 

 of ammonia thus ascertained to exist, is about "svhat i.< 

 expected in two hundred weight of Peruvian guano ; 

 and bountiful nature gives us, moreover, nearly one 

 hundred and fifty pounds of nitrogenous matter 

 equally suited to the nutrition of our crops." 



But although nature is thus liberal in supplying the 

 necessary wants of her children, man desires returns 

 rather more extensive than is merely necessary for 

 the good of the plant. He therefore adds directly to 

 the soil those matters wliich contain proper nutriment 

 for the vine. In doing this, however, it is not neces 

 sary to follow very accurately any recipe founded upon 

 the analysis of the vine, provided we obtain sufiicient 

 of those elements wdiich are most w^^nted. If we only 

 spread a liberal table, the vine will select its own 

 food. 



Of all applications to the soil, none deserve more 

 confidence than well rotted barnyard manure ; from 

 time immemorial it has been the stajile reliance of 

 the gardener and farmer and few are the instances in 

 which its judicious application has been known to 

 fail. 



That it mav do good and not harm, however, v.'hf:\ 



