1887. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



137 



about noon each day, so he can benefit by it on that 

 day's shipments. We keep thoroughly informed of 

 the wants of each market daily. 



Apples for the Export Trade. 



[Mr. MacD. Allan Before the Ontorio Fruit 

 Growers^ Association, \ 



I speak for my own section only (Western 

 Ontario). There is a good deal of money in 

 the Baldwin, an Apple that does 

 well; is a regular and abundant 

 Ijearer of gootl size, and a splendid 

 shioper, and packs well. The North- 

 em Spy is a splendid market Apple 

 in the tlld Country, although you 

 have to wait nearlj' a lifetime be- 

 fore bearing. Then it bears regular 

 crops that pay well. The American 

 Golden Rassett comes next. The 

 King of Tompkins County is very 

 attractive, and commands a very 

 high price in the Old Country. It 

 ships well : not a heavy bearer, but 

 does fairly well. It is liable to be 

 blown off by the wind. 



The Wagner is an apple I think 

 more and more of; it is just the 

 size wanted abroad for dessert, and 

 is therefore of much value for ex- 

 port. The R. I. Greening for two 

 or three years was cried down in 

 the British markets, but it is coming 

 up again. It stood higher there this 

 last season. I believe for general 

 purposes it is better than the Bald- 

 win, which loses its flavor and be- 

 comes too woody to be a good cooker. 



The Mann this last season brought a 

 really high price. As a shipper it keeps 

 splendidly: it is for use towards spr ng 

 and retains its high quality. You can 

 pit it like Potatoes. It is as good in 

 quality as the Greening. 



The Cabashea is an Apple not spoken 

 much about. It holds its own in the 

 foreign markets. It has a good deal of 

 the Baldwin quality; is large, fairly 

 colored, and commands a good price. 

 The Esopus Spitzenburgh, one of the 

 finest Apples we have, is not a good 

 cropper. Roxbiiry Russet is a later 

 cropper than the American Golden 

 Russet; fetches a good but not high 

 price. The Cranberry does very well in 

 the English markets. Another good 

 variety is the Ribston Pippin. If you 

 saw ours and then those grown in the 

 Old Countrj-, you would hardly believe 

 them the same; the difference is only 

 one arising from difference of location. 



There is no question that we have the inside track 

 of the entire world on Apples. In foreign markets 

 we have met those of Holland and the United 

 States; but the Canadian Apples are quoted from 

 one to two shillings and sixpence higher. 



The Wealthy is a good Apple, and will keep a long 

 time; it is not inclined to spot; is a good shipper. 

 Swayzie Pomme Grise is a nice Apple, but it is not 

 one that at the present prices will pay ; it is on the 

 small side; it fetches $4.00, but would require to 

 fetch about $8.00 or 59.00 to pay. The Esopus 

 Spitzenburgh is not profitable; a great pity, for it 

 would command a nice price in any market. 



directions the growth of many of our garden 

 and fruit-bearing plants needs more experi- 

 mental investigation to secure a more reliable 

 basis for a projier mode of cultivation, with 

 reference to a full supply of suitable plant food. 

 1. All our cidtivated plants on the farm, in 

 the garden and in the orchard contain the same 

 elementary constituents, yet no two of them in 

 the same absolute and relative proportions 



ANALYSIS OF CROPS FOR FERTILIZING CONSTITUENTS 



ONE THOUSAND PARTS OF THE PLANTS CONTAIN! 



Name. 



.a 



OD 



s 



a 



.32 



I 



16.0 12.4 3.7 

 4 8 45.3 , 16.4 



3.4 g..";! 5.8 



4.9 19 7 4.3 



35.8 23.4 10.1 



10.4 43.1 9.9 



39.0,27.4113.0 



....40.8 12.8 



2.2 8.2 3.0 



5.1 23 9 2.9 



1 7.1 3.8 



3.0 15 3 4.0 



0.1 

 0.5 

 0.3 

 0.4 

 0.2 



920. 



1.8 6.4 

 30 119 



2.9 6 



2.8; 11 



0.8 

 1.5' 



0.4 

 1.0 



Corn— (kernels) .. . ,144. 



(stalk and leaves) .150. 



Potato— (tubers)... J750. 



(vines)... 1770. 

 Peas— (seed) 143. 



(vines) — 160. 

 Beans- (seed) 150. 



(vines) — 160. 



Carrots— (roots) . . . 860. 



(leaves) .. 883. 



Sugar Beet- (roots) 815. 



(leaves)...- 897. 



White Turnip.. 



( roots) 



(leaves) 



Swedish Turnip 



(roots) .. 870. 2.1 7.51 3.5: 0.4 



(leaves).... 884. 3.4 19.5 2 8. 0.8 



White Cabbage I — '. .. 



(head) -. 1900. I 30 9.6 4.3 



(roots).... 1 890. ; 2.4 15.6 5.8' 

 Savoy AN C-ibbage .1 



(head).... STl. i 5.3 14.0, 3.9 1.4 



Cauliflower 1 90*. 4.0' 8.0 3.6 0.5 



Horseradish 1 



(roots).... 767. : 4.3 19.7 

 Spanish Radish... 933. ] 1.9 4.9 



(roots) , 



Parsnip 793. 



(roots) 

 Artichoke 811. 



(roots) . . . 

 Asparagus— (stems) 



( roots) . . . 



(sprouts) . . . 



Common Onion .... 



(bulb). . 860. 



Celery 841. 



Spinage 923. 



CoM.MnN Lettuce... ,940. 

 Head LETTifcE.... \Q4S 

 Roman Lettuce . . 985. 



Cucumber ' 956. 



Pumpkin 1900. 



Rhubarb 



(roots),... 743.5 55 28.8! 5.3| 

 (Stem and leaves) 916.7 1.3 17.2 83.6J 



Apples 831. 0.6 3.2 



Pears i 831. 0.6: 3.3 



Cherries 825. ... 3.9 



Plums 8.38 8.9 



Gooseberries . .. '.m.)3 3.3 



Strawberries 902. 3 3 



Grapes |:830. I 1.7 8.8 



(seeds)... 1 1 110. 1 19 22.7 



0.3 



4.9 

 0.3 

 6.4 



1.1 



1.8 15.9 

 0.41 1.5 

 3.2 II. 1 



0.9 



93. 



5.4 10.0 



io.'i 



5.0 



541 0.2 



7.4 

 17.6 



16.0 

 8.1 

 2 2' 10.1 

 2 9.8 

 1.6 6.8 

 1.1 44 



0.7 



5,7; 1.9 



8 0.5 



0.8 i 1.5 



3.5 I 1.8 



0.6: 0.4 



0.9! 0.3 



0.8' 

 1.8 

 20 

 1.7 

 13 

 0.7 

 5.0 

 6.9 



5.7, 0.1 

 3.8 2.4 



1.61 0.6 



0.8 

 0.9 



0.3 

 0.8 



0.4 1 

 0.6 



1.1 

 1.4 



0.5 

 0.3 



21 

 1.6 



04; 



0.2 



2.0 

 0.5 



0.2 



0.9 



0.3 



1.6 

 13 

 0.2 

 02 

 0.2 

 08 

 0.2 



0.4 



1.4 



06 

 2 



03 

 0.5 

 0.6 

 04 

 0.7 

 0.5 



'•* 



7.0 



0.3 



0.1 



0.3 

 13.1 

 0.2 

 0.9 

 0.2 

 2.9 

 0.8 

 19 

 0.2 

 3.4 

 0.2 

 1 (J 



(1.1 

 (15 



0.1 

 2.1 



0.1 

 0.1 



0.7 

 0.3 



1.5 



0.2 



0.5 



Rational Fertilization of Garden 

 Crops and Fruits. 



[Prom a paper by Dr. C. A. Goessmann, Mass. State 

 Farm, read before the Mass. Horticultural Society.] 



We prefer to-day to speak oifeedimj plants. 

 To do this intelligently implies the possession 

 in a fair degree of two kinds of information, 

 namely, a knowledge of the special wants of the 

 plant under cultivation, so far as the absoiate 

 and relative proportion of the various essential 

 articles of plant food are concerned, and a 

 f amilitu'ity w ith the composition and the general 

 physical properties of the different kinds of 

 manurial matter at our disposal. 



A brief statement of the principal results of a 

 systematic and careful examination into the cir- 

 cumstances which control a healthy and vigor- 

 ous growth of plants may show in what special 



(carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulphur, 

 phosphorus, potassium, sodium, calcium, mag- 

 nesium, silicon, chlorine, and perhaps manga- 

 nese). 



2. These plant constituents are furnished in 

 part by the surrounding atmosphere ; in part 

 by the soil, and sometimes in varying propor- 

 tions by both. 



3. The essential plant constituents are not 

 needed in different plants in the same coiTes- 

 ponding proportions at the various successive 

 stages of growth, but are wanted at different 

 stages of growth in different absolute and re- 

 lative proportions. Each plant has its own 

 wants at different stages of its development. 

 Grain crops require much nitrogen in an avail- 

 able form during their later period of growth, 

 blooming and forming seeds ; Grape-vines need 

 a large amount of potash during the growing 

 and maturing of the Grapes. 



4. The absolute amount of essential mineral 

 constituents may vary in the same plant with- 

 out affecting, as a rule, the general character 

 of that plant; yet not one of the essential 

 elementary mineral constituents can take the 

 place of another to any marked extent without 

 altering, in many instances in a serious way, 

 the relative proportion of the organic constit- 

 uents of the plants. Quite a number of our 

 cultivated plants are more or less susceptible 

 of change in that direction, in consequence 

 of a liberal application of one or the other essen- 



tial articles of plant food. These changes may 

 be in our favor as well as against our interests. 

 5. The particular form in which we can apply 

 various articles of plant food, as well as the special 

 association in which they may be applied, exert 

 quite frequently a decided influence not only on the 

 quantity of the crop but also on its quality. 



The observations recorded in this and the preced- 

 ing statement deserve the most serious attention of 

 horticulturists and nurserymen. 



6. The natural resources of the soil 

 in available plant food have proved, as 

 a rule, ultimately insufficient for a re- 

 munerative management of the farm, 

 the garden, and the orchard. Older 

 systems of agriculture have failed on 

 account of a scanty supply of manure, 

 and many failures in horticulture will 

 be most likely ascribed at some future 

 day to an indefinite system of manuring. 

 A careful consideration of the differ- 

 ent points stated cannot fail to impress 

 us with the fact that to manure our 

 lands efficiently means to-day some- 

 thing more than to incorporate into the 

 soil an exceptionally liberal amount of 

 some incidental refuse matter of an ill- 

 deftned composition, as barnyard ma- 

 nure, vegetable compost or wood ashes. 

 The steadily increasing consumption of 

 agricultural chemicals and of commer- 

 cial manurial compounds for the pur- 

 pose of supplementing our home re- 

 sources of manurial matter is a gratify- 

 ing indorsement of the good services 

 which systematic, scientific experiment- 

 al investigations into the causes of a 

 succesful production of remunerative 

 crops have rendered to practical agri- 

 culture and horticulture. 



A due consideration of the character 

 and extent of the existing available 

 plant food of the soil and some more 

 definite information in regard to the 

 composition of the plant we propose 

 to cultivate ought to guide us in the 

 selection of the kind and quality of the 

 manurial substance. Care should be 

 taken in this connection to secure within 

 certain limits a liberal supply of every 

 essential food constituent of the plant 

 under cultivation to meet promptly its 

 periodical wants when called for. The 

 heavier the crop the larger should be 

 the return of the constituents carried 

 off from the soil, keeping in mind, how- 

 ever, the fact that success does not 

 depend on an exceptionally large 

 amount of one or the other prominent 

 articles of plant food, as phosphoric 

 acid, potash or nitrogen, but on a Uberal 

 supply of Q\&ry essential plant consti- 

 tuent, ioT that one of the essential arti- 

 cles of plant food which is present in 

 the soil in the smallest proportion controls the 

 ultimate result. 



The essayist has compiled analyses of garden 

 crops and fruits, which show the amount, the char- 

 acter and the relative proportions of the fertilizing 

 constituents they contain. A close examination of 

 these analytical results reveals in many instances 

 an exceptional variation of almost every essential 

 fertilizing constituent of plants. Some contain one 

 part of phosphoric acid to one part of potash ; others 

 one to two, three, four, and even five parts of the 

 latter. A similar relation may be noticed as far as 

 the relative proportions of phosphoric acid and 

 nitrogen are concerned. In most instances we find 

 more phosphoric than sulphuric acid and chlorine: 

 yet in some species of plants the reverse may be 

 noticed. Similar circumstances exist as far as lime 

 and magnesia are concerned. 



The recognition of these conditions obliges us to 

 concede that none of our current manuiial refuse 

 matters can be considered in the majority of cases 

 the most suitable fertilizer, without the addition of 

 one or more articles of plant food in a suitable, 

 available form. Good economy and healthful con- 

 dition of the soil advise that course. 



Another important point to which the essayist 

 desired to call attention is the careful selection of 

 manurial substances with reference to their most 

 advantageous form. 



A productive agricultural or horticultural soil im- 

 plies for several reasons the presence of decaying 

 vegetable matter; this condition we secure either 

 by a direct addition in form of barnyard manure or 

 some other vegetable refuse material incidental to 

 our industries, or by green manuring or a judicious 

 system of rotation of crops. The latter course is in 



0.7 

 0.7 

 07 

 1.3 

 0.8 

 0.3 

 0.5 

 0.3 



0.1 

 0.1 

 0.4 

 1 

 (1.1 

 11.4 

 0.3 

 0.2 



