REMARKS ON FRUIT AND FRUIT TREES. 259 



Col. Wilder closed by remarking that lie had, for many years, 

 used, for fruit trees, the compost alluded to in the discussion on 

 manures, viz. : meadoio iiuick, leached ashes, and crushed bones- 

 that, where these could not easily be obtained, no better manure 

 could be had, than wood ashes, containing, as they do, both pot- 

 ash and lime. 



Mr. Bartlett, editor of the Cultivator, confined his remarks 

 to the subject of appropriate manures : — 



A fertile upland soil, cleared of its first growth by burning, 

 with the ashes left upon the surface, and the roots beneath, as 

 sustenance for the new tree, was the best soil for a nursery. 

 The materials required in the growth of the young trees already 

 existed at hand. But, as time passes on, these materials are 

 exhausted ; the potash, lime, and phosphoric acid, enter into the 

 composition of the wood and bark of the tree. Dr. Emmons had 

 shown, from the analysis of the ashes of the apple, pear and 

 grape vine, that lime, potash and phosphoric acid, entered into 

 their composition, in certain definite proportions. In addition 

 to this, the leaves also consumed large quantities of the ingredi- 

 ents existing in the soil. The dry leaves of the elm contain 

 eleven per cent, of mineral matter, while the wood contains only 

 two per cent. ; the leaves of the beach contain seven per cent, of 

 mineral matter, while the wood contains only one-third of one per 

 cent. Fruit supplies the organic substances for the support of 

 animal life — and the constant drafts upon the soil impoverish 

 it. Now the great problem to be solved is — what is the best 

 manner to keep up the growth of the tree, and restore the pow- 

 ers of the soil, which have been nearly exhausted ? 



Dr. Emmons, Beecher, and other authors, by their investiga- 

 tions and writings, have done much towards afibrding a solution 

 to this problem. It is well known, that each species of the ani- 

 mal kingdom requires different food for its nourishment and 

 support. For example, the cow and the dog will not subsist 

 upon the same food. Now it is not the less true, that the field 

 requires food, and food suited to the crop which is raised upon 

 it. — Plants, nourished or manured with the ashes of the same 

 plant, will flourish, as they are then supplied with the materials 



