304 SOILS AND MANUEES 



Waste cakes, when sold for manure, fetch from 2 10s. 

 to 3 per ton. 



Leaf-Mould. Fresh young leaves contain a consider- 

 able proportion of fertilising ingredients, but become 

 largely exhausted towards the autumn, and when they 

 wither and fall are scarcely worth collecting for their 

 manurial value. They are not, therefore, much used for 

 agricultural purposes, but in gardens where they are 

 gathered up for the sake of appearances, they are gener- 

 ally made into a kind of compost and used as manure. 

 The ash consists largely of silica and the organic matter 

 of cellulose which decomposes very slowly. A sample 

 of beech leaves was found to contain 1*1 per cent, of 

 nitrogen, 0'3 per cent, of potash, and a like amount of 

 phosphoric acid, but the proportions of fertilising in- 

 gredients found in samples of mixed leaves are generally 

 somewhat smaller. Leaf-mould is described by gardeners 

 as a mild manure ; it is probably more valuable for 

 its physical properties than for its chemical composition. 



A fairly rich manure somewhat resembling leaf -mould 

 can be made from ferns, in districts where they are 

 plentiful. For this purpose the plants should be cut 

 fairly young, as in that condition they contain a larger 

 proportion of plant food and decompose more readily. 

 The difference in composition between the young and the 

 old plants is shown by analyses made by Mr. J. Hughes, 

 as follows : 



For agricultural purposes leaves and ferns are some- 

 times used as litter. 



