August 20, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



35 



Base Ball— Buffalo Wins 8 to 3. 



The ball game away out at the col- 

 lege grounds drew a fair crowd of ladies 

 and gentlemen when the other attrac- 

 tions are considered. Until the seventh 

 inning the score was a tie. Then the 

 All-Americans could not stand the 

 nerve strain and the Scotts and their al- 

 lies got busy. When the smoke cleaned 

 the shot was a 100 to 1 and Vice-presi- 

 dent McClure won his bets with ease. 

 There was much strenuosity and excite- 

 ment and the mixed team played fine 

 ball under the handicap of lack of prac- 

 tice together. The grounds were not in 

 perfect condition, but the weather was 

 made to order. 



.\li-America. KuiiR. Kuffalo. Uuii«. 



Swan, c l.onRlev, I. f . . . 2 



Sullivan, E., 1st l>. Scott, " P., c . 2 



Bates, I. f .Scott, 1). G.; n 2 



Ferguson, 3d b Krckeit, 3d b 



Cheirot, s. s 1 Scott, O. (i., ist b.. o 



Graham, p I Bltcher, s. s 



SulllTan. N., 2nd b.. Anderson, r. f 



Crltcliell, r. f 1 Scott, W. 1!.. 2d b. 



Watson-Fredley, e. f Slnttery, o. f 2 



.'5 ~S 



FERTILIZERS AND FERTILITY. 



By John P. Cowkli.. Buffalo, N. Y. 

 [Bead before the Society of American Florists, 

 In convention at Niagara Falls, August 18 to 21, 

 1008.) 



Few phases of scientific investigation 

 are of greater interest, or hold forth 

 more promise of profitable results, than 

 the studies which are being made in re- 

 gard to the fertility of our soils and 

 their conservation. To the gardener the 

 subject is of prime importance, whether 

 his work be in the open field or under 

 a roof of glass; whether engaged in the 

 growing of the primary food products, 

 or in the production of materials for 

 decoration and the expression of the 

 higher aesthetic feelings of mankind. 



That we are still in the experimental 

 stage of agriculture can hardly be de- 

 nied, though we are slowly approximat- 

 ing to a scientific basis. Theory and 

 practice are often at variance, probably 

 from a misunderstanding of the meaning 

 of the facts before us. These differences 

 will in time be eliminated, and our prac- 

 tice will constantly become more exact. 

 That we still have many things to learn 

 about our soils and their relation to 

 plant life goes without saying, but at 

 the present time I think we are not all 

 making the best use of the knowledge 

 which has accumulated on these subjects. 



In this paper will be found little that 

 is original, but rather an attempt to col- 

 late and place before you some of the 

 more striking facts and theories current 

 at this time. 



Some Fundamental Facts. 



In these days of intensive gardening, 

 all questions relating in any way to the 

 suppJy and assimilation of the elements 

 of fertility are of vital interest, as upon 

 their correct solution depends the final 

 profit or loss. 



In order that we may discuss these 

 matters more intelligently, let us briefly 

 review some of the fundamental facts 

 which underlie the subject, as well as 

 some modern theories of fertility and 

 assimilation, and the relation of various 

 factors which enter into the problem of 

 .plant growth. 



Tfce great bulk of plant tissue is made 

 up of starch, cellulose and water, with a 

 .smaH amount of proteids or albuminoids. 

 These, reduced to their simplest terms, 

 mean carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and 

 nitrogen, which, together with potash, 

 phosphorus and a little lime and sul- 



phur, make up the list of essentials. 

 Carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen 

 in gaseous condition are everywhere pres- 

 ent in the atmosphere, while potash, 

 phosphorus and lime and sulphur are 

 found to a greater or less extent in most 

 soils, and are the elements wliich be- 

 come exhausted, and have to be renewed. 

 Of these latter elements sulphur may be' 

 omitted, as it, like some other elements 

 of minor importance, is usually found 

 in sufficient quantity. 



Tlie Tripod of Fertility. 



Of these substances the most expen- 

 sive, and at the same time the most evan- 

 escent, is nitrogen. The soil will not 

 hold it ; it is here today and there to- 

 morrow. It is inordinately fond of fresh 

 fields of activity, and so impatient of 

 confinement that it has to be constantly 

 kept at work and watched lest it escape 

 into the atmosphere from whence it 

 came, or enter into some combination 

 which secretes it and deprives the plant 

 of its services. 



The usual sources of sujiply for fer- 

 tilizing purposes are animal substances. 



Mcs. Chas. H. Maynard. 



(Secretary Ladies' Society of American Floristsi 



stable manure and natural deposits of 

 nitrates. 



Potash is a more stable elentent, though 

 likely to be lost by leaching, and is ob- 

 tained in commercial quantities from 

 wood ashes and from the nitrates and 

 sulphates. 



Phosphoric acid is commonly bought in 

 the shape of ground phosphoratic rock, 

 from bone, horn, hair, from fish and from 

 basic slag. These three elements have 

 been called "the tripod of fertility." 



Complete Fertilizers. 



A so-called complete fertilizer, as pre- 

 pared by the manufacturers, will con- 

 tain, we will say: Fifty pounds of avail- 

 able nitrogen, worth,* at 19 cents per 

 pound, $11.40; six per cent, or 120 

 pounds, of available phosphoric acid, 

 worth, at 5 cents per pound, $6; five per 

 cent, or 100 pounds, of available potash, 

 worth, at 5 cents per pound, $5, making a 

 total cost of $22.40 per ton, of which 

 more than one-half is represented by the 

 nitrogen. 



From whatever source these elements 

 are obtained, they must be soluble in 

 water in order to be available to the 



crop. Potash and phosphoric acid can 

 be applied to the soil at any time, and 

 the loss from leaching or otherwise is not 

 very serious, while any surplus beyond 

 the present needs of the plants will be 

 retained for future use; but nitrogen ap- 

 plied in excess is, as a rule, nitrogen 

 wasted, and, as we have seen, this is an 

 expensive fertilizer. This leads us to 

 the theory, which has the support of 

 good practice, that nitrogen should be 

 applied in small quantities and often, 

 rather than enough at one time to per- 

 fect the crop. There are combinations 

 of nitrogen, however, as in stable ma- 

 nure and animal matter, which require 

 time to unlock and render available. 

 Such compounds may be applied in 

 larger quantities some time previous to 

 the planting of the crop, or a time allow- 

 ance made to enable tlic proper forces 

 to tear the combinations apart and ren- 

 der the nitrogen fit for assimilation. 



The high price ol^ nitrogenous fertiliz- 

 ers has caused careful search to be made 

 for the purpose of finding cheaper 

 sources of supply than those above men- 

 tioned. 



Partnerships in Plant Life. 



To understand the reasons for some of 

 the studies which have been made with 

 this end in view, it will be well to review 

 some of the theories of the inhalation 

 of nitrogen and the forces which are 

 supposed to play an important part in 

 the reduction of nitrogenous compounds 

 and the secretion of the product within 

 tiie plant tissues. Some of the moat in- 

 teresting chapters m the history of plant 

 life are those dealing with the relation- 

 ships between widely different organiza- 

 tions where a partnership is formed for 

 the mutual benefit of the parties con- 

 cerned. It was formerly supposed that 

 all plants growing upon others were par- 

 asites, or, to use the somewhat ' ' yellow ' ' 

 language of Grant Allen, they were com- 

 mitting * ' robbery and murder. ' ' When, 

 nearly forty years ago, Frank made the 

 startling assertion timt ' ' the beech is a 

 j)arasite on a fungus, ' ' he did not mean 

 just what we would ordinarily understand 

 i)y parasite, but that the betn-h was sim- 

 ply dependent for its supply of nitrogen 

 upon a mycorrhiza or root fungu*. 



.Modern investigations have shown that 

 many of the associations are far from 

 i)eing criminal, and that the two mem- 

 bers are mutually dependent on one an- 

 other for existence. To this peculiar ar- 

 rangement has been given the name of 

 symbiosis, which, being interpreteil, 

 means "a living together." Most plants 

 of the higher orders are dependent for 

 their supply of nitrogen on that which 

 is soluble in water, while some of the 

 lower forms are able to extract it from 

 its compounds, or, as some claim, from 

 the atmosphere, a statement, however, 

 which needs proof. Of the lowly forms 

 which possess these |X)wers of nitrifica- 

 tion, perhaps the most familiar are the 

 maligned bacteria. To these simple 

 micro-organisms we probably owe most of 

 the reduction of organic remains, the 

 breaking down of complex, and the for- 

 mation of simpler soluble ones. 



Benefib From Bacteria. 



It is maintained that a symbiotic re- 

 lationship exists between our red clover 

 and the nitrifying bacteria, and that the 

 little swellings or tubercles which are or- 

 dinarily to be found on the roots of the 

 clover are the homes of the bacteria; 

 that the bacteria supply the nitrogen 

 necessary for the growth of the clover, 

 and. in return, take from the clover 



