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Afbil 4, 1912. 



The Weekly Horists' Review. 



11 



Silica or quartz, because it is so hard 

 and insoluble, is the chief ingredient 

 both by volume and weight of all soils. 

 It is a combination of silicon and oxy- 

 gen. Aluminum probably comes next in 

 abundance, being a fundamental con- 

 stituent of true clay, feldspar and mica. 

 One of the other elements in the soil is 

 oxygen, which occurs free and in com- 

 bination with nearly all the other ele- 

 ments. Carbon occurs as part of the 

 humus, also united with calcium and 

 magnesium in the form of carbonates; 

 also as carbonic acid gas, which plays 

 such an important part in the solution 

 of plant food. Sulphur occurs as sul- 

 phates. Hydrogen is united with oxygen 

 in the water. Chlorine occurs in limited 

 quantities, generally in the form of com- 

 mon salt, sodium chloride. It seems to 

 be in some way essential to plant life. 

 Phosphorus is never found in nature in 

 a free state, but always combined with 

 some other substance. It is generally 

 distributed through the soil, but in 

 small quantities, and is essential to 

 plant life. i 



Nitrogen is found in the soil in a 

 combined form in the humus and the 

 vegetable and animal matter, which 

 upon decaying give up the nitrogen in 

 the form of ammonia, which is turned 

 into nitric acid by bacteria. The nitric 

 acid unites wth potash, soda or other 

 soil ingredients and is taken up by the 

 plant as a nitrate. Nitrates are ex- 

 tremely soluble and easily washed out of 

 the soil. Calcium and magnesium, in 

 the form of carbonates, compose the 

 limestone beds of the earth. Both cal- 

 cium carbonate, or lime, and magnesia 

 are necessary plant foods, and both are 

 generally present in the soil in suffi- 

 cient quantities to supply the plants 

 with the required amount. Potassium is 

 another element found in soils which is 

 very necessary. Tt is widely dis- 

 tributed as a constituent of some feld- 

 spars and micas. Sodium, which is the 

 base of common salt, is also widely dis- 

 tributed. It resembles potassium as a 

 chemical element, but can in no sense 

 take its place in plant life. Iron is al- 

 ways present in the soil in sufficient 

 quantities for the plant. 



It would be supposed that, to find 

 what foods are necessary for soils, all 

 that would be necessary would be 

 chemical analysis of that particular 

 soil. Then if any element was found to 

 be lacking in sufficient quantity, the 

 addition of this or these elements 

 would give the desired results. But 

 chemical analyses of the soil as they 

 have been made, unfortunately, can 

 and do throw but a dim and uncertain 

 light upon either the condition or the 

 amount of plant food a soil may con- 

 tain. 



Futility of Chemical Analysis. 



It is true that the results of these 

 analyses show a marked difference in 

 soils, but, from the data at hand, these 

 variations may reasonably be supposed 

 to be due more to the relative size of 

 the soil grains than to any chemical 

 differences in the composition of the 

 soil. Taking an average of different 

 analyses of soils, the following has 

 been stated by one writer: On a farm 

 where a three-year rotation composed 

 of corn, clover and oats was followed, 

 the corn and oats being sold and the 

 straw, fodder and clover returned to 

 the ground, there would be potash 

 enough to last 1,521 years; soda, 4,050 

 years; magnesia, 3,300 years; lime, 





Alfred Burton. 



4,387 years; phosphoric acid, only 542 

 years; sulphuric acid, 292 years; solu- 

 ble silica, 17,650 years. 



These amounts of plant food are 

 what chemical analyses have told us 

 were in the top foot of soil, and we 

 know that plants send their roots forag- 

 ing two, three and four feet down. And 

 the subsoil is sometimes richer in cer- 

 tain ingredients than the surface or 

 top soil. 



Seeing these figures, a man taking up 

 farming who was not familiar with 

 agricultural or horticultural pursuits 

 would think it superfluous to add any 

 more of these elements to his soil. 

 "When his fields contained already 

 nearly two tons of Pj 0, in each acre, 

 and over three tons Kj O, of what 

 earthly use would it be to add a paltry 

 twenty-five or fifty pounds more? Why, 

 it would be lost. A chemist with the 

 most accurate and careful analysis 

 could never find it. It would be money 

 thrown away. 



But we know from practical experi- 

 ence that ninety-nine times out of 100 

 his crops would be increased more than 

 enough to pay for the manure or fer- 

 tilizer added. We know that, in spite 

 of these figures, which there is no rea- 

 son at all to doubt, soils do need fertil- 

 izing, that they do play out, that farms 

 do run down and become unproductive. 

 And only by feeding can the soil be 

 kept up to its full fertility. 



So we cannot be governed by a 

 chemical analysis as to the different 

 elements our soils need. The only way 

 is by experiments and careful observa- 

 tion. 



(Oonttnued on page 66.) 



PALMEB SUES NEW YOEK STATR 



Admitting that the dread gypsy moth 

 was found in two azaleas in his green- 

 houses at Lancaster, N. Y., but denying 

 that it was in other azaleas and rho- 

 dodendrons that comprised a shipment 

 which was destroyed by the State De- 

 partment of Agriculture, William J. H. 

 Palmer has instituted suit against the 

 State of New York for $12,000. 



Mr. Palmer has applied for a writ 

 of mandamus for State Commissioner 

 Calvin J. Huson, to determine the value 

 of the boxes, containers and plants de- 

 stroyed. The commissioner declares that 

 the dread moth, last October, got as far 

 as Lancaster, so near Buffalo, it is said, 

 that City Forester Filer got an attack 

 of chills, and that former Commissioner 

 Person, who was then in office, notified 

 Mr. Palmer that the plants were infest- 

 ed and, on failure to destroy them, the 

 state did the work. The commissioner 

 further charges that Mr. Palmer, con- 

 trary to the law governing plant ship- 

 ments from foreign states, unpacked the 

 shipment, and that thereby the pest 

 spread to the entire shipment. Mr. 

 Palmer denies all that and declares 

 that the state wantonly destroyed valu- 

 able nursery stock. 



Hartford, Conn. — Spear & McManus, 

 the Asylum street florists, have pur- 

 chased a Ford delivery car. It is said 

 that the firm has heretofore had heavier 

 cars in use, but has lately arrived at 

 the conclusion that the light Ford deliv- 

 ery car is preferable and that the fu- 

 ture for such vehicles is in light weight, 

 especially where concerns do not care 

 to deliver over 800 or 1,200 pounds. 



