189 
owe a great deal of the knowledge we at present possess, respecting 
the :— 
MineraL CONSTITUENTS OF THE ASHES OF VARIOUS PLANTS. 
. : Phosphoric 
—_— Potash. Lime. | Magnesia. Tron. ‘Acid. 
Apple ...  ... | 35-68 4:08 8-75 1-40 13-59 
Pear a ep 54-69 7:98 5-22 1:04 ' 15-20 
Plum iis re 59°21 10°04 5-46 3-30 15-10 
Prune... — 63-83 4-66 5:47 2-72 14-08 
Orangé ... sind 48-94 2091 5-34 0-97 12-37 
Lemon ... ee 48-26 29°87 4-40 0-43 11-09 
Grape... 25 63-14 9-05 3-97 0-06 10-42 
Peach... ct 74:46 2-64 6-29 0-58 16-02 
Apricot ... te 59-36 3-17 3-68 1-68 13-09 
Fig a ss 48-60 9-12 5-32 0-84 11-20 
Strawberry Bis 49-24 13-47 8-12 1-74 18-50 
Almond (shelled) 27-95 8-81 17:66 0-55 43-63 
Cherry ... we 51-85 7:47 5:46 1-98 15-97 
Damson ... ie 45-98 12-65 8-17 1-19 13-83 
Olive aise anes 60-07 15-72 4-38 Paro 8°35 
Gooseberry oa 38-65 12-20 5-85 4:56 19-68 
Quince ... vee 27-39 7:79 13-11 1-19 43-32 
Chestnut ae 39-36 7-84 7:84 1-03 8-25 
The above table taken from a paper on orchard manures by 
Mr. H. C. L. Anderson, M.A., formerly Director of Agriculture, 
N.S.W., gives an insight into the composition of the ashes of 18 of 
the most extensively cultivated fruits. Thus says Mr. Anderson :— 
Run down the column of figures under potash and see how widely 
the percentages differ—the ashes of peaches containing nearly 75 
per cent. of that mineral (potash), and the ashes of apples not half 
as much. Then look at the figures under phosphoric acid, and see 
how they vary, from nearly 44 per cent. in the ashes of almonds and 
quinces down to less than one-fourth of that amount in grapes, and 
less than one-fifth in olives. 
The other columns are not deserving of special attention, and 
are given merely to convince the student that the substances lime, 
magnesia, and iron are of lesser importance when compared with 
potash and phosphoric acid. 
In practice four only of the fourteen mineral constituents of 
plants are, in the majority of cases, supplied to the crop under the 
form of fertilisers, and these are nitrogen, potash, phosphorie acid, 
and lime; the first three especially are the most sparsely distributed 
in soils and are also the most costly to replace. 
With every crop of fruit removed from the orchard the avail- 
able stores of potash, phosphoric acid, and nitrogen in the soil are 
correspondingly diminished. 
