CHAPTER V 



COMPOSITION OF VAEIOUS FEUIT TREES 



"It is indispensable that every plant should find in the soil in 

 which it grows those inorganic constituents which nature has 

 rendered necessary to it." — Lindley. 



It is not accidental that only coniferous trees 

 grow on the sandy and calcareous soils of the 

 Carpathian Mountains and elsewhere, whilst forests 

 of other trees cannot grow on the same soils 

 upon which coniferous trees thrive. The com- 

 position of the soil is chemically different in each 

 case. Pine leaves yield 2 '9 per cent, of alkalies, 

 whereas oak leaves yield 5*5 per cent. — in other 

 words, oaks require more alkalies than fir trees. 

 When we find oak or beech trees growing on 

 sandy and calcareous soils, it is obvious that these 

 soils contain alkalies in addition to silica and 

 lime. 



These facts are proved by submitting the ashes 

 of plants to chemical analysis. The ashes differ 



E 2 



