228 



MANURES FOR TREES 



which renders available as plant-food the insoluble 

 mineral matters of the soil. Natural manures also 

 retain moisture in the land, and render it more 

 friable. Further, the amount of farmyard manure 

 produced under ordinary conditions of farming is 

 insufficient to maintain the land in an increasing 

 state of fertility which is a necessary condition 

 for profitable fruit-growing and the production of 

 timber. 



If farmyard manure contains all the fertilising 

 constituents essential to the growth of trees, why 

 do we use guano, nitrates, etc.? Surely these 

 manures are far too costly if dung is capable of 

 producing a full yield of fruit and flowers. In 

 the words of a great authority, M. Ville, the 

 cultivator " who uses nothing but farmyard manure 

 exhausts his land." 



The chief fertilising ingredients in a ton of 

 each natural manure is contained in the following 

 table : — 



