16 GARDENING FOR ALL. 
Plants are also built up of inorganic elements in 
conjunction with organic elements, and the chief are :— 
Sulphur, as Sulphuric Acid. 
Phosphates __,, Phosphoric Acid. 
Silicium ¥ Silicic Acid. 
Calcium a Lime. 
Magnesium _,, Magnesia. 
Potassium i Potash. 
Sodium Af Soda. 
Chlorine ) 
ee + In combination with metals. 
uorine 
Bromine 
Iron feroxide, in combination with Oxygen. 
Manganese, a ’ 
The quantity of inorganic matter in plants is small when 
compared with the organic constituents; it is nevertheless 
essential to the life and vigour of plants. The cell-walls 
cannot be formed without inorganic matters. 
Silica is present in large quantity in the stems of grasses. 
Phosphoric Acid is abundant in the grain of cereals, 
beans, potatoes, and turnips. 
Lime abounds in the stems of peas, beans, clover, 
potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and the bark and wood of trees. 
Potash, Soda, and Sulphuric Acid in peas, beans, cereals, 
potatoes,-turnips, cabbage, beet, celery, &c. 
It will thus be seen that the proper application of 
manures for the purpose of giving a sufficient quantity of the 
right kinds to plants, and with a view to true economy and 
profit, is a most important matter, and one requiring care 
and consideration. Manures of all descriptions have been 
«condemned at some time or other, not for their own faults, 
ibut because they have been misapplied, either to the wrong 
crops, or at the wrong time, or in improper quantity, or to 
crops that required—as most do—a combination of chemicals 
and not one kind only. Hence the frequent and senseless 
condemnation, in turn, of Guano, Nitrate of Soda, Sulphate 
of Ammonia, Kainit, Superphosphate, &c., because one kind 
only has been applied to a crop that required a combination 
of several; say Nitrate of Soda, Kainit and Superphosphate 
instead of Nitrate alone. On other pages will be found lists of 
certain mixtures in their proper proportions for special crops, 
and they will illustrate the meaning of the above remarks. 
