October, 1909,] 



357 



Miscellaneous. 



The manure used on au acre contained 

 nearly double the plant food contained 

 in the commerical fertilizer used on 

 same-sized plant. 



Again, it comes to a question of the 

 use of fertilizer. Here are the figures 

 from the famous experiments of Lawes 

 and Gilbert :- 



AVERAGE YIELD OF WHEAT PER ACRE. 



Bushels. 



No manure for 40 years 14 



Minerals alone for 32 years 154; 



Nitrogen alone for 32 years ... ... 23^ 



Farmyard manure for 32 years ... 32§ 

 Minerals and nitrogen for 32 years ... 36j 

 Minerals and nitrogen for 32 years ... 32| 

 1'86 pounds of nitrogen as sodium nitrate. 

 2'86 pounds of nitrogen as ammonium salts. 



Now, to get nearer Lome, let me tell 

 the experience of a farmer in Northern 

 Indiana who woke up to the fact that 

 he must give his soil a square deal if he 

 would get the same from it in return. 

 He first found out what elements his 

 soil most needed and then he fertilized 

 accordingly. This cost him $1 to $1*40 

 an acre, and he kept close tab on the 

 results. In a word, his fertilization 

 cost has been thirty-five cents for the 

 production of twenty bushels of corn, 

 and he has had five hundred per cent, left 

 for investment. This matter of treating 

 the soil is much like a bank account. If 

 you keep drawing out and put little or 

 nothing in, time will sooner or later 

 write " no funds " across the face of the 

 draft which you attempt to make 

 against it. 



A farmer does not need to have an 

 elaborate scientific education to under- 

 stand the really necessary things about 

 the elements which go into the making 

 of a crop. The main ones are phos- 

 phorus, nitrogen and potash. Phos- 

 phorus is the element which makes 

 things mature and go to seed— which 

 makes the ears of corn and heads 

 of wheat fill plump and ripe kernels. 

 Nitrogen gives size to the plant and 

 potash contributes the element of health 

 or stamina. When your crop is yellow 

 and does not grow to size it lacks 

 nitrogen ; when it grows rank and dark 

 green and keeps on growing but doesn't 

 mature and produce grain it lacks 

 phosphorus ; if, in addition, it is inclined 

 to lodge and the stalk or straw is soft 

 and lacks polish you know your land is 

 short on potash. 



Speaking roughly, a clay soil is gener- 

 ally deficient in nitogen and phosphorus, 

 but contains potash. The tendency is 

 for clay soil to bake and get hard, and 

 the addition of a little lime is calculated 

 to correct this. Then the addition of 

 nitrogen, either in the form of plant 



legume— as clover, for instance— or in 

 commercial phosphorus (or phosphate) 

 will balance up the soil. 



Black soils are commonly strong in 

 nitrogen and short of phosphorus and 

 potash and have a tendency to become 

 sour. Drainage, together with a supply 

 of the lacking elements and an addition 

 of a little lime, is the remedy needed. 



THE LIFE AND DEATH OF SEEDS. 



(From the Gardeners' Chronicle, 

 Vol. XLVI., No, 1, 177, July, 1909.) 



To all who have to do with plants, 

 either economically or scientifically, the 

 longevity of seeds is a question of inter- 

 est and significance. In the literature of 

 the subject is recorded a long series of 

 more or less credible accounts of natural 

 cases in which great longevity is attri- 

 buted to seeds, even up to thousands 

 of years. Only withiu the last two 

 years, however, have we obtained unim- 

 peachable data upon this subject. Prof. 

 Becquerel in Paris and Prof. Ewarfc in 

 Melbourne have lately published germi- 

 nation tests made upon the old seeds 

 stored in museums since known dates. 

 Of seeds older than 25 years, about 10 

 per cent, of the spices gave positive 

 results. The records are held by Hovea 

 linearis, 105 years (Ewart), Cassia bicap- 

 sularis, 87 years old, and Cytisus biflorus, 

 84 years old (Becquerel). In each case 

 two or three seeds germinated out of 

 ten that were tested. 



Both observers notice that the species 

 of greatest longevity belong mostly to 

 the Leguminosece, and have " hard 

 seeds," that is seeds in which the testa is 

 provided with~a thick, continuous cuticle. 

 Such seeds only admit water and swell 

 up after they have been pricked or filed 

 or stripped of their cuticle by strong 

 sulphuric acid. The fact that seeds 

 thus closely sealed up show the greatest 

 longevity suggests that protection from 

 some external influence is a factor in 

 the preservation of viability. 



Becquerel has established the further 

 interesting point that not only are these 

 "hard" integuments impervious to air, 

 but that the dry seed-coat (testa) of an 

 ordinary Pea or Bean is also quite air- 

 proof ; he found that no air was ^sucked 

 through the seed-coat even in two 

 years by a vacuum ; the mycropyle also 

 is naturally hermetically sealed iu some 

 way and allows no air to pass. But if the 

 air in contact with the testa is satur- 

 ated with water vapour, then the testa 

 slowly absorbs water and presently be- 

 gins to allow air to pass by diffusion. 

 As these phenomena hold with uncuti- 

 culised seed-coats it is concluded that 



