804 
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
The application and spreading of manure on clear ground 
will cost Is. 6d. to 2s. 6d. an acre, in proportion to the heaviness 
of the dressing ; but if it has to be spread between trees and 
bushes already on the ground the cost may be as much as 5s. 
an acre, digging or forking into the soil being reckoned at 
about the same rates as already stated. 
Artificial or chemical manures afford a ready means of 
supplying the requirements of fruit trees and bushes where the 
cost of farmyard manure is heavy and the expenses of cartage 
high. Several specially prepared compounds can now be had 
at moderate rates ; or with a little study a grower can secure a 
mixture suited to his soil or the needs of the plantation. 
Superphosphate of lime, potassium salts, nitrate of soda, and 
sulphate of ammonia are the principal substances employed, in 
dressings of GOO to 700 lbs. per acre. A mixture that has been 
tried with good results consists of 3 cwt. superphosphate, 2 cwt. 
muriate of potash (potassic chloride), and 1 cwt. sulphate of 
ammonia, nitrate of soda being substituted for the sulphate of 
ammonia on chalk soils. 
The superphosphate with potassium salts can also be employed 
as a regular dressing in February, supplying nitrate of soda at 
the rate of 1 cwt. per acre as an additional help after the crops 
are set in early summer. The prices of chemical manures vary 
according to the supplies and the demand, but they range from 
about .i'5 to 115 per ton ; average cost per acre for sustaining 
fertility, £2. 10s. to X'3.* 
Cost op Thees and Bushes. — The purchaser of fruit trees 
will be wise to visit the nursery of some well-known firm and 
select sturdy, well-developed specimens for himself. It may 
cost him a little more, but the extra expenditure is a judicious 
outlay. Standard Apples on the Crab, three years old, cost from 
£'5 to XlO per 100, more being charged for a few special varieties. 
Dwarf Apples on the Paradise are from .L'4 to £7. 10s. per 100 ; 
dwarf Pears on the Quince or Pear stock from .£'5 to t'7. 10s. per 
]00 ; Plums and Damsons, £i to £'5 per 100. Gooseberries and 
Currants, twoorthrcf) year old plants, 15.s. to 25s. per 100 ; year- 
Current prices per ton arc as follows : Su])(!rphos])l)atc, X'5 ; sulphato 
of aiiiiiKjnia, £11 ; muriate of potash, £10 ; nitrate of soda, £13 ; sulpliato 
of poliisli, £h ; sulphate of magnesia, £8. Kaiuit, containing 25 p(!r cent, 
of siilj)liaie of potash, is quoted at £4 ; bone-meal, £G. lUs. ; and basic 
phosphate, £8. 
