22 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



It is not in the least humiliating to take a lesson occasionally 

 from what we call the brute creation. I dislike the term, but use 

 it because it is expressive. In the spring of the present year I 

 had the pleasure of examining a pasture in Sussex. It was 

 on the estate of Dr. Hogg. One portion of the field had been 

 dressed with farmyard manure, another with a mixture of 

 superphosphate of lime, chloride of potash, and a little sulphate 

 of ammonia.* The majority of human beings would have pro- 

 nounced the yard-manured portion the better, because of the 

 taller herbage, but the cows did not, and they ate the 

 herbage on the latter, rejecting the better-looking. They 

 knew exactly how far to go, and the dividing line was as clear 

 as if it had been cut up to with a scythe. Will anyone tell 

 me the animals made a mistake '? They made no mistake. The 

 herbage they chose was without doubt both better-flavoured and 

 more nutritious than that which they rejected, because the yard 

 manure was deficient in food constituents, which the artificial 

 mixture contained. This is not mentioned with the object of 

 condemning farmyard manure, for some of it is of great value, 

 but for showing by comparison in a plain way that bulk in vege- 

 tables is not a criterion of merit for the purpose for which they 

 are grown. They must be fed with ingredients which impart to 

 them their distinctive qualities before they can in turn serve as 

 food of the most enjoyable and wholesome kind for consumers. 

 Some so-called manure is lamentably deficient in those ingre- 

 dients, and the crops that are grown by it must of necessity be 

 deficient too. They must have all they need to render them 

 perfect. 



What has Liebig said on this important subject ? Here are 

 wo of his " laws " which should be learned by heart by every 

 gardener : — 



1. "A soil can be termed fertile only when it contains all the 

 materials requisite for the nutrition of plants in the required 

 quantity and the proper form." We must note that some of the 

 ingredients do not suffice, but "all" must be there, and in the 

 required quantity (be it large or small), also in the proper form — 



* Proportions — 2 cwt. superphosphate of lime ; 



2 cwt. chloride of potash ; 

 1 cwt. sulphate of ammonia. 

 Application— 4 cwt. per acre. 



