(i; JOURNAL OK THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



ratio of potash to phosphoric acid being about 3 to 1. Lime is 

 also an important element, but most fertile soils contain this 

 substance in sufficient quantity for strawberry culture without 

 any artificial application. 



The strawberry is usually considered an exhausting crop, yet 

 so far as the real loss of plant-food through gathering of the 

 fruit is concerned, the facts, looking at them superficially, scarcely 

 bear out this opinion. 



To replace or restore to the soil the substances removed by 

 the strawberry fruit would not in itself appear to require a very 

 heavy application of manure. It is found, however, as a matter 

 of practical experience that, to make strawberry culture success- 

 ful, the soil must be fed very liberally. High manuring for 

 strawberries is an essential condition for successful growth, 

 because not only has the fruit to be provided for, but there is a 

 great drain upon the plants in the production of runners. Then, 

 again, the growing season is short, and more especially the 

 fruiting period. During a comparatively brief time there is a 

 large demand for immediately available forms of plant-food, a 

 demand that must be met if the best results are to be obtained. 

 And this need can well be supplied by artificial manures. 



The essential elements of plant-food are not required by 

 different crops or plants in the same invariable proportions at 

 the various successive stages of growth, but are wanted at 

 different periods of their life in different absolute amounts, and 

 in different relative proportions ; hence, it is of the utmost 

 importance that artificial manures should be given in suitable 

 and fixed proportions, and not at the mere fancy of the grower. 

 Further, the particular form in which we apply the various 

 articles of plant-food, as well as the special associations in which 

 they may be applied, exert quite frequently a decided influence, 

 not only on the quantity of the crop grown, but also on its 

 quality. 



Artificial Manures and their Composition. 



I shall now direct your attention to the nature and compo- 

 sition of some of the principal varieties of artificial manures 

 in the market, and afterwards make a few practical remarks 

 OH their selection and application to different horticultural 

 productions. 



