ARTIFICIAL MANURES AND HORTICULTURAL PRACTICE. 43 



You will observe from this data that the demand made upon 

 the soil by the growth of fruit tree wood is chiefly of the in- 

 gredient lime, and is very considerable, amounting in the pear 

 tree to over 77 per cent, of the total minerals ; while the ash of 

 the cherry tree contains but 28*7 per cent, of lime ; but on the 

 other hand, the cherry tree is the largest consumer of potash. 

 Again, while the wood of the chestnut requires but 1^ per cent, 

 of phosphoric acid, raspberry canes take up from the soil 23*6 

 per cent, of this element. 



Let us now look at the fruit requirements as compared with 

 that of the wood. One hundred pounds of ash of the various 

 fruit contain from 39 lbs. to nearly 55 lbs. of potash ; the element 

 phosphoric acid comes second in order, ranging from 8 per cent, 

 in the chestnut to 20^ per cent, in the raspberry. Cherries draw 

 upon the soil, weight for weight, about like pears, being larger 

 consumers of potash, phosphoric acid, and lime than are apples. 



The two constituents, lime and magnesia, are very similar in 

 quantity in the various fruits, but they are exceedingly wide 

 apart in the ashes of the wood. Hence, in the growth of wood 

 and for the formation of stones or pips in the fruit, lime and 

 potash are the predominating ingredients required ; while in the 

 production of the fleshy part of the fruit, and in fact whatever 

 tends to maturation, it is potash and phosphoric acid upon which 

 the greatest demands are made. 



Table III. illustrates very strikingly the composition of the 

 grape vine in its several sections, of stem, leaves, and fruit. The 

 selected constituents of dry substance, ash, nitrogen, potash, 

 phosphoric acid, and sugar are given in one ton of each, of fresh 

 fruit, leaves, and stems. 



The figures show that in one ton, or 2,240 lbs. of grapes, there 

 are 363 lbs. of dry substance, 20 lbs. of mineral matter (ash) 

 3| lbs. of nitrogen, 10 lbs. of potash, 3 lbs. of phosphoric acid' 

 and 205 lbs. of sugar. In one ton of grape-vine leaves there are 

 found 829 lbs. of dry substance, 93 lbs. of ash, 11 lbs. of nitrogen, 

 6 lbs. of potash, 1 lb. of phosphoric acid, and 40 lbs. of sugar. 

 While one ton of the woody stems contains 981 lbs. of dry sub- 

 stance, 40 lbs. of ash, 4^ lbs. of nitrogen, 4 lbs. of potash, H lb. 

 of phosphoric acid, and 9 lbs. of sugar. 



