SOME HINTS ON THE MANURING OF GARDEN CROPS. 351 
branches and not be thrown, as is often done, close to the stem. Straw- 
berries, on the other hand, send their roots downwards and only 
slightly outwards : manures in this case should be applied either on 
the top of the plants (provided it has been previously ascertained that 
the particular manure used will not damage the foliage and crowns), 
or, better still, close round the plants. To sow soluble manures down 
the middle of the rows of strawberries is to waste the greater part of 
them, and yet they are often so applied. 
All these points should be watched, the object of course being to 
place the manure where the roots are to be found, so that the plant 
may obtain full benefit from them. 
Students of botany will find a study of the Natural Orders of 
distinct use to them in this connexion. We know that there is a 
similarity in flower, fruit, or habit of growth in members of the same 
Natural Order ; and there is a similar affinity in what may be termed 
their feeding properties — that is, the manure they require. For 
instance, all Cruciferae require lime and phosphates, the Leguminosae 
lime and potash, Solanaceae potash, &c. ; so that while the Natural 
Order must not be taken alone as a guide to manuring, it is never- 
theless a help when considered in conjunction with the other govern- 
ing factors. 
A point that should always be borne in mind is that all stone fruit 
requires lime, this element being an essential ingredient in the com- 
position of the stone. The failure of the immature fruit so prevalent 
at the time of stoning in cherries, plums, and grapes is frequently 
due to a lack of lime in the soil. 
The Object for which the Crop is Grown. 
This will be the next consideration, and it is of quite as much 
importance as those already dealt with, though it probably receives 
even less attention. 
What we have to consider is, Are we growing any particular 
crop for flower, fruit, or seed ; or are we growing it for the production 
of stem, wood, or leaf ? 
The correct manuring of a crop depends more closely on this than 
on anything, and yet many practical men are not even aware of the 
difference. The importance of it will be seen presently when we deal 
with the function of the different ingredients of manures ; it is suffi- 
cient at present to emphasize that the manuring for fruit or seed is 
entirely different from that for the production of growth of either wood 
or leaf — in fact, they are distinctly antagonistic, and therefore if 
the wrong manures are used, not only are they wasted but they 
actually do harm by accentuating an unbalanced growth that should, 
by different manuring, have been checked and not encouraged. When 
a fruit tree is making too much leaf all leaf-producing manures must 
be withheld and only those calculated to produce fruit be given. This 
is comparatively simple, as will be seen later. 
