850 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [June i, 1888. 
We are not "up " in lemons as well as we might be, 
and our answers are probably too general to suit our 
correspondent. Will Messrs. Phelps, Kedney, Ayer 
and otLer lemon growers come to our relief in this mat- 
mer ? We should also like to hear from E. Bean and 
Messrs. Sgobel and Day on maketing lemons. — En. 
Florida Ihspaich.'] 
4 
ON THE USE OF NITROGENOUS 
MANURES. 
From a series of investigations by Professor Paul 
Wagner, Director of the Agricultural Eesearch Station 
at Darmstadt,* endeavours have been made to assist 
in the solution of those questions on manuring which 
relate to the nutrition of cultivated plants with 
nitrogen. 
1. Does the Application of Nitrogenous Manure Pro- 
duce an Increased Yield of all Crops ? — Different plants 
were manured with varying proportions of nitrogen 
per acre. The yields of cereal crops, Carrots, Pota- 
toes, Turnips, Flax, Rape, and grass showed a 
considerable increase, and the gaius were exactly 
proportional to the increase of manure, while on 
similar soils no extra yields of Pea?, red Clover, 
Lupines, Vetches, and Lucerne were obtained ; proving 
that leguminous plants obtain their nitrogen from 
sources inaccessible to the cereals, Potatoes and Tur- 
nip*, &c. ; and these supplies are so copious that 
under normal conditions of cultivation the plmts dj 
not need manuring with nitrogenous salts. 
Should the soil, however, be poor, it is recommended 
to apply, even to leguminous plants, a small quantity 
of nitrogen in the form of nitrate soda or ammo- 
nium salts, to help them over a critical period of 
their growth, and to assist them in arriving as 
quickly as possible at that stage of development in 
which they possess the capacity of obtaining nitrogen 
from the air and subsoil. 
2. In what way does an increased yield result from 
the manuring with nitrogenous salts/ — The main object 
consists in endeavouring, by the supply of ample and 
easily absorbed nourishment, to bring the young 
plant as rapidly as possible to that condition in which 
it can offer successful resistance to all injurious 
influences, and then to carry it on to perfect matur- 
ation. 
If the necessary quality of soluble nourishment is 
wanting in the soil, manuring with even a small 
amount of nitrogen considerably increases the yield 
of crop. At the same time it must be remembered 
that a plant does not live on insolated nourishing 
materials, but on a "food" composed of nourishing 
materials. A plant can form no leaves, no stems' 
flowers, or fruit from nitrogen, phosphoric acid', 
potash, or lime alone ; the different nourishing in- 
gredients must co-operate, and each must be present 
in proper quantity. 
3. Quantity of Nitrogen to be used.— Plants require 
more than mere nutriment; they require water 
warmth, and light. If there is a want of water or of 
light, or of warmth sufficient to produce a growth pro- 
portional to the nitrogenous manure given, the excess 
of nourishing materials is of no use. Manuring with 
nitrogen can only take full effect so far as not only 
the other nourishing ingredients but also water 
warmth, and light are present in sufficient amouut' 
All other elements the cultivator gives in excess but 
nitrogen should be measured out to the plants; with 
nitrogen he, so to speak, feeds his plants, regulates 
tbeir activity of production, and puts them in a posi- 
tion to t ike full advantage of the favourable conditions 
of growth presented to them, permanently or at in- 
terval- — favourable characters of the soil, the climate 
and the weather. 
The pamphlet will repay a careful persual.— Joriisr 
J. Wilms, Harpenden— .'Gardeners' Chronicle. 
* Translated by George C. Henderson, M.A., B. Sc., 
and published by Messrs. Whittaker & Co., London! 
AEBOEICULTURE IN THE PUNJAB. 
The Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab has 
exercised a wise discretion in arranging for the 
submission of reports on arboriculture trienuially, 
instead of annually as heretofore. This arrangement 
was introduced partly with a view to reduce the 
amount of reporting work demanded of District 
Officers, and partly because progress can be bette ■• 
judged when the operation* of three years are 
comprehensively reviewed than when the work of 
only twelve months is considered. This is a step 
in the right direction, for in all parts of India re- 
porting is often a weariness of the officii! fte-h, 
and a waste of Governmen'al time. A >pecial 
Committee on Arboriculture was lately appointed 
in the Punjab, in view to the drawing of systematic 
attention to the subject of tree-planting throughout 
the province. The Committee recommended that 
arboricultural reports should be submitted quin- 
quennially, but the Lieutenant-Governor prefers 
the triennial arrangement. A Manual of Arbori- 
culture for the use of District Officers, Committees, 
and Boards, containing directions for arboriculture, 
rules relating to concessions in connection therewith, 
and standing order.-, is being drawn up by the 
Conservator of Forests, the Financial Commissioner, 
and the Government Secretariat. In the period 1884 
to 1887, the length of district roads planted with 
trees in the Puujab was 1,343 miles ; 4.925 acres 
were planted as groves ; and 223 acres were planted 
as nurseries. The average annual expenditure in 
the two years 1882-83 and 1881-84 was Rs. 119,692; 
and the income was Rs. 41,904 ; shewing a net 
cost of Rs. 77,788 ; and in the three following 
years the average expenditure was Rs. 151 912, 
income Rs. 70,986, and net cost Rs. 80,926. The 
increase of income from an annual average of 
Rs. 41,904 to one of Rs. 70,986 was " decidedly en- 
couraging. " In six districts the income exceeded 
the expenditure. The devolopment of arboriculture 
by private persons is particularly satisfactory. In 
one District there are now small plantations in no 
less than 320 villages, 91 of which have been made 
without pecuniary aid, and the rest at the expense 
of Government. " In many cases, " says the Conser- 
vator, " these plantations are most promising, and, 
though small, will soon become valuable. " The 
species of trees that are being planted in the PiiDjib 
include the orange, apple, pear, peach, rose, mango, 
apricot, pomegranate, fig, date, pipul, lemon, banyan, 
mulberry, plantain, deodar, willow, eucalyptus, loquat, 
neem, olive, shisham, siris, ghaz, chel, ber, tut, 
jaman, aru, kikar, farash jand, boher, etc. Fodder- 
producing trees are in special favour in some 
Districts, but elsewhere fruit trees are more often 
planted as these localities " already abound with 
trees which in time of necessity can be used for 
the purpose of fodder, and consequently no special 
attempts in this direction have been made. " At 
Simla, for example, the demand is chiefly for fruit 
trees, and 5,800 trees were planted in " permanent 
places " in the year ending 31st March 1887. These 
included apple, pear, peach, apricot, plum, cherry, 
fig, and other small fruit. The blue gum, which 
gives so funereal an aspect to parts of Ootacamund, 
has been planted near the S cretariat Office at 
Simla, but suffers somewhat from the snow. The 
other trees and shrubs lately planted about Simla 
include the deodar, horse chestnut, poplar, willow, 
broom, furze, &c. There are about 8,000 miles of 
district roads in the Province unplanted with trees, 
and if peace on the frontier is not disturbed, the 
work should, at the present rate of planting, be 
completed in seventeen years. — Madras Mail . 
AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF 
EUROPE. 
(Specicd Letter.) 
Parts, April 14. 
As marked interest is now being devoted to Scientific 
Agriculture, and meat and milk farming beiug the 
industries not only of present and future, but of great 
