December i, iFqt.] 
TME TROP'OAL AGPiOULTURlST 
are to be had. I should imagine that Malays and 
Kadayans would be by far the best coolies to engage, 
as they chiefly devote their time to agricultural pur- 
suits, especially those who dwell in the interior. 
Labour is also- cheap, in fact in some parts of the 
Island money is totally unknown. A native would 
think far more of a few empty Ijeer bottles or empty 
tobacco tins than he would of a handful of dollars. 
This, of course, applies to the inland tribes. As a rule, 
the natives are most peaceful and obliging, and I should 
not think that any difficulties in the shape of organising 
any amount of coolie labour which might be necessary 
would be met. The rainfall for the year in Borneo would, 
I think, compare favourably with that of India, although 
rainy and hot seasons, which make the climate of India 
so unbearable, are unknown. The sea breezes, which are 
wafted over the Island, are most refreshing, keeping 
the air always more or less cool, and such a thing as 
fever is almost unknown. The jungle in some parts 
is very dense, but it is astonishing with what rapidity 
the Malays fell it when they commonce in earnest. 
There are a great many other things in Borneo as 
well as planting at which fortunes can be made, and 
a little capital is all that is necessary to accomplish 
this. But to go into detail would occupy too much 
space, and probably be of no interest. I have endea- 
voured, although I am afraid it is but a poor attempt, 
to show what prospects there are in the planting line ; 
and if any of your readers desired further informa- 
tion regarding Borneo, I should only be too glad to 
give it. Communication is kept up between Singa- 
pore and Borneo and China by steamers and sailing 
vessels. I happened to be in Borneo when Lord and 
Lady Brassey paid it a visit in 1887 (Lady Brassey's 
last voyage in the Suvheam), and I well remember how 
His Lordship spoke in such high terms of the coiintry, 
and sunk a good round sum of money in a timber 
concern there. It only requires capital and good men, 
and if capital and good men were forthcoming, there 
is no saying what is in store for the latter, in that 
magnificent Island, which has been so truly described 
as "The Gardens of the Sun." — Indian Planters' 
Oaxette. 
OUTLINE OF THE HISTOKY OF COMMEECIAL 
FERTILIZERS. 
1. The history of fertilizers practically dates back 
to the time when bones were first applied to the soil and 
_their value as a fertilizer was first recognised. Fer- 
tilizing with bones was first practised in England. 
Probably the first instance of their extensive appli- 
cation was in the case of the farmers living near 
Sheffield, England, who applied to the land the bone 
and ivory clippings, which were waste prodnots of 
the knife and button factories of Sheffield. These 
clippings amounted to about eight hundred tons a 
year and were regarded, until about a century ago, 
as a nuisance, the disposal of which was a serious 
prol)lem to the manufacturers. 
In 1774 the agricultural use of bones was first 
publicly recommended by Hunter, and successful 
experiments were made with bone dust. 
About 1814, Alexander von Humboldt called irablic 
attention to the use of guano as a fertilizer, which 
he hixd seen used by the natives of Peru. 
About 1817, the first superphosphate is believed 
to have been made by Sir James Murray. 
It was not until after 1820 that the use of phos- 
phates assumed any great commercial or agricultural 
importance, and not even then was it appreciated 
what gave bones their value as fertilizers. 
About 1830, PeruviHU guano began to be imported 
into Europe as a fertilizer, and a few years after, 
into the United States, especially at the South. 
About 1840, Liebig puolished the results of his 
researches and suggested that plants must obtain 
materials for their growth from the soil as well as 
from the air and water, which alone were previously 
supposed to furnish plant food ; and, hence, that the 
proper life of a plant cair be benefited by fui-nishing 
tho.se elements that are necessary. It was shown 
that the phospliate of lime in bones ga. ,; them their 
value, and that, by dissolving bones with sulphuric 
acid, they were made much more effective. The 
demand for bones then outran the supply. Other 
sources were looked for, and in 184S a new source of 
phosphate of lime was found in Spain, consisting of 
a rock which contained considerable amounts of 
phosphoric acid. On trial, this rock was found to 
be a substitute for bone. 
In the United States, farmers first used bones 
about 1790. The first bone mill was built about 
1830, and super-phosphates were first iised in 1851. 
The discovery of the so-called South Carolina rock 
was a great boon to those using commercial fertilizers, 
as this was found to take the place of bones. 
The investigations based upon Liebig's theory 
showed that other elements in addition to phospho- 
rus must be used to secure the best results, and, 
gradually, commercial fertilizers containing other 
elements came to be manufactured aird offered for 
sale. 
PHINCIPLES UNDEKLYING THE USE OF FERTILIZEBS. 
2. Until fifty years ago, agriculture was without a 
scientific working basis. To the investigations of the 
illustrious German chemist, Justus von Liebig, we 
largely owe the advances that have been made in 
agricultural methods during the last half century. 
The following four laws, which form the foundation 
of modern agricultural practice, were fully established 
by Liebig : — 
(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 in the 
proper form." 
(2) . "With every crop a portion of these ingre- 
dients is removed. A part of this portion is again 
added from the inexhaustible store of the atmosphere ; 
another part, however, is lost for ever if not re- 
placed by man." 
(3) . "The fertility of the soil remains unchanged 
if all the ingredients of a crop are given back to 
the land. Such a restitution is effected by manure." 
(4) . " The manure produced in the course of 
husbandry is not sufficient to maintain permanently 
the fertility of a farm ; it lacks the constituents 
which are annually exported in the shape of grain, 
hay, milk and live stock." 
These four laws of Liebig contain a clear state- 
ment of the principles underlying the use of fertilizers ; 
but, to understand their meaning with satisfactory 
clearness, we must know something more in detail 
about the following subjects : — 
(a. J The constituents and food materials of plants. 
(b.J The constituents of soils. 
(c.J The relations of soils and plants. 
These subjects will now be considered in the 
above order : — 
THE CONSTITUENTS AND FOOD MATEEI.U.S OF PLANTS. 
3. To chemical analysis we owe all that we know 
about what plants contain or are made of. Less than 
eighty years ago not a single vegetable substance had 
been accurately analyzed; and although in the thirty 
years following much was learned about the different 
elements contained in plants, it was not until after the 
investigations of Liebig that our knowledge of the 
chemistry of plants progressed with any satisfactory 
^egree of rapidity. 
CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. 
4. All matter is composed of about seventy dif- 
ferent chemical elements. A chemical element is any 
substance which cannot, by any known means, be 
separated into two or three different kinds of matter. 
For example, gold is an element, because, in whatever 
manner it may be treated, we cannot get anything out 
of it but gold ; pure gold contains nothing but gold. 
So, nitrogen is an element, because, as far as we are 
able to find out, it contains only one thing, that is, 
nitrogen. Similarly, carbon, sulphur, potassium, 
oxygen and iron are elements. 
Just as the twenty-six letters of our alphabet are 
combined in various ways to form tlic words of a 
whole language, so these seventy elements or simple 
substances, constituting nature's alphabet of matter, 
