June  1,  1897.] 
Supplement  to  the  “ Tropical  Agriculturists 
887 
means  of  mamiriug  the  soil  with  nitrogen.  The 
more  tl>e  growth  of  these  nitrogen-collecting 
crops  is  promoted,  by  the  application  of  liberal 
quantites  of  potash  and  phosphatic  manures, 
the  greater  will  be  the  quantity  of  nitrogen 
drawn  from  the  air. 
It  was  on  this  principle  that  the  famous 
e.vperiments  of  Dr.  Schultz-Lupitz  in  Germany 
were  based.  He  grew  leguminous  crops  on  light 
soils,  and,  by  a liberal  application  of  potash 
and  phosphates,  he  enriched  the  soils  not  only 
in  these  minerahs,  but  also  in  the  nitrogen 
collected  by  tht  crops  from  the  air,  and  thus 
succeeded  in  converting  poor  and  barren  soils 
into  soils  of  fine  fertility,  capable  of  growing  very 
goods  crops  of  suitable  kinds. 
It  would  be  difficult  to  e.xaggerate  the  import- 
ance of  this  discovery  for  the  future  ot  agri- 
culture. It  is  well  known  that  what  is  called 
the  “condition”  of  soils,  or  their  capacity  for 
growing  large  crops,  is  in  very  great  measure 
dependent  on  the  amount  of  nitrogen  they 
contain.  No  substance  in  soils  is  more  generally 
deficient,  and  none  is  more  easily  e.\hausted. 
While  mineral  substances  such  as  potash  and 
phosphoric  acid  are  firmly  held  by  soils,  nitrogen, 
in  tiie  form  of  nitrates,  is  washed  largely  into 
the  drains  every  winter.  In  all  regulary  cropped 
soils,  unless  heavily  manured,  the  nitrogen 
suffers  a steady  decline,  and  the  soil  becomes 
constantly  less  productive.  The  nitrogen  can 
of  course  be  restored  by  frequent  and  abundant 
manuring,  but  this  can  only  be  done  at  a great 
e.xpense.  No  other  manurial  substance  costs  so 
much  as  nitrogen,  and  none  is  so  apt  to  be  wasted 
in  the  application ; hence  enormous  sums  are 
paid  every  year  for  nitrate  of  scda,  sulphate  of 
ammonia,  and  other  manures  intended  to  supply 
the  soil  with  nitrogen.  But  it  has  now  been 
shown  that  the  nitrogen  in  soils  can  be  very 
largely  increased  without  any  such  e.xpenditure. 
The  growth  of  suitable  leguminous  crops,  such 
as  clovers  and  vetches,  is  a certain  mea?is  to 
that  end.  These  crops  can  be  grown  siiccsssfully 
on  most  soils  without  nitrogenou-*  manures, 
provided  they  be  supplied  with  abundant  iiotash 
and  phosphoric  acid.  Large  crops  can  thus  be 
obtained,  and  whether  they  be  consumed  on  the 
land  or  cut  and  removed  from  it,  the  root  residue 
left  in  the  fields  enriches  the  surface  .soil  so 
much  in  nitrogen  that  its  fertility  and  productive 
capacity  are  greatly  increased.  The  effect  of 
the  growth  of  a good  crop  of  clover  in  promoting 
the  subsequent  growth  of  a large  crop  of  wheat 
has  been  long  known,  Schultz-Lupitz  has  clearly 
shown  that  the  same  principle  may  be  applied 
not  only  to  assist  the  growth  of  one  particular 
crop,  but  also  to  raise  more  permanently  the  con- 
dition of  the  soil,  and  thus  to  convert  worthless 
soil  into  fruitful  fields.  The  use,  therefore,  of 
potash  and  phosphatic  manures  nppUed  to  the 
clover  and  vetch  is  not  only  tjie  production  of 
an  increa.se  of  these  crops,  it  is  also  a means  of 
adding,  without  further  e.vponse  in  manures,  a 
large  addition  of  nitrogen  to  the  .soil  in  the 
valuai)le  form  of  an  accumulation  of  organic 
maUer  capable  in  great  part  of  rapid  decay, 
and  thus  of  accumulating  such  a store  of  fertility 
as  will  result  in  the  sulu^oquent  production  of 
large  crops. 
FRUIT  CULTURE. 
[The  Department  of  Agriculture  of  Cape 
Colony  has  lately  issued  a “ Manual  of  Practi- 
cal Orchard  Work”  by  P.  MacOwen  and  Eus- 
tace Pillans.  The  subject  of  fruit  culture  is 
most  admirably  treated  of  in  this  little  work, 
and,  as  we  consider  (what  everyone  will  readily 
admit)  that  there  is  a great  deal  of  ignorance 
of  what  may  be  called  the  first  principles  of 
fruitjculture  in  this  country,  we  have  compiled  a 
paper  on  the  subject  from  the  Manual  referrerl 
to,  and  have  no  doubt  that  many  landowners 
will  be  thankful  for  the  valuable  information 
which  we  are  able  to  offer  them. — Ed.  A.M.~\ 
The  Artificial  Character  of  Modern  Fruit  Trees. 
1.  Cultivation  implies,  first,  a previous  know- 
leilge  of  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  living 
being  we  propose  to  care  for,  and  secondly,  a 
previous  knowledge  of  the  soil  and  atmosphere 
in  which  it  holds  its  dual  life.  It  is  only  by 
such  preknowledge  that  the  cultivator  can  suit 
the  conditions  of  growth  to  the  wants  of  the 
thing  to  be  grown,  and  thus  place  it  in  the 
best  possible  position  for  fulfilling  the  history  of 
its  life.  Nothing  short  ot  this  work,  done  of  set 
purpose  and  as  the  outcome  of  exact  knowledge, 
can  be  called  cultivation, 
2.  But  it  is  something  more  than  this.  It  is 
not  enough  to  reproduce  plants  in  the  precise 
form  in  which  they  exist  in  nature.  P'irstly, 
the  cultivator,  for  his  own  benefit,  aims  at 
guiding  and  control’ing  the  growth  of  certain 
plants  so  as  to  make  them  develop  verj'  differ- 
ently from  their  normal  original  condition.  Thus 
in  one  plant  he  endeavours  to  obtain  seeds  of 
large  size  and  blanil  taste,  in  another  the  effort 
is  to  flo  away  with  seeds  as  far  as  po.ssible  and 
produce  a large  succulent  fruit,  in  others, 
shortening  of  the  axial  growth,  and  great  enlarge- 
ment of  the  leaves  is  aimed  at.  The  plant  then 
with  ceitain  limits  Is,  like  clay  in  the  hands  of 
the  potter,  capable  of  being  remodelled,  by 
causing  tuis  or  that  organ  to  take  on  an  ex- 
cessive and  unusual  development,  without  at  the 
same  time  interfering  with  the  balance  of 
functions  necessary  for  its  general  health.  This 
complex  art  is  one  great  part  of  cultivation. 
To  practise  it  with  success  obviously  demands 
something  more  than  the  loose,  popular  notions 
of  plant-life,  which  are  picked  up  without  special 
study  or  thought,  or  come  by  imitating  the 
tr.iditional  methods  of  our  neighbours. 
3.  Secondly. — For  many  hundreds  of  years  a 
close  w-atch  has  been  kept  upon  the  seedlings 
arising  in  the  reproduction  of  all  cultivated  plants. 
Whenever  a sport  or  other  chance  variation  has 
appeared,  presenting  char.acters  of  a desirable 
kind,  the  gardener  has  quickly  to  detect  it,  and 
to  give  it  permanence  bv  such  methods  as  bud- 
ding and  grafting  which  are  unfortunately 
almost  unknown  in  Ceylon.  And  this  continual 
watchfulness,  awaiting  the  chance  of  betterment 
by  natural  variation  has  produced  the  kinds  of 
fruits  approved  and  cultivated  all  over  the 
world,  so  that  in  fruit  culture  as  with  all 
knowledge,  we  are  today  the  heirs  of  countlass 
benefactors  who  have  preceded  us  and  handed 
down  to  us  their  best  results.  It  must,  there- 
fore, be  always  borne  in  mind  that  the  objects 
of  our  culture  are  distinctly  artificial  products 
obtaiiied  by  centuries  ot  selection  and  variation, 
and  do  not  exist  as  natural  forms  of  vegeta- 
tion, nor  can  they  put  up  witii  the  conditions 
that  suffice  for  the  latter.  As  soon  as  skilled 
care  cp-k-’s  they  cannot  escape  deterioration 
