June t, 1898.] THE TROPICAL AGRICDLTURIST, 803 
times soon, and the recovery in a shorter period 
than would be probable in most countries. It may 
be just as well for a proprietor not lo content him- 
self with doing nought except silting down and lament- 
ing tb bad times and waiting till the clouds roll by, 
but to exert, and in addition to energy, apply com- 
mon sense to the problem how to quicken the advent 
of the better days. Then judging by the past the 
revival will not be far off. Compare things at home. 
Railways have even yet scarcely seen their stock 
back at the values of 1844. When we see good Ceylon 
estates being sold by the “unco” prudent because 
having passed through times in which they could 
not sell, an opportunity is presented of getting out 
of such a land of ruin, or because they see of 
fancy further ills threatening them, we are reminded 
of a story of Duncan Forbes of Culloden or 
an Innes of Edingicht in Banff when in company 
with some fellow-lairds, high Conservatives, out of 
humour with the progress of free trade and other 
changes, who declared that there was nothing but 
ruin before landowners in Scotland, and that it was 
“ no longer a place for a gentleman to live in.” “ Weel,’ 
says Edingicht, “I hae jist ae faut to this Ian’ and 
that is that I hae ‘na a bittie mair o’t.’ There 
are some in Ceylon who would be the better for 
discussing the land question with this old Banff 
worthy. On the other hand there is many a young 
planter in the island as good as any of those of the 
early days who finds but one fault with the land 
now so much in the hands of Companies, and that is 
that he has not a bit more of it. 
WOOD-ASHES. 
We learn from a report by R. Harcourt, B.S.A., 
Assistant Chemist, O.A.C. Guelph, that there is a 
growing interest in the subject of wood-ashes, and 
their use as a fertiliser. This is largely owing to the 
fact that long cultivated lands are beginning to show 
a lack of fertilising constituents that are supplied by 
ashes, and to a desire on the part of the cultivator 
of the soil to increase and improve his crops. 
The growing plant gathers all its mineral consti- 
tuent? from the soil in which it live.s, and these, not 
beit g combustible, are left as ash when the plant is 
burned : consequently, the ash must contain all the 
mineral constituents that are essential to growth. 
These are potash, phosphoric acid, lime, magnesia, 
iron, and sulphur. These substances form a very 
small part of a plant, yet without them no plant 
could grow and produce seed ; in fact, they are 
indispensable to life. Of the six essential plant-food 
substances named, potash and phosphoric acid are 
the most important, not only because they are taken 
up by the plant in large quantities, but also from 
the fact that our average soils do not contain them 
any too abundantly. Wood ashes, therefore, are 
usually valued according to the amount of those 
two consti'uents which they contain. Although 
potash and phosphoric acid are the most valuable 
plant-food substances in ashes, yet ashes also contain 
fare quantities of lime, which is of considerable 
value to the growing plant. Lime is usually present 
in most garden soils in sufficient quantities to supply 
the wants of plant-growth, yet its application may 
produce marked effects. By acting chemically ou 
certain constituents in the soil, plant-food, especially 
potash, is brought into an available form. It neutra- 
lises the free acid of the soil, and thus helps along 
the pi'ocess by which vegetable matter is changed 
into a form in which the plant may make use of its 
nitrogen. It also tends to improve the mechanical 
condition of both clayey and sandy soils. 
The amount of these fertilising constituents con- 
tained in an ash will vary according to the source 
from which it is derived. The ash from young 
branches will be richer in protash than that from 
the older parts of the tree- Different soils will suprply 
varying quantities of potash, phosphoric acid, and 
lime. The following table gives the composition of a 
few of the more common ashes analysed by Air. 
Harcourt. The figures given express the percentages 
of the various constituents in the dry ash : — 
Constituents in l\'ood-ashes per Cent. 
a 
c3 
o 
o ■ 
Ashes from : 
cC 
Lime. 
<0 
a 
Iron. 
s ^ 
O 
PM 
o <1 
s 
W) 
cc 
•3^ 
00 
Maple 
9 31 
2 03 
45-24 
1-14 
Peech 
■7-58 
1 39 
41-21 
6- 16 
d-30 
traces 
Cedar 
3-30 
0-98 
49-06 
2-49 
0-70 
0-77 
Swamp Elm 
35-37 
0-45 
23-64 
6-48 
0-19 
traces 
Black ash. . 
25-30 
1-20 
49-04 
7-42 
0-22 
0-71 
Hard coal. . 
traces 
0-1(5 
traces 
5-32 
0-41 
The figures show clearly why ash buyers are so 
anxious to get black ash or swamp Elm ashes, but at 
the same time, it must not be forgotten that these 
ashes are very light and bulky; consequently, there 
may be more potash in one measured bushel of hard 
Maple-ash than in the same bulk of swamp Elm- 
ash. The hard woods contain a larger quantity 
of phosphoric acid and the soft woods. Cedar, as 
would he expected, is poor in both potash and phos- 
phoric acid. The best way to ascertain the Irue 
value of ashes is to note the increased yield when 
they are applied to crops requiring potash, such as 
Potatoes, Carrots, Grape-Vines, and fruit-trees 
generally. 
The caring for and application of ashes must 
receive special attention. If not properly stored 
while accumulating, much of the soluble plant-food 
will be lost by leaching. If not applied to those 
plants which are in special need of potash, no 
noticeable results may be obtained. Further, if 
mixed with farmyard or stable manure they may do 
more harm than good, because they tend to liberate, 
as ammonia, the nitrogen of the manure. If we may 
judge by the amount used by fruit-growers in the 
best fruit districts of the Unite<^ States and Canada, 
they are fully aware of the value of wood-ashes in 
the orchard J. J. Willis, Haipenden. — Gardeners’ 
Chronicle. 
ORANGE-GROWING IN -JAFFA. 
Bv ReINUOLD PALMEP, .jERU.SALEAf. 
That much-prized fruit, the .Jaffa, Orange, is now 
so well known and appreciated in England that it 
may interest readers of this journal to learn some 
details of the method of its cultivation. 
The name by which this variety of orange is knowm 
in England is derived from the place where it is 
cultivated, the growing and prosperous little town 
of Jaffa on the coast of Syria, so well known to 
those who have visited Jerusalem, for which it is 
the port. In the vernacular the name for orange 
is ‘ Portugal!,’ doubtless a corruption of the word 
Portugal, and is an indication that the orange was 
probably in the first instance introduced into Pales- 
tine from Portugal ; but as it is not recorded when 
or by whom this tree was thus introduced, the 
orig n of the name can only be a matter of sur- 
mise. Although not a native of Syria, it thrives 
on the sandy coast of that country better probably 
than anywhere else in the world, the climatic con- 
ditions — the rainless summer, accompanied by heavy 
night-dews, and the winter without frost — being well 
suited to the growth and development of the fruit. 
But the culture must of course be supported through- 
out the long summer by artificial irrigation. Were 
