December i, 1891.] 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
42 r 
are to be bad. 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, oapecially 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 for more of a few empty beer 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 mot. The rainf.al] for the year in Borneo w ould, 
I think, compare favourably with that of India, althongh 
rainy and hot seasons, which make the climate of Iiidia 
BO unbearable, are unknown. The »ea 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 commence in earnest. 
There are a gi*eat many other things in Borneo as 
well as planting at which fortunes can l»o made, and 
a little capital iH all that is iiPccsHary to aecomplisli 
this. But to go into detail would occimy too much 
space, and probably be of no interest. I have endea- 
voured, although lam afraid it is but a poor attempt, 
to show wiiat prospects there are in the planting line ; 
and if any of your readers desired further informa- 
tion regarding Borneo, I should only bo too glad to 
give it. Communication is kept up between Singa- 
pore and J^omeo and China by stoamerH and sailing 
veaaels. I happened to bo in Borneo when Lord and 
Lady lhasaey paid it a visit in 1HH7 (Lady Brassoy’s 
last voyage In the Snuhf.am), and I well remember how 
His LordHliip spoke in such high terms of the country, 
and sunk a good round sum of money in a timber 
concern there. It only requirea capital and good men, 
and if capital and good men were forthcoming, there 
is no saying wliat is in store for the latter, in that 
magnificent Island, which has been so truly described 
as “The Gardens of the Sun ." — Indiun Vlante/’it’ 
Oafsettf. 
OUTMNKOF THKHISTOUY OFCOMMKHClAb 
FEIITUJZBIIS. 
1. The history of fertilizers practically dates back 
to tiie 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, w'ho applied to tho land the bone 
and ivory clippings, which were waste prodnets of 
the knife ana button factories of Slieffield. 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 
problem to tho manufacturers. 
In 1771 tho agricultural use of bones was first 
publicly recommended by Hunter, and successful 
experiments were made with bone dust. 
' About 1814, Alexander von Humboldt called public 
attention to the use of guano as a fertilizer, wliich 
he had 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 tho use of phos- 
phates aaaumed any great commercial or agricultural 
importance, and not even then was it appreciated 
what gave bones their value as fertilizers. 
About 1830, Peruvian guano began to be imported 
into Europe as a fertilizer, and a few years after, 
ipto the iTnited States, ospecially at the South. 
About 1H40, Liel’i(? publisbod tho results of his 
researches and suggested that plants must obtain 
materials for their growth from the soil as well a.s 
from tlie air and water, whicli alone were previously 
supposed to furnish plant food; and, lienee, that the 
proper life of a plant can be benefited by furnishing 
those elonients that are neceHsary. It was ahow’n 
that the phosphate of lime in bones 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 1843 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 
bo 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 used in 1851. 
The discovery of the ao-callod South Carolina rock 
was a great boon to those using commercial fertilizers, 
as this - as found to take the place of bones. 
The investigations based upon Liebig’s theory 
show’ed that other elements in a-idition to phospho- 
rus must l>c used to secure the best roBiuts, and, 
gradually, commercial fertilizeis containing other 
elements came to be manufactured and offered for 
sale. 
I'KINCIPLEB UNPEULVINO TUK USE OF FERTILIZERS. 
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 iwivances 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 Lielng: — 
(1) . “A soil can be termed fertile only when it 
contains all tho materials requisite for the nutrition 
of plants in the required quantity and iu the 
proper form.” 
(2) . “ With every crop a portion of those lugre- 
dionts is removed. A part of this portion is again 
added from the inexhaustible store of the atmospliere *, 
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 
huHbandry is not snfficiont to maintain permanently 
the fertility of a farm; it lacks tho constituents 
which are annually exported in the shape of grain, 
hay, milk and live stock.” 
Iffiese four law’s of Tfiebig contain a clear state- 
ment of tho priuciploM underlying theuso of fertilizers; 
but, to understand their meaning with satisfactory 
clearness, we must know something more in detail 
about the following subjects: — 
(ti.) Tho constituents and food materials of plants. 
(h,) The constituents of soils. 
(rj The relations of soils and plants. 
Tlieso subjects will now be considered in the 
above order: — 
TIIK CONSTITUENTS AND FOOD MATERIALS OF PLANTS. 
3. To chemical analysis wo 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 tho thirty 
years following much was learned about tho different 
elements contained in plants, it was not until aBer the 
investigations of Liebig that our knowledge of the 
chemistry of plants progrossod 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, l>y any known means, be 
separated into two or three different kinds of matter. 
For example, gold is an element, becanso, 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, oa far as w o are 
able to find out, it contains only one thing, that is, 
nitrogen. Himilarly, carbon, sulphur, jiotassium, 
oxygen and iron are elements. 
Just as tho Iwonty-six letters of our alphabet are 
combined in various ways to form the words of a 
whole language, bo these seventy elements or simple 
substances, constituting nature’s alphabet of matter 
