8 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ January 7, 1892. 
should have their growths trained round three or four light stakes 
inserted in the pot. Shade from strong sunshine. A fairly good soil 
composed of fibrous loam, peat, leaf soil, sand, and charcoal will 
grow them with the necessary attention to watering and a moist 
heat. 
Pandantjs Veitchi. 
Pandanus Veitchi, though rather formal in growth, presents 
some good and useful points as a taole plant. First of all, it may 
be grown in small pots ; it is a clean bright-looking plant, and easy 
of cultivation. The roots are strong and wiry, and are numerously 
produced, soon completely filling the pots and overrunning the soil 
on the surface ; while the leaves are long and arching, variegated 
with broad bands of green and creamy white, each edge of the 
leaf being sharply serrated. The most useful size for tables are 
plants in 5 and 6-inch pots. Tt does best in heat. 
Eulalia japonica. 
Eulalia japonica fol. var. is a very useful plant because of its 
long green and white grass-like foliage. A plant with numerous 
stems, which spring direct from the roots, not too tall, but high 
enough to rise above other material, adds lightness and gracefulness 
to a whole arrangement of plants either cn a table, in the stove, 
or among those of an exhibition group. Five-inch pots are con¬ 
venient for most purposes. To increase this plant divide the 
roots in spring. Every small portion will grow under favourable 
conditions ; but to make useful plants at once fairly large pieces 
should only be used. This grass does best, and makes the cleanest, 
brightest, and most satisfactory growth in a moderate stove tempe¬ 
rature. It likes plenty of water when growing freely. 
Ferns. 
A great number of Ferns in a small state growing in ornamental 
pots about 2 and 3 inches in diameter, and larger specimens m 
proportionate sized pots, are much sought after, and used for table 
decoration. The stove kinds may be employed for temporary 
purposes, and one of the most frequently used, and perhaps the 
most frequently spoiled, as its fronds are very susceptible to un¬ 
toward influences, is the favourite and popular Maidenhair 
(Adiantum cuneatum). Small bushy plants in 3-inch pots are 
very useful, but they soon feel the effects of heat and dryness. 
Those in 4, 5, and 6-inch pots are the most satisfactory, and with 
due care may often be used without much injury being sustained 
by them. Root-bound plants suffer the soonest, because the 
numerous roots round the inside of the pot feel the withdrawal of 
the moisture which takes place quickly through the porous pot— 
the ordinary red flower-pot I allude to. Young seedlings grown 
on and potted make the largest and most vigorous specimens, and 
this applies to many other kinds. 
Blechnum brasiliense, a vigorous growing abundantly rooting 
Fern with conspicuous fronds, is fairly well adapted for table 
decoration when in a small state or in one recently developed from 
the seedling form, and in no less size pot than 4 inches. It is 
rather horizontal in its growth at this stage, but getting larger also 
the fronds assume a habit more erect. When first unfolding the 
young fronds always are upright for a time. They are also peculiar 
in the richness and freshness of their colour, which at this time is 
very pretty, being a combination, of pink, brown, and light green. 
This Fern, when well rooted, absorbs a very considerable quantity 
of water, any lack of it soon causing flagging of the foliage. It 
is the same with other varieties of exotic Blechnums, all being 
strong-rooted and bold in growth. They enjoy best stove 
cultivation. The ordinary soil for other Ferns will also suit 
these. 
Lomaria gibba, a greenhouse Fern, which when it attains to 
some age becomes a dwarf Tree Fern, is any time permissible as 
a table plant when the pot containing it is not unsightly or too 
large for the plant. 
Nephrodium molle is an admirable Fern for a table. Well 
established in a pot it will stand a considerable amount of dry air 
without apparent injury. It is, therefore, specially adapted for 
using for longer periods. It is an evergreen Fern, requiring green¬ 
house cultivation. It does well in an ordinary soil of loam, leaf 
soil, and sand. 
Pterises are probably the leading species of Ferns used for table 
decoration. The ordinary well-known P. serrulata, or Spider Fern, 
so called because of its long narrow pinnae, is one of the most 
easily grown of all Ferns. It seeds readily, and germinates almost 
anywhere where a damp position affords a resting place for the 
spores. Hundreds of seedlings may be noticed in ferneries, green¬ 
houses, and stoves growing with a rank luxuriance on the surface 
of the soil in pots, on damp stages, walls, and other places. These 
small plants when large enough to handle can easily be detached 
from their resting-places, or lifted from the soil for the purpose of 
pricking out an inch apart in pots or pans of fine soil. Here, if 
kept, moist without heavy waterings, they will soon root readily 
and grow apace, becoming in a short time ready for placing in 
small pots, or if kept in the pans a little longer, allowing them 
more room, they may be transferred to larger pots as desired. 
Pteris serrulata cristata, the crested form of the latter, makes an 
exceedingly bushy and effective table plant in either small or 5-inch 
pota. Pteris serrulata major is useful. It is a bolder growing 
variety, having larger fronds and broader pinnrn : 4^ and 5-incb 
pots are the best size to grow this variety in for table.—S. 
(To be continued.) 
OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL . 
FERTILISERS. 
1, The history of fertilisers practically dates back to the time when 
bones were first applied to the soil and their value as a fertiliser was 
first recognised. Fertilising with bones was first practised in England. 
Probably the first Instance of their extensive application was in the 
case of the farmers living near Sheffield, England, who applied to the 
land the bone and ivory clippings, which were waste products of the 
knife and button factories of Sheffield. These clippings amounted to 
about 800 tons a year, and were regarded, until about a century ago, as 
a nuisance, the disposal of which was a serious problem to the manufac¬ 
turers. In 1774 the agricultural use of bones was first publicly recom¬ 
mended 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 fertiliser, which 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 the use of phosphates assumed any 
great commercial or agricultural importance, and not even then was it 
appreciated what gave bones their value as fertilisers. About 1830, 
Peruvian guano began to be imported into Europe as a fertiliser, and a 
few years after, into the United States, especially at the South. 
About 1840, Liebig published the result of his researches, and sug¬ 
gested that plants must obtain materials for their growth from tbe 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 can 
be benefited by furnishing those elements that are necessary. It was 
shown that the phosphate of lime in bones gave 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 consider¬ 
able 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 superphosphates were first used in 
1851. The discovery of the so-called South Carolina rock was a great 
boon to those using commercial fertilisers, as this was found to take 
the place of bones. 
The investigations based upon Liebig’s theory showed that other 
elements in addition to phosphorus must be used to secure the best 
results, and, gradually, commercial fertilisers containing other elements 
came to be manufactured and offered for sale. 
Principles Underlyinu the Use op Fertilisers. 
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 ingredients 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 replaced by 
man.” 
(3) , “ The fertility of the' soil remains unchanged if all the ingre¬ 
dients 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 statement of the principles 
underlying the use of fertilisers ; but to understand their meaning with 
satisfactory clearness we must know something more in detail about the 
following subjects :— 
(rt), The constituents and food materials of plant.s. 
(5) , The constituents of soils. 
(c). The relations of soils and plants. 
These subjects will now be considered in the above order :— 
The Constituents and Food Materials op 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 vege- 
