June 6, 1903. 
THE GARDEN! NO WORLD . 
485 
Something about Plant Food. 
By J, J. Willis, Harpenden, 
Although vegetables and flowers are grown in all kinds of 
soil, yet these plants do best in a light, loose, permeable soil, 
rich in humus and not sour. Heavy, cold, clay soils, deficient 
in humus, never succeed so well. There are means, however, 
of altering the condition even of the worst of soils ; it is only 
a matter of expense. 
As a rule, both flowers and vegetables must develop rapidly 
during their short growing season, and for this reason their 
roots must penetrate deeply into the soil, in order that they 
may absorb sufficient quantities of moisture and of plant-food 
ingredients. 
Crop Requirements. 
In order to' make this subject plain, we will take, for example, 
the Strawberry. This is usually considered as a very s#il- 
exhausting crop, yet, so 1 far as the real loss of plant food through 
the gathering of the' fruit is concerned, the facts shown by 
chemical analysis scarcely bear this out. 
To replace or restore to the soil the substances so. removed by 
the Strawberry fruit would not in itself appear to require a 
veiy large application of manure. Yet it is found, however, 
as a matter of practical experience, that to make Strawberry 
culture successful the soil must be fed veiy liberally. High 
manuring for Strawberries is an essential condition for success^ 
ful growth, because not only has the fruit to be provided for, 
but there is a great drain upon the plants, and consequently 
upon the soil, for the production of runners. 
Cattleya Mossiae arnoldiana. 
The best garden soils contain, a natural supply of about ha. 
1 ’ t. of mtro & en, nearly 1 per cent, of potash, a quarte 
of 1 percent, of phosphoric acid, and 2 per cent, of lime. 1 
this store be reduced, applications of manure become necessary 
A garden soil, to be well manured, must contain a larg 
excess of available plant-food over and above the amount tha 
can be utilised by the growing crops, since it cannot be siq: 
posed that the roots of plants will be able to absorb by virtu 
of their disposition in the soil more than a comparatively sma] 
proportion of such fertilising ingredients. 
The same may be said of most garden, crops ; it is not only 
the edible portion that has to be grown, but there is a constant 
demand for root, stem and leaf, in order to get the usable part. 
High manuring consequently becomes a matter of necessity 
if well flavoured and succulent crops, are to' be obtained. We 
may advance several reasons why this is necessary. In the first 
place, the actual growing period of most vegetables is short; 
therefore during a comparatively brief time there is a*large 
demand for immediately available forms of nitrogen, phosphoric 
acid, and potash—a. demand that must be met if the best results 
