1 Ocr., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 321 
and lost. The manure heap is generally exposed to the full influence of the weather, 
and no attempt is made to prevent the washing out by rains of valuable soluble sub- 
stances. The bulky portion only is saved and applied to the soil. Good fresh farm- 
yard manure should contain about 12 1b. of nitrogen, 6 to 7 lb. of phosphoric acid, and 
about 13 lb. of potash. Now, the very best time to apply this manure is whenever it 
can be obtained, no matter whether it be fresh or not; then there will be far less 
chance of losing the best parts of it. It takes a great deal of time and labour to turn 
and ferment properly a large heap of dung, and it seems to me very doubtful whether 
it is worth this expense for orchard purposes. his is all right enough for 
vegetables and plants which need immediately available supplies of food, but for 
fruit trees the case is somewhat different. I can speak with a good deal of confidence 
with respect to the application of this kind of manure to fruit trees, for I had a very 
long experience with it in an orchard which contained a remarkable variety of different 
kinds of fruit—stone fruits, oranges, lemons, apples, pears, grapes, figs, strawberries, 
bananas, and many others. The soil was a sandy loam (the washing of surrounding 
sandstone rocks) of rather poor quality. This orchard received an occasional liberal 
dressing of undecomposed farmyard manure, about every second year. This manure 
was forked in immediately after being spread. I have never yel seen an orchard 
producing better fruit. 
As bearing upon farmyard manure, I beg to quote some particulars from a report 
made to the Department of Agriculture, United States, by Mr. H. J. Webber on “The 
Fertilisation of the Soil as affecting the Orange in Health and Disease.” Mr. Webber 
says—‘‘The elements which need to be supplied to fertilisation in most Florida 
orange groves, are nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus, or, using the terms in which 
they are expressed in most analyses of fertilisers, ammonia, potash, and phosphoric 
acid. ‘The application of lime would also prove of benefit to many groves. Probably 
no element of plant-food used in the fertilisation of orange groves should be more 
carefully considered, with respect both to form and quantity, than nitrogen. It is 
most costly and at the same time the most dangerous element to use, as excessive 
applications are liable to result in extensive dropping and splitting of the fruit, or in 
the production of the serious disease known as ‘die-back.’ * * * Tf the tree be 
starving from a lack of nitrogen, the foliage will become a very light-yellow and 
pare and the small limbs will die, as will also the large limbs in extreme cases. If 
the starvation is continued, no fertiliser being added, the tree will finally die back 
nearly to the ground, and probably die out entirely. The extreme symptoms of 
general starvation from lack of all elements are probably nearly the same. The 
nitrogen used in fertilisation is commonly derived from mineral or organic sources. 
Of the former, sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of soda are the forms most used ; of 
the latter, muck, dried blood, blood and bone, cotton-seed meal, tankage, fish scrap, 
stable manure, &c , are the forms most commonly employed. * * *- Barn manure 
is largely used by many growers, who hold that chemical manures are injurious to the 
lants. ‘The benefits of barn manure to an orange grove are in serious question. The 
ruits produced by nitrogen from this source are usually large, coarse, thick-skinned, 
with abundant ray and of inferior flavour. Jf barn manure is used—and most 
growers have a limited supply and desire to use what they have—it should be spread 
over the grove lightly, so that each tree receives only a small amour.t. Where such. 
manure is depended upon as the main element of fertilisation, liberal dressings of 
pagel should be occasionally applied. ‘Lhis will tend to correct the evils of an over- 
alanced fertiliser.” 
Mr. Webber’s repovt is thus summarised :— 
(1) By a proper combination of the various elements used in fertilisation one 
can undoubtedly largely govern the quality and flavour of the fruit. 
(2) To obtain a fruit with thin rind, use nitrogen from inorganic sources in 
moderate quantities, with considerable potash and lime. 
(3) To sweeten the fruit, use sulphatejof ammonia in considerable abundance, 
decreasing the amount of potash. 
(4) To render the fruit more acid, increase the amount of potash and use 
nitrogen from organic sources. 
(5) If it be desired to increase the size of the fruit, as is sometimes the case 
apply a comparatively heavy dressing of nitrogen in some organic form, 
and slightly decrease the other elements. In the case of the Tangerine 
and mandarin, where a larger size is usually desired, a heavy dressing of 
nitrogen fertilisers would favour this end and is not objectionable unless 
carried to excess. 
