286 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Aprin, 1898. 
Horticulture. 
ASHES AND CHARCOAL—THEIR VALUE AS FERTILISERS. 
By R. R. HARDING. 
Curator, Botanic Gardens, Toowoomba. 
We who live in this colony and have to deal with Nature’s processes, which 
are the source of material wealth, are apt to forget that we are in the midst 
of a great university, with numerous courses of study before us, and the means 
for a broad education within our grasp. The question constantly confronts 
us: Shall we sacrifice this education because we are not willing to look further 
than the acquirement of. means to obtain existence ? The motive of all 
science is the attainment of truth, and many men’s lives might be turned to 
better account were they to turn their faculties to unravelling the secrets of 
Nature. Nature, at all events, can never be wrong; anyone who is seeking to 
read Nature can never do wrong by following her teaching, but nothing but 
actual experience can determine the fact, and also/l think it will be admitted 
that the mind is more enlightened by practice than by mere study— practice 
makes perfect. 
Long observation and study, together with the intimate practical experi- 
ence acquired over a long term of years of close association with plants intro- 
duced into this colony will probably give some weight to the few remarks here 
given. on ashes and charcoa!, as I have found them the most natural, and in all 
respects the most economical, manures that can be applied to all: plants, 
especially when they are so near at hand, but yet are allowed to go to waste. 
These, when used as fertilisers, not infrequently produce a greater increase 
of crop than their chemical composition promised ; and this is all the more 
remarkable because the opposite is usually the case with fertilisers. The 
ashes contain all the mineral parts of the wood, and, as not much nitrogen is 
required, the ashes alone are sufficient. Suppose we were to burn an apple- 
tree, what is left? Ashes certainly ; and as 50 lb. of these ashes contain 4 Jb. 
of potash, this must have been the substance most largely taken from the soil 
by the tree. Apparently the potash in the ashes increases the production of 
available plant food in the soil by inducing or stimulating chemical action. 
This potash is a constituent of every plant, although some plants require a 
great deal more than others. The power of the potash in ashes to liberate 
nitrogen from humus is well known, and this action in making availabie the 
nitrogen in the soil is strikingly shown when land recently cleared of timber is 
put into crop. Wherever a heap of logs or brush has been burned, the 
vegetation is rank and luxuriant. ; 
In the raising of trees and shrubs, my seed beds consist of ashes and char- 
coal, except a small amount of good soil on top for the seeds to germinate in 
and for absorbing the water, as it would be impossible to get the water to enter 
the ashes; and I notice that immediately the young roots get a firm hold of the 
ashes they make tremendous growth, and also find that the application of these 
ashes to the soil improves it capillarity, and therefore gives to the plants more 
moisture, increases the woody growth, and in all pot plants it gives the greatest 
satisfaction. ; 
In a ton of ashes there should be about 140 lb. of potash in a form 
most readily available by the roots of plants, besides sufficient phosphoric acid 
and a small quantity of nitrogen, and the inorganic matter in the ash of a 
plant gives strength to the plants and enables them to give: large produce. 
