380 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Ocr., 1899. 
Darling Downs, where the soil is comparatively rich in caleareous nodules. The 
presence of an ample AUER of lime in the soil also renders the sandy, loamy 
country lying immediately to the west of Warwick admirably adapted to the 
growth of almonds, a crop that should do and pay well in this particular 
district. 
The application of lime as a manure at Redland Bay does not appear, to 
have had any material effect on the bananas to which it was applied, showing 
that the soil has sufficient of this plant food. It has, however, produced a good 
mechanical effect in that the soil is easier to work and scours better. ‘This is 
a decided advantage, as the bad scouring properties of all our red volcanic fruit 
soils render them more or less difficult to work. 
Porasstum (Porasm). 
In the analyses of the ash of all farm crops and fruits, potash occupies a 
prominent position, showing how necessary it is that the soil should contain. 
a sufficient supply of this essential plant food in an available form. In the 
case of fruits, pulses, root crops, and some vegetables, notash may be said to 
be the dominant constituent, as the ash of the fruit of the peach contains as 
high as 75 per cent. of potash, and that of several other fruits range from 
50 per cent. upwards, that of the farm crops mentioned from 30 to 40 per cent., 
and vegetables up to as much as 50 per cent. 
In addition to the potash contained in the fruit, farm crops, or vegetables 
that are sold off the farm, and the loss of which must be made good unless the 
soil is naturally rich in this particular plant food, the roots, leaves, and branches 
contain more or less potash, which is necessary for their proper development. 
It must be supplied by the soil in the first place, but is, as a rule, eventually 
returned to the soil, so that it is not actually lost, as is the potash contained in 
the produce that is sold off the orchard or farm. At the end of this article I 
am giving a short tabulated analysis of the ash of our principal fruits, 
vegetables, and farm crops, showing the amount of potash, nitrogen, and phos- 
phoric acid removed from the soil by 1,000 1b. of each particular product. 
These analyses have been obtained from a number of sources, both 
European and American, and though the analysis of any particular product is 
found to vary considerably, according to the conditions under which the crop has 
been grown—such as soil, climate, rainfall, &e.—as well as to the particular state 
of ripeness at the time of the analysis, the table, though not to be considered 
absolutely accurate under our local conditions, will yet be found to be of con- 
siderable value when determining the particular manure or manures required by 
any special fruit, vegetable, or farm crop. 
Most of the fruit and farming soils’ of this colony, especially those of 
alluvial, basaltic, granitic, orvoleanic origin, are usuallysufficiently rich in potash 
not to need any special manuring, as the supply is ample for all crops for years 
to come; but there are other soils of sandstone origin that are more or less 
deficient in this plant food. Such soils would be greatly benefited by the appli- 
cation of potash manures, especially for the growth of potatoes, sweet potatoes, 
mangolds, beetroot, tomatoes, and all kinds of fruit. 
It is not a difficult matter, as a rule, to tell whether a soil is deficient in 
potash or not, if you will carefully note the crops that do well, those that do 
badly, and the weeds or native plants that are most abundant. For example, 
where you find a soil in which tomatoes, blackberries (Solanum nigrum), Cape 
gooseberries, inkweed, clovers of kinds, wild vetches, crow’s-foot, and wild 
earrots grow profusely, the soil is rich in available potash. Again, sandy, 
loamy ground that grows good crops of sweet or English potatoes, peas, and 
beans, without special manuring, is rich in potash ; but where such a soil does 
not grow these crops or tomatoes, then potash is necessary. Heavy soils that 
grow good mangels or sugar beet are also usually rich in potash. Fruit trees 
growing on poor, sandy soils, if requiring potash, will show same by a deficiency 
of colour in the foliage and also by a slight variegation. From the experiments 
conducted by the Department of Agriculture at Redland Bay, I cannot 
