March  3,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
.103 
CHEMISTRY  IN  THE  GARDEN. 
{Continued  from  page  604,  last  vol.) 
We  saw  in  our  last  article  that  farmyard  manure  contained  many 
things  valuable  to  plants  as  food,  but  it  is  very  hard  to  convince  some 
growers  that  artificial  fertilisers  may  be  used  to  supply  crops  with  the 
same  ingredients.  Let  us,  therefore,  examine  this  part  of  our  subject 
carefully,  and  see  if  the  latter  can  supply  plants  with  the  same  kind 
of  food  as  the  former. 
Farmyard  manure  is  applied  to  the  soil  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of 
supplying  crops  with  nitrogen,  phosphoric  acid,  and  potash.  The 
nitrogen  is  present  in  fresh  farmyard  manure  in  an  organic  condition — 
that  is,  combined  with  other  elements  to  form  the  organised  structure 
of  plants.  The  food  that  cattle  eat  is  of  a  vegetable  nature.  The 
solid  excreta  of  the  animals  is  the  undigested  part  of  the  food,  and  is 
of  a  vegetable  or  organic  character.  Plants  do  not  live  on  organic 
substances,  so  the  fresh  excreta  of  animals  is  useless  to  them.  Farm¬ 
yard  manure,  however,  soon  decays.  During  decomposition  the  very 
nature  of  the  manure  is  changed,  and  the  organic  or  vegetative 
character  is  destroyed,  owing  to  the  action  of  certain  living  organisms, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  convert  the  organic  into  inorganic  substances. 
The  food  of  crops  is  always  absorbed  from  the  soil  in  an  inorganic 
form.  Nitrate  of  soda  is  an  inorganic  substance,  and  dried  blood  an 
organic.  The  former,  therefore,  is  a  plant  food,  but  the  latter  has  to 
undergo  decomposition  before  it  is  of  any  use  to  crops. 
The  organic  nitrogen  in  farmyard  nianure  is,  during  decay,  con¬ 
verted  into  ammonia.  The  ammonia  is  then  changed  by  certain 
nitrifying  organisms  into  nitric  acid.  The  acid  when  formed  in  the 
soil  unites  with  lime  and  forms  nitrate  of  lime ;  and  it  is  from  this 
source  that  plants  obtain  their  chief  supply  of  nitrogen.  The  nitrate 
of  lime  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  farmyard  manure  is  exactly 
the  same  in  character  and  composition  as  the  substance  we  might  buy 
under  that  name  from  the  chemist. 
When  nitrate  of  soda  is  applied  to  soils  in  which  there  is  a  good 
supply  of  carbonate  of  lime  the  nitric  acid  of  the  nitrate  of  soda  unites 
with  the  lime  and  forms  nitrate  of  lime.  Some  of  the  nitrate  of  soda 
may  be  absorbed  by  the  roots,  but  the  larger  quantity  of  nitrogen  will 
be  taken  up  as  nitrate  of  lime.  If  sulphate  of  ammonia  be  applied  to 
soil  instead  of  nitrate  of  soda,  the  sulphate  will  be  changed  by  tlie 
nitrifying  organisms  into  nitrate  of  lime.  If  dried  blood  be  applied 
instead  of  either  of  the  former,  it  will  first  of  all  decompose  and  the 
nitrogen  will  be  changed  into  ammonia,  and  then  the  ammonia  will  be 
conveited  into  nitrate  of  lime. 
The  three  manures  to  which  we  have  just  referred  are  all  aj^plied 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  plants  with  nitrogen,  arid  we  see  that 
although  the  three  sources  are  entirely  different  in  character,  they  all 
become  the  same  kind  of  substance — namely,  nitrate  of  lime,  before 
they  are  taken  up  by  crops.  We  have  put  these  facts  as  clearly  as 
possible  before  our  readers  with  the  idea  of  showing  how  some  of  the 
plant  food  in  farmyard  manure  must  become  similar  in  compo.sition  to 
those  chemicals  we  call  artificial  manures.  We  cannot,  tiierefoie, 
understand  how  your  correspondent,  “A.  D.,”  can  write  as  he  does 
on  page  147  to  the  effect  “  that  such  experiments  as  he  has  carried 
out  with  artificial  manures  has  led  him  to  realise  their  practical 
worthlessness.” 
Artificial  manures  never  can  and  never  will  take  the  ])lace  of  good 
farmyard  manure,  because  the  latter  has  other  work  to  do  in  the 
soil  besides  supplying  plants  with  food  ;  but  that  a  judicious  use  of 
the  former,  in  conjunction  with  the  latter,  will  in  most  cases  produce 
better  crops  than  either  used  alone,  is  a  fact  beyond  dispute,  and  many 
are  the  instances  which  have  come  under  our  notice  that  might  be 
brought  forward  to  prove  the  same.  Farmyard  manure  is  slow  and 
lasting  in  its  action;  artificials  act  .quickly,  but  are  none  the  less 
sure. 
What  would  our  Grape,  Cucumber,  Tomato,  Chrysanthemum,  and 
other  plant  growers  do  without  artificial  manures?  Artificial  fertilisers 
now  form  the  backbone  of  successful  culture,  but  brains  are  needed  for 
their  proper  application. 
What  we  should  like  to  see  carried  out  in  practice  is  (1)  Every 
grower  to  be  his  own  manure  mixer  ;  (2)  For  each  of  them  to  know 
exactly  what  his  plants  require ;  and  (3)  To  give  crops  their  most 
appropriate  food.  We  know  many  artificial  manures  on  the  market 
which  are  practically  worthless  ;  but  so  long  as  growers  are  not  able  to 
tell  the  difference  between  a  good  and  a  bad  analysis,  these  merchants 
will  continue  to  flourish. 
Last  year  we  had  a  labourer  working  for  us  who  did  not  believe  in 
the  use  of  artificial  manures,  and  was  not  afraid  of  saying  so.  When 
we  gave  our  Tomatoes  their  first  dressing  he  smiled  at  what  I  suppose 
he  considered  our  foolishness;  but  long  before  we  gave  the  plants  their 
last  feed,  he  said:  “Well,  I  never  used  to  believe  in  them  there 
artificials,  but  I  do  now;”  and  this,  to  my'  mind,  is  a  sufficient  proof 
that  they  are  of  more  value  than  “  A.  D.”  would  have  us  suppose. 
— W.  Dyke. 
(To  be  continued.! 
UROEOOHARIS  CLIBRANI. 
This  plant  (“  K.  P.  J.'’)  was  first  shown  at  the  Drill  Hall  by  !vlessrs. 
Clibran  &  Sons,  Altrincham,  in  1892,  and  was  the  re.snlt  of  a  cross 
between  Eucharis  granditlora  and  Urceolina  pendula.  The  individual 
flowers,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  accompanying  woodcut  (lig.  30),  bear  a 
resemblance  to  both  parents.  They  are  borne  in  umbels  on  strong  stalks 
similar  to  the  Eucharis,  and,  unlike  the  Urceolina,  are  erect  on  first 
expanding,  drooping  slightly  when  past  their  best.  Being  pure  white 
Fict.  30. — Urceocharis  Clibeani. 
and  extremely  beautiful  in  appearance,  the  flowers  prove  valuable  for 
decorative  purposes.  The  leaves  are  broad  and  as  vigorous  as  those  of 
the  Eucharis. 
APRICOT  STOCKS. 
Allow  me  to  thank  “  W.  S."  for  his  excellent  critique  on  page  121, 
to  which  I  should  have  responded  sooner,  but  for  the  “  hope  deferred”  of 
some  of  our  fruit  tree  raisers  giving  us  the  benefit  of  their  experience  in 
the  matter  of  stocks  for  this  really  choice  wall  fruit.  Of  course  several 
manufacturers  of  fruit  trees  for  sale  know  little  practically  of  Ajiricots 
beyond  the  saleable  article,  but  there  are  many  exceptions  to  almost  all 
general  rules  ;  not  a  few  of  our  fruit  nurserymen  having  growm  or 
attempted  to  grow  Apricots  against  the  walls  of  their  buildings,  if  not  on 
walls  specially  constructed  for  the  purpose.  The  late  Mr.  J.  R.  Pearson 
went  so  far  as  to  endeavour  to  grow  Apricots  in  glazed  sheds,  but  I  am 
not  aware  with  what  success,  hence  the  present  representatives  of  the 
famous  fruit-growing,  as  well  as  ‘fruit-tree  raising  firm,  may  possibly 
oblige  with  a  few  notes  on  the  subject  of  both  young  trees  on  certain 
stocks  in  the  nursery,  and  of  their  doings  when  placed  in  the  permanent 
fruiting  quarters. 
