JOtJRNAL  OF  ffORTtOlfLFbRF  COTTjiGF  OARDFNER. 
583 
December  17,  1896. 
Uoste. — Calval  sent  out  this  seedline:  in  the  spring  of  the  present 
i  yoai.  The  habit  of  growth  is  desirable.  Full  sized  blooms  are  procurable 
on  plants  3  feet  high.  The  strap-shaped  florets  are  regular  in  develop¬ 
ment,  pure  white  ground,  faintly  lined,  edged  and  flushed  pmrple,  the 
whole  cbaneing  to  pure  white  with  age. 
L' Emindra. — Another  of  Mons.  Cal  vat's  present  year  introductions. 
The  blooms  are  extremely  well  formed  ;  the  almost  flat  florets  droop  at 
the  point  most  gracefully.  The  colour,  ivory  white,  is  faintly  flushed 
with  salmon.  The  habit  of  growth  is  dwarf.  The  plants  are  well 
clothed  with  foliage.  If  this  variety  grows  large  enough  it  will  be  a 
valuable  addition  to  the  list  of  any  exhibitor. — E.  ^^olyneux. 
(To  bi  continued.) 
DEATH  OF  MR.  CHARLES  PROSPER  VAN  GEERT. 
With  much  regret  we  have  to  announce  the  death  of  one  of  the  oldest 
and  most  highly  esteemed  of  Belgian  horticulturists,  . Mr.  Charles  Prosper 
Van  Geart  of  Antwerp.  The  deceased  gentleman  had  long  suffered  from 
a  bronchial  affection,  but  early  last  year  was  the  victim  of  a  paralytic 
seizure,  rendering  his  left  side  practically  useless,  but  fortunately  not 
affecting  the  brain,  and  he  was  able  for  a  long  time  to  indulge  in  his 
favourite  pursuit  of  reading  in  various  languages,  iucluding  the 
English,  and  he  had  Macaulay’s  Essays  nearly  “  off  by  heart.”  Mr. 
Van  Geert,  however,  never  seems  to  have  recovered  from  the  attack  of 
last  year,  and  of  late  gradually  became  worse,  dying  on  the  12th  inst. 
in  his  eightieth  year.  We  last  saw  him  in  the  spring  of  1894,  shortly 
after  the  portrait  (fig.  99j  was  taken.  He  was  in  all  respects  a  most 
excellent  man,  and  with  all  his  knowledge  and  ability  wore,  so  to  say, 
his  heart  on  his  sleeve,  making  him  particularly  loveable.  An  outline 
sketch  of  his  career  appeared  in  our  pages  a  few  years  ago,  and  that 
part  of  it  relating  to  the  early  Dahlia  days  attracted  considerable  atten¬ 
tion.  It  may,  perhaps,  be  republished.  In  the  meantime  the  many 
English  friends  of  the  Van  Geert  family  will  join  with  ns  in  expressions 
of  sincere  condolence  in  their  great  bereavement.  Mr.  Van  Geert  was  a 
Chemlier  de  I'Ordre  de  Leopold,  and  a  member  of  council  of  the  leading 
horticultaral  societies  in  Belgium. 
THE  PREPARATION  OF  FARMYARD  MANURE. 
The  term  farmyard  manure  is  a  convenient  one,  as  it  embraces  not 
one  kind  of  manure  only,  but  a  mixture  of  several.  This  is  a  decided 
advantage  in  a  general  way,  because  manures  vwy  in  qsality  and  power 
to  decompose  readily.  Horse  manure,  for  instance,  heats  very  rapidly, 
and  is  liable  to  great  loss  of  valuable  substances  from  this  cause  alone. 
Cow  manure  is  of  a  cold,  watery  nature,  and  ferments  slowly.  A  mixture 
of  the  two,  however,  is  an  excellent  way  of  modifying,  on  the  one  hand, 
the  rapid  fermentation  of  horse  manure,  and  of  increasing  that  of  cow 
manure.  The  influence  of  both  combined,  therefore,  brings  about  a 
steady  fermentation  of  the  whole,  which  largely  prevents  loss  of  volatile 
and  valuable  material. 
Typical  farmyard  manure  will  usually  be  composed  of  an  admixture 
of  horse,  cow,  fowl,  and  pig  manure,  mixed  with  litter.  According  to 
Warrington  farmyard  manure  contains  of  the  three  important  plant 
foods — nitrogen,  potash,  and  phosphoric  acid — 10  to  15  lbs,  per  ton  of 
nitrogen,  the  same  amount  of  potash,  and  4  to  9  lbs,  per  ton  of  phosphoric 
acid,  with  65  to  80  per  cent,  of  water. 
Farmyard  manure  in  fermenting  is  liable  to  loss,  especially  if  the 
temperature  rise  too  high.  McConnell  considers  86°  Fahr.  as  the  best 
temperature  to  carry  ou  fermentation  without  loss  to  the  material.  The 
experience  of  gardeners  also  shows  that  this  temperature  in  hotbeds,  or 
wherever  manurial  ingredients  are  undergoing  decomposition,  is  a  safe 
and  reliable  one.  A  higher  temperature,  long  continued,  will  certainly 
spoil  the  quality  of  the  manure,  and  it  might  injure  the  growth  of 
plants,  seedlings,  or  cuttings.  A  much  higher  temperature  fdt  short 
periods  does  no  harm,  provided  it  is  checked  by  turning  and  mixing. 
When  manure  becomes  too  hot  and  dry  one  of  the  greatest  losses  is 
that  of  free  nitrogen,  which  passes  away  with  the  moisture.  There  is 
also  a  considerable  loss  of  ammonia  carbonate,  which  can  be  readily 
detected  by  the  smell,  but  the  amount  is  not  so  large  as  that  of  nitrogen. 
These  losses  from  manure  heaps  should  be  prevented.  It  can  be  done  in 
several  ways — by  frequently  turning  the  material  to  prevent  violent 
heating  in  one  part,  while  in  another  there  is  no  fermentation ;  con¬ 
solidating  the  manure  by  treading,  or  placing  layers  of  soil  between  the 
manure  as  it  is  collected  together.  The  escaping  ammonia  may  also  be 
fixed  by  sprinkling  cheap  superphosphate  or  gypsum  upon  it  whenever 
fresh  manure  is  added. 
The  application  of  layers  ‘  earth  has  been  proved  by  some  American 
experiments  to  reduce  the  loss  of  nitrogen  to  2  per  cent,  from  what  it 
was  when  the  manure  was  not  protected,  and  to  favour  the  additional 
formation  of  it  to  18  per  cent. 
When  losses  from  the  manure  are  prevented  there  is  a  change  effected 
In  the  ammonia,  which  is  changed  from  ammonia  carbonate — an 
extremely  volatile  element — into  ammonia  sulphate,  which  is  not 
volatile.  Both  forms,  however,  are  soluble. 
The  best  method  of  preparing  manure  for  use  upon  the  land  is,  when 
practicable,  by  allowing  the  animals  themselves,  especially  in  the  case  of 
fattening  bullocks,  to  consolidate  it  as  made  In  the  feeding  boxes,  letting 
it  remain  to  accumulate.  It  may  do  so  to  the  extent  of  2  or  S  feet  if 
there  is  a  sunken  floor  2  feet  deep.  Each  day  add  a  little  fresh  bedding 
material,  and  a  sprinkling  of  chemical  manure  as  a  “  fixer  ”  to  prevent 
the  loss  of  ammonia.  When  the  manure  is  to  be  used  on  heavy  or  medium 
soil  the  best  substances  for  fixing  purposes  are  cheap  superphosphate 
or  gypsum,  but  for  light  soils  use  kainit.  The  latter  is  a  potassic  manure, 
and  light  soils  need  more  potash  than  heavy  soils,  especially  if  largely 
composed  of  sand,  which  is  usually  deficient  in  potash.  The  amount  of 
fixer  per  day  per  animal  may  be  1  { lb.,  sprinkling  it  on  the  manure  before 
laying  down  fresh  litter.  It  may  be  thought  that  this  system  is  open  to 
objections  of  a  serious  character,  involving  defiance  of  sanitary  laws,  but 
this  has  not  been  found  to  be  the  case. 
The  manure  from  fattening  animals  is  usually  so  much  richer  than 
that  from  others  that  it  is  worth  some  special  effort  to  secure  it  in  per¬ 
fect  condition  when  decomposed.  The  reason  for  its  superiority  is  that 
fattening  animals  are  fed  on  rich  food,  from  which  they  only  take  small 
quantities  of  nutrition  as  compared  with  poor  or  young  animals,  which 
EIG.  99. — MR.  CHABliES  PROSPER  VAN  GEERT. 
need  and  abstract  all  the  nourishment  possible  from  the  food  they  take- 
Hence  we  find  that  all  young  animals  produce  comparatively  poor 
manure,  because  the  substances  which  influence  the  fertilising  value  of 
manure  have  been  extracted  to  a  large  extent  in  building  up  the  animal 
frame.  Cows  in  milk  for  the  same  reason  give  manure  of  low  fertilising 
value,  a  large  per-centage  of  phosphoric  acid  and  nitrogen  having  been 
monopolised  in  the  production  of  milk,  young  animals  using  it  largely 
for  formation  of  bone. 
The  solid  part  of  manure  is  simply  the  undigested  food  given  off  by 
the  animal.  The  liquid  part  is  urine,  which  is  chiefly  composed  of  nitro¬ 
genous  waste  of  body,  but  it  also  contains  impurities  in  the  form  chiefly 
of  calcium  compounds  or  chalky  matter.  The  difference  between  liquid 
and  solid  manure  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  former  very  readily  decom¬ 
poses,  consequently  supplies  available  plant  food  in  a  short  time.  It  is 
rich  in  potash,  and  also  contains  other  ash  constituents.  Solid  parts  of 
manure  require  time  to  decompose  in  order  that  the  food  contained  may 
be  available.  Solid  manure  is  also  of  value  because  of  the  humus  it 
forms,  which  increases  the  physical  power  of  soils. —  A  KENTISH 
Gardener. 
Imports  op  Mexican  Oranges. — The  export  of  Oranges  from 
Mexico  to  the  United  States  is  rapidly  assuming  the  proportions  of 
an  immense  business,  as  reported  by  our  Mexican  exchanges.  Up  to 
last  year  not  more  than  100  carloads  of  Oranges  per  season  came  to  us 
from  Mexico.  In  consequence  of  the  shortage  caused  by  the  freezing 
of  the  Florida  crop  dealers,  looking  over  the  field  for  Oranges,  turned  to 
Mexico  for  heavy  .supplies  with  which  to  fill  this  shortage.  During  1895 
there  were  shipped  from  Mexico  into  the  United  States  400  carloads  of 
Oranges,  and  it  is  predicted,  as  the  result  of  a  close  estimate,  that 
Oranee  imports  to  this  country  from  Mexico  during  1896  will  aggregate 
from  700  to  1000  carloads.  The  great  majority  of  these  shipments  will 
be  made  by  five  dealers  now  in  the  Republic.  One  Chicago  firm  has 
just  commenced  shipping  from  Jalapa  and  Cordova  in  bulk,  their  cars 
being  arranged  with  trays  to  prevent  injury  to  the  fruit  in  transporta¬ 
tion.  It  is  expected  that  this  Mexican  trade  will  become  a  permanent 
industry,  as  even  when  Florida  Oranges  again  find  their  way  into 
market  they  will  not  compete  with  the  Mexican  fruit. — (“  California 
Fruit  Grower.”) 
