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JOURNAL  OF  nORTTCULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
March  10,  1904. 
s.  d-  s. 
White  Cloud  Stock.  (See  page  215). 
Artificial  Manures  in  the  Garden. 
BY  J.  J.  WILLIS. 
HERE  is  no  question  ot  f^reater  importance  to  the  present- 
day  gardener  than  that  of  jndicioiisly  feeding  or 
manuring  his  crops.  In  ordei-  tliat  the  Jiorticnltnral 
industry  may  be  suecesstnl  it  is  not  enongli  to  laise 
plants,  it  is  iiecessaT'y  that  their  production  shall  resnlt 
in  a  genuine  profit.  IMany  gardeners  are  able  to  accomplish 
this  object  because  of  the  knowledge  they  have  acquired  through 
long  years  of  experience  j'ather  than  l)ecause  they  posse.ssed  in 
the  beginning  of  their  woik  a  definite  knowledge  of  the  funda¬ 
mental  principles  involved  in  plant  growth.  One  of  the  first 
needs  in  the  use  of  artificial  manures  in  the  garden  is  a  more 
or  less  definite  knowledge  of  what  chemical  substances  they 
are  composed,  and  of  the  effect  which  particular  ingredient 
will  have  on  plant  life. 
Chemical  Klements  Needed  by  Plants. 
Careful  studies  and  expei'iments  liave  shown  that  plants 
actually  take  from  tlie  .soil  at  least  ten  chemical  elements  which 
are  required  for  their  normal  growth  and  development,  but 
as  a  general  rule  the  gaixhuier  need  trouble  liimself  about  four 
element.s  only,  viz.,  nitrogtui,  ijhosjjhoric  acid,  potash,  and  lime. 
These  are  the  substances  most  liable  to  be  exhausted  in  tlie 
soil,  because  they  are  taken  up  in  large  amounts  by  the  plants 
that  are  gi'own. 
The  chief  functions  of  manures,  whether  natural  or  artificial, 
is  to  supply  in  an  available  form  eitlier  one  or  more  of  tlie 
essential  elements  of  plant  food.  The  use  of  artificial  manures 
in  horticulture  is  rapidly  increasing;  it  ishould,  therefore,  be 
thoroughly  understood  by  the  gardener  that  these  concentrated 
fertilisers  supply  plant  food  just  as  well  as  ordinary  farmyard 
or  .stable  manure.  The  fact  that  plant  food  exists  in  sub¬ 
stances  other  than  tho.se  ivhich  are  familiar  to  the  gardener 
is  no  evidence  that  it  may  not  be  ju.st  as  good,  oi'  even  better, 
than  when  contained  in  his  home-made,  natural  manures. 
Eor  examjile,  the  nitrogmi  that  may  lie  apiilied  in  the  form 
of  nitrate  of  soda  or  suljihate  of  ammonia  exerts  no  different 
effect  upon  the  life  of  the  plant  than  that  which  may  be 
acquired  from  the  original  .soil  or  from  so-called  natural 
manuri's.  The  same  is  true  of  jihosphoric  acid  and  of  jiotash. 
In  their  concentrated  artificial  form  they  feed  the  plants  in 
exactly  the  same  way,  and  exert  the  same  functions  as  those 
contained  in  the  soils  tliem, selves,  oi'  those  found  in  farniyai'd 
‘ ‘  muck.” 
The  form  in  whicli  plant  food  exists  when  fipifiied  does  not 
necessarily  imply  that  they  ai'e  stimulants  lather  than  food, 
though  frequently,  because  of  their  .solubility,  the  plants  are 
able  to  absorb  them  more  readily,  and  thus,  hy  the  rapidly 
increased  growth,  ejicourage  the  belief  that  an  undue  .stimu¬ 
lating  effect  accompanies  their  u.se. 
P(*rhaps  no  other  singh*  subject  relating  to  horticultui'al 
science  has  ])een  studied  of  recent  yeai’s  more  fully  than  the 
(piestion  of  the  use  of  artificial  nuDiures,  and  these  .studies 
have  resulted  not  o)ily  in  the  di.scovery  of  new  materials,  but 
in  their  better  ])reparation  for  u.se  as  ])iant  food,  which  greatly 
increases  their  effective  u.se  in  the  gai’den.  Experience  lias 
shown  that  even  our  most  fertile  soils  in  their  natural  condi¬ 
tions  contain  too  little  active  food  to  insure  maximum  crops 
of  tlie  best  quality.  In  the.se  times  earliness  and  edible 
quality  of  the  vegetables  the  gardener  cultivates  must 
be  the  important  factors  that  determine  the  cour.se  to 
be  pursued. 
Earmyard  and  .stable  manure  meet  the  needs  of  most 
garden  crops,  inasmuch  as  practically  perfect  fruit, 
flowers,  and  vegetables  are  grown  by  good  cultivation 
with  dung  alone,  but  under  the  present  .system  of 
rai.sing  crops  “  out  of  season,”  the  question  arises 
whether  the  same  results  cannot  be  attained  more 
economically  by  the  assistance  of  artificial  mannres, 
which,  again,  can  be  msed  to  meet  certain  special  diffi¬ 
culties  of  .soil  and  situation  in  a  manner  that  would 
otherwi.se  be  impos.sible.  In  the  fir.st  place  farmyard 
manure  is  bulky,  and  slow  in  its  action. 
In  the  secomi  place,  the  fertility  elements  contained 
in  it  are  not  in  tlie  best  proportions.  As  a  rule,  dung 
is  poor  in  phos])horic  acid,  potash,  and  lime,  and  rich 
in  nitrogen,  and  its  use  in  .sufficient  amounts  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  plant  for  the  mineral  element.s  results 
in  a  waste  of  nitrogen.  Third,  the  constituents  con¬ 
tained  in  dung  are  not  in  sufficiently  active  form  to 
provide  rajiid  and  continuous  growth  without  an  exces¬ 
sive  application,  which  frequently  results  in  the  case  of 
many  plants  of  an  abnormal  growth  of  vines  or  stalks. 
Eor  many  garden  crops  economical  production  re¬ 
quires  that  the  natural  manures  should  be  supplemented  by 
artificial  fertilisers ;  in  this  way  the  form  and  amount  of  the 
individual  constituents  can  be  regulated  to  meet  the  needs  of 
different  plants. 
It  may  be  said  that  profit  from  the  use  of  concentrated 
forms  of  plant  food  is  measured  to  a  large  degree  by  the  per¬ 
fection  ot  soil  conditions,  which  usually  are  entirely  within 
the  power  of  the  gardener  to  control. 
Nitrogenous  Fertilisers, 
Nitrogenous  Eertilisers.  —  Those  manures  which  have 
nitrogen  as  their  predominating  element  generally  promote 
gi’owth  and  vegetative  development  of  the  plant,  leaf,  and  shoot 
rather  than  flowers  and  fruit.  Nitrogen  is  the  most  expensive 
comstituent  of  manures,  and  all  things  considered  must  certainly 
l)e  reckoned  as  one  of  the  mo.st  mseful,  becamse  no  plant  is  ever 
produced  without  an  available  supply  of  this  element.  The 
form  in  which  nitrogen  exists  in  vegetable  and  animal  matter 
is  called  the  “  organic  form.”  This  term  as  applied  to  nitrogen 
covers  a  whole  series  of  snlrstances,  and  does  not  indicate  a 
uniformity,  either  in  content  or  quality  of  the  nitrogen,  as  in 
the  case  with  artificial  manures;  hence,  associated  with  the 
knowledge  of  form  of  nitiogen,  when  it  exists  in  organic  pro¬ 
ducts — such  as  guano,  dried  blood,  bonemeal,  shoddy,  Ac. — 
must  be  a  knowledge  of  whether  the  material  contains  a  very 
considerable  amount  of  nitrogen,  and  whether  it  is  likely  to 
be  readily  changed  and  thus  become  available  as  food  for 
plants. 
Guano. — This  material  when  pure  is  certainly  one  of  the 
mo.st  valuable  of  the  nitrogenous  fertili.sers.  Average  samples 
contain  from  5  to  8  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  from  20  to  35 
per  cent,  phosphate  of  lime.  It  is  e.stimated  th.at  1^  tons  of 
nitrogenous  guano  is  equal  to  about  thirty-three  tons  of 
average  farmyard  manure,  the  nitrogen  of  the  guano  being 
much  more  active  than  that  contained  in  dung.  OAving  to  the 
very  excellent  results  that  were  obtained  from  the  eai'ly  use  of 
Peruvian  guanos,  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  improve 
the  lower  grades  obtainable  at  the  present  day  by  addition 
of  .sulphate  of  ammonia,  Ac. 
The.se  rectified  guanos,  while  containing  nitrogen  in  good 
forms,  cannot  entirely  substitute  the  original  guanos  owing  to 
the  impossibility  of  adding  ingredients  identical  with  those 
existing  in  the  natural  product.  The  fact  that  nitjogenous 
guanos  gave  such  good  results  is  an  evidence  of  the  advantage 
of  introducing  different  forms  into  artificial  mixtures.  At  the 
present  time  we  liave  ‘‘ be.st  guano,”  “  fi.sh  guano,”  &c.  Tlie.so 
products  are  inferior  to  Peruvian  guano  in  their  content  of 
nitrogen,  though  they  are  capital  manures,  and  give  excellent 
results  with  jilants  growing  in  ])ots,  or  to  outdoor  plants  in 
early  .spring,  when  cro])s  naturally  find  a  difficulty  in  obtaining 
suiijilies  of  nitrogen  from  the  soil. 
Sulphate  of  Ammonia  contains  about  21  per  cent,  of 
nitrogen.  It  is  one  of  the  most  concentrated  forms  in  Avhich 
ammonia  can  be  used,  and  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most 
active  and  readily  available,  although  its  ammonia  has^  to  he 
converted  into  nitrates  by  means  of  the  micro-bi-ganisms  of  the 
.soil,  before  the  plants  can  use  it.  Sulphate  of  ammonia  mixes 
veil  with  bonemeal,  wood  ashes,  potash  salts,  and  superphos¬ 
phates.  Some  extensive  growers  of  Grapes  have  reported  that 
they  get  better  coloured  fruit,  and  better  quality,  with  ammonia 
than  with  nitrate  of  .soda,  provided  there  is  no  lack  of  mineral 
elements  in  the  .soil,  esiiecially  of  potash  and  lime.  Sulpfiate 
of  ammonia  hi/  ifsrlf  Guids  to  i)i;oduce  leaves.  Ammonia 
is  useful  for  foliage  ])laiits,  and  a  capital  maniu’e  for  Poin- 
settias.  Lettma's  lawimnd  re.adily  to  ammonia. 
