368 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  22,  1903. 
and  when  used  with  discretion,  in  many  localities  far  less 
c.Kpeusive.  'I'he  novice  in  manuring,  and,  it  might  be  added, 
sometimes  tliose  wlio  should  know  better,  are  apt  to 
think  because  a  liberal  apnlication  has  been  of  pronounced 
benefit  in  one  season,  that  a  double  dressing  another  year 
will  produce  a  return  equivalent  in  value.  This  by  no  means 
follows,  and  is  the  most  frequent  cause  of  error  and  waste.  A 
heavy  application  of  farmyard  manure  will  pi*ovide  in  some 
soils  sufficient  nutriment  for  two  or  three  years’  cropping, 
especially  when  supplemented  by  properly  blended  fer¬ 
tilisers.  On  the  other  hand  there  are  thin  lands  overlying 
chalk  or  gravel,  into  which  it  is  almost  impossible  to  cram 
too  much  manure  year  after  year  if  large  and  remunerative 
crops  are  to  be  taken  from  them. 
Nitrate  of  soda  and  sulphate  of  ammonia  are  the  two 
nitrogenous  agents  chiefly  used.  If  large,  succulent  Cab¬ 
bages,  tender  Cauliflowers,  crisp,  full-grown  stems  of  Celery 
or  vegetables  of  a  similar  character  are  desired,  doses  of  one 
or  the  other  of  these  may  be  given  at  intervals  of  a  fortnight 
at  the  rate  of  half-an-ounce  to  an  ounce  per  square  yard,  or 
half-a-pound  to  a  pound  per  rod.  It  is  not  advisable  do 
repeat  the  dressings  too  often,  two  or  three  times  in  the 
course  of  the  growing  period  usually  being  found  sufficient. 
Plants  grown  in  beds  or  ]iots,  for  tlieir  flowers,  need  still 
greater  care  if  either  the  nitrate  or  sulphate  is  given.  If  it 
is  desired  to  have  gross  coarse  leafage  with  a  corresponding 
paucity  of  bloom,  the  plants  may  have  as  much  as  they  will 
bear  with  impunity.  But  as  this  is  not,  in  a  general  way,  the 
object  of  cultivators,  it  is  best  to  adhere  to  the  half-ounce  per 
yard  for  border  plants  and  half  an  ounce  or  less  per  gallon 
of  water  for  those  growing  in  pots.  Two  or  three  applica¬ 
tions  in  the  course  of  a  season  will  generally  suffice  in  pro¬ 
ducing  that  healthy  appearance  so  much  admired. 
As  is  now  well  recognised,  the  two  fertilisers  so  far  men¬ 
tioned  as  nothing,  or,  at  least,  little  more  than  stimulants, 
both  capable  of  supplying  plants  with  material  of  a  growth¬ 
exciting  nature,  usually  at  the  expense  of  solidity  and 
stamina.  Having  considered  tnis,  it  is  easier  to  understand 
how  vegetables  quickly  and  highly  developed  by  means  of 
either  agent  are  made  tender  and  unfit  to  withstand  the 
rigours  of  wintry  weather.  The  continuous  cold  and  wet  we 
so  frequently  experience,  causes  the  weak  tissues  to  quickly 
become  a  prey  to  damp  and  decay,  or  harsh  cutting  winds 
cause  the  plants  to  collapse,  thus  opening  up  the  way  for 
speedy  decomposition. 
We  have  here  room  for  the  exercise  of  considerable  dis¬ 
cretion  on  the  part  of  the  cultivator.  There  is  the  possibility 
of  greatly  increasing  the  bulk  of  a  crop,  and  also  of  hastening 
its  early  maturity  by  the  aid  of  nitrogenous  manures.  And 
for  such  plants  as  become  marketable  in  summer  and  autumn, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  the  wisdom  in  using  them.  But 
when  it  becomes  a  question  of  those  which  must  pass  through 
the  winter,  taking  late  Celery  or  spring  Broccoli  as  examples, 
there  is  not  only  danger  from  their  use  in  the  loss  of  produce, 
but  also  great  loss  in  the  waste  of  valuable  material,  which 
would  with  advantage  be  applied  at  a  more  opportune 
season. 
Mention  must  now  be  made  of  two  very  different  ingre¬ 
dients  of  manures — phosphates  and  potash.  Without  these, 
in  some  form  or  other,  no  manure  is  worthy  the  name.  We 
are  often  told  by  writers  that  nearly  all  cultivated  land 
contains  sufficient  potash.  Yet,  while  admitting  there  may 
be  no  lack  of  truth  in  such  a  statement,  there  can  Idc  no  doubt 
as  to  the  benefit  derivable  from  an  application — especially  to 
fruit  trees  that  have  been  some  years  in  bearing — of  some 
form  of  readily  soluble  potash.  It  is  not  needful  here  to 
enter  into  the  merits  of  sulphate  compared  with  muriate  of 
potash,  or  both,  as  against  kainit.  The  latter  for  many  pur¬ 
poses  is  a  cheap  and  excellent  medium,  but  having  seen  the 
advantages  derived  from  the  free  use  of  the  sulphate  when 
added  to  bonerneal  or  superphosphate,  I  should  in  nearly  all 
cases  advocate  its  use  in  preference  to  the  others. 
This  brings  us  to  the  now  everyday  use  of  combinations 
of  these  manures.  When  we  know  what  can  be,  and  has 
been,  done  by  their  aid  in  conjunction  with  moderate  dress¬ 
ings  of  farmyard  manure,  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  contem¬ 
plating  the  wastefulness,  on  the  one  hand,  of  cramming  land 
with  dung,  and,  on  the  other,  of  allowing  it  to  remain 
impoverished  and  unremunerative  for  lack  of  proper  feeding. 
There  is  another  cause  of  waste  to  which  the  inexperienced 
cultivator  may  easi..v  lay  himself  open.  He  finds  great 
benefit  to  his  crops  by  an  a>-inlication  of  artificial  manure, 
and  is  so  well  satisfied  that  he  determines  to  double  the  dose 
next  year.  It  by  no  means  follows  that  his  subsequent  crops 
will  be  increased  in  a  like  ratio.  Indeed,  there  may  be  no 
increase  Avhatever  over  the  preceding  season,  and  here  again 
we  have  a  reason  for  proceeding  cautiously  if  we  are  wisely 
and  economically  to  make  use  of  the  good  things  that  lie  to 
our  hands. 
In  many  gardens  there  are  beds  and  borders  containing 
herbaceous  plants  or  Roses,  in  vieAv  of  or  in  close  proximity 
to  the  wdndoAvs  of  the  dwelling.  It  is  not  desirable,  owing 
to  the  offence  against  more  than  one  sense,  to  apply  heavy 
dressings  of  manure  of  a  strong  nature  to  these;  and  yet,  if 
they  become  poverty  stricken,  light  dressings  of  crumbling, 
thoroughly  decomposed  material  are  of  little  benefit.  In 
such  cases  I  have  seen  great  improvement  arise  both  in 
the  appearance  of  the  plants  and  the  quality  of  the  flowers 
produced,  by  the  use  of  a  very  simple  formula.  Three  parts 
of  superphosphate  to  one  of  sulphate  of  potash,  given  in 
spring  to  Rose  beds  after  pruning  (about  the  same  time  is 
suitable  for  plants  in  mixed  borders  and  beds),  given  at  the 
rate  of  4ozs  or  5ozs  to  the  square  yard,  with  loz  of  nitrate  of 
soda  spread  over  the  same  area  when  the  plants  have  fairly 
commenced  growth  will  frequently  assist  in  a  Avonderful 
manner.  It  is  seldom  advisable  to  mix  nitrate  with  the  other 
manures.  The  dressing  may  be  repeated  in  the  course. of  a 
season. 
There  is  nothing  complicated  about  such  a  mixture  as  the 
above,  and  there  is  nothing  offensive  in  its  application  ;  its 
efficacy  has  on  many  occasions  been  proved.  That  there  is 
nothing,  or  very  little,  left  over  from  one  season  to  another 
in  the  earth  is  admitted  ;  but  the  repetition  is  an  easy  and 
certainly  not  a  troublesome  or  expensive  matter.  The  same 
cannot  be  said  of  carting  farmyard  manure. 
No  article  of  this  description  can  be  said  to  be  complete 
which  omits  to  include  lime.  So  much  has  been  of  late 
written  of  the  part  this  substance  plays  in  scientific  manuring 
that  but  little  need  be  added  here.  We  knoAv  that  it  has  a 
most  beneficent  action  upon  many  soils,  especially  those  of  a 
strong,  heavy  character.  It  is  also  an  efficient  cox’rective  for 
those  which  have  been  overcrammed  with  rank  food.  Though 
it  always  seems  to  me  a  pitiful  waste  to  so  charge  land  with 
manure  that  lime  has  to  be  brought  into  use  as  medicine. 
All  who  have  given  this  subject  of  manuring  deep  con¬ 
sideration  will  agree  that  we  owe  a  heavy  debt  to  those  Avho 
for  many  years  have  worked  with  unwearied  zeal  in  carrying 
out  experiments  both  in  public  and  private  ;  also  for  the 
interesting  and  informing  reports  that  from  time  to  time 
have  been  published  in  this  connection. — Provincial. 
Symbiotic  Bacteria. 
-  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  nitrogen  is  essential  to  plant 
life.  The  insectivorous  plants,  however,  can  take-  nitrogen  in 
the  form  of  animal  substance,  and,  by  the  secretive  action  of 
glands,  absorb  the  nitrogenous  matter  necessary  to  their  require¬ 
ments.  After  a  series  of  investigations  with  soil  bacteria,  a 
Russian  experimenter.  Professor  Winogradsky,  isolated  a  little 
circular  shaped  body,  commonly  labelled  by  bacteriologists 
Microcei,  and  he  found  that  this  “microbe’’  was  able  to  convert 
ammonia  into  nitrous  acid ;  but  further  investigations  found 
another  little  body,  a  co-worker,  that  took  the  resulting  nitrous 
acid,  or  nitrite  stage,  and  elaborated  it  into  a  nitrate,  thereby 
fixing  the  free’  nitrogen  into  the  only  assimilable  condition  for 
the  plant. 
Professor  Nobbe  made  cultures  of  the  varied  symbiotic  fungi 
found  on  different  Leguminosse,  and  Avhen  he  applied  the  bac¬ 
teria  of  one  leguminous  plant  to  a  seedling  of  another  type,  the 
result  showed  that  the  plant  did  not  gain  to  any  appreciable 
extent ;  but  AAffien  supplied  Avith  a  culture  of  Us  own  kind,  the 
broad  result  AV’as  that  the  plant  made  a  very  fine  growth.  This 
Avould  suggest  that  the  plant  had  no  repellant  force ;  yet  at  the 
same  time  the  action  of  those  nitrifying  organisms  wmuld  suggest 
an  action  of  affinity,  seeing  that  one  microbian  form  assists  a 
species  of  plant,  while  another  has  no  influence.  A  belief  is 
current  that  the  plant  has  an  inherent  poAver  to  facilitate  the 
Avork  of  special  organisms,  and  this  is  more  probable  than  the 
idea  of  those  bacteria  roaming  through  the  soil  in  search  for  a 
Legume.  If  it  can  be  effectively  ansAA’ered  that  the  plants  have 
some  characteristic  of  their  OAvn  to  attract  the  microbian  member, 
an  additional  curious  poAver  in  vegetation  can  be  chronicled ; 
but  if  the  conditions  for  their  short-liA^ed  activity  be  purely  a 
mechanical  one — a  question  of  soil  texture — then  a  broader  field 
for  these  microbian  types  can  be  ensured,  and  a  great  poAver  will 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  horticulturists.  Lntil  these  aspects 
of  the  problem  have^  been  determined  in  the  laboratory,  the 
question  of  practically  applying  bacterial  cultures  to  the  soil 
(as  by  the  application  of  nitragin)  cannot  be  determined. — 
A.  O’Neill. 
