CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1826, 20 March 1884, Page 4

CHEMICAL FERTILIZERS.

If ani&rtificial mixtuo can bo prepared fchiit will answer as wfll for the growth and .maturity of plants as does naturally 1 fertile, "soil, then we will know that we are cognizant of the siiltstances which take part iv the phenomena of plant --growth. Snch an end could only have been arrived at from expeiimental dita ; ami systematic experiments fiom the standpoint bf science have conclusively shown exactly what elements and compounds take part in plant nutrition and growth ; what influence the several substances seem to have ; and which are present in the soil in abundance, as opposed to those which aie likely to have to bo applied artificially. The3e last must of necessity be the essential constituents of a " complete fertilizer." Without going much into details, I will state some of the results obtained by growing planti in artificially prepared soil mediums. The soil is composed of three classes of sbustances or matter. The inert matter of the soil performs simply the mechanical function of supportiug the plants, therefore it could bring no error into the work if pure sand, clay, or other inert matter be used in the manufacture of tiie artificial soil.

WATER CULTURE. But the experiments of water culture dispensed with even these natural ingredients. A solution known as ••'Wolff's Solution" is generally used in the propagation of plants by water culture. Its composition is, is follows :—

This solution was diluted from 7<3 to 150 tunes when used, so that on the average there was only about one part of solids, to say 1,300 of water. Thu seed was suspended ftom a coik near the surface of the water, and the Btem sustained in an upright position dining its growth, by mechanical supports. Many uxpeiuncnts were made with vaiymg success, owing to the difficulty of observing all of the essential conditions neccssaiy to imitate normal plant growth. The solution was changed quite frequently, as othuwise the solid matter might easily become cv hausted of some one or moie of its in gradients, .and thus viti.ite the reliability of the conclusions Proper teinperattnc 1 , ventilation and llluiniuatmn aie \itally essential, so that we may easily realize the difficulty of fulfilling nil of the conditions necessary foi pl.mt giowth in an artifically prepaied medium. Yet it has been done, and the results are most satisfactory. According to Johnson, Wolff produced a maize plant five and tlnce-foiuths feet high, and equal in every respect, ab legards size, to plants from similar seed cultivated in the field. The eais weie, however, not fully developed when the expei iment was interrupted by the plant becoming unhealthy. With the oats Ins success was better. Fonr plants weie brought to matin ity, having iorby-six stems and 1,r>33 well developed seeds. In similar experiments, Nabbe, John son says, obtained buckwheat plants six to seven feet high bearing 300 plump and perfect seeds, and a barley stool with twenty giain-beaiing stalks. Also Biiner and Lucanus m 1804 raised oat plants in well water, which, in respect to entiie weight, weie moic than half as heavy as plants that grew simultaneously in gai den soil, and as legaids seed pioduction, fully equalled the latter. An analysis of the watei showed the following composition :—: — Paits in 100,000 Potash . . 2.10 Lime, "xlO Magnesia, 1. ~>o Phobphouc Acid, .!<> Sulphuric Acid, 7. ~>o Nitric Acid, 0,00 Silica, chlorine and fen ie oxide, tiaces, Totil solid-,, . 32.36 Water, . ()1.%7.n4 Total, . 100,000,00 Of course, in liquids containing such minute quantities t of solid matter they must be frequently changed, or else the composition kept noitnal by supplying the material absti acted by the gi owing pi vnt, and the loss of water by evaporati)ii. The above is sufficient to show that the chemist can combine Rubstance ftom his laboratory in such a manner as to furnish all necessary food for plant giowth and fruiting. The fact that the soil contains all these substances in substantially the Bame form as the chemist has used them with the fact that other substances which were experimented with had no appreciable effect on the giowth of the plant, leave us justified in saying, and it is undoubtedly tine, that tlie&e aie the substances which administer to and govern plaut growth. It is advi&ablc to know whether it is ever necessary to Mipply the soil with any one or more of these substances. In other \\ ords, can the reserves of the soil invariably furnish active matter m sufficient quantities to supply the necessary plant food for maximum annual crops ? Tins question has been answered in the negative, and <-o conclusively as to leave the the intelligent agriculturist no alternative than to supply his soil with a requisite amount of nitrogen, sulphuuc acid, lime and potash. This question was settled by taking sods or solutions containing, as determined by chemical analysis, every thing necessaiy to plaut growth except the substance under examination, and noting theciop : then all the conditions weie maintained as they were, this substance added, and the return noted. By varying the amounts of the diffeient substances used, and the composition of the soil or liquid, almost infinite conditions of causation \\ ci c obtained, and the results, when collectively studied, all point to the four substances I have named as being the essential Ingredients of complete fertili/ceis.

The relative profit of theology and politics in England may be seen in Hie fact that Rev. Stephen Gladstone receives more from his rectory of Ha ward en than his father does fcr his services as Piime Minister. Pjjrhaps the most sti iking application of luminous paint is the painting of the mariner's compass on board ship, b> which means it isiendeied cleaily visible and the course can he ea&ily kept should the lamp be estingnished. Onk of the gieatest attractions for strangers who visit Washington City is a coloured Catholic Church, one of the most costly in the city, and resting on a financial basis. The choir, all coloured, is regarded by the best judges as equal to that of any other city in the country. Tiie spirit of business in England sometimes causes strange results. As an example of its extremes, a North Country shipowner is cited who sold his sailing vessel to his sons and then competed with them with steameis. Ix the whole Russian Empire of nearly 100,000.000 persons there are only 77G journals and periodicals of all kinds. Eighty-two of these are government gazettes, and forty-tour are organs^of the ecclesiastical authorities. The mourning for the late Queen of Madagascar lasted about two months, and was not of the severe kind of olden times. This time the people were only forbidden to plait their hair, wear hats, carry umbrellas, or to build much, or to weave cloths. In former times the mourning lasted at least a year, and everybody's hair was shaven close to the ije&d, women's m wel),

Part-, in 1.000 1. Phosphoric acid, 2. Lime, 3. Potash, .. 4. M.ignesia, 5. Sulphuric Acid, . . 0. Chlorine, 7. Nitric Acid, 8 281 10.JJ70 0.134 1. 103 2.211 .883 29.703 Total solids. 8. Water, «l 07-> 038. (L'B Total, 1.000.000