The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade . h aregenerally present in the soil in sufBcientquantities to supply the plant with therequired amount. Potassium is anotherelement found in soils which is verynecessary. It is widely distributed asa constituent of some feldspars andmicas. Sodium, which is the base of common salt, is also widely distributed;it very much resembles potassium as achemical element, but can in no sensetake its place in plant life. Iron isalways present in the soil in sufficientquantities for the plant. It would be supposed, that to findwhat foods were necessary
The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade . h aregenerally present in the soil in sufBcientquantities to supply the plant with therequired amount. Potassium is anotherelement found in soils which is verynecessary. It is widely distributed asa constituent of some feldspars andmicas. Sodium, which is the base of common salt, is also widely distributed;it very much resembles potassium as achemical element, but can in no sensetake its place in plant life. Iron isalways present in the soil in sufficientquantities for the plant. It would be supposed, that to findwhat foods were necessary for soils,all that would be necessary would bea chemical analysis of the particularsoil. Then if any element was foundto be lacking in sufficient quantity, theaddition of this or these elements wouldgive the desired results. But chemicalanalyses of the soil as they have beenmade, unfortunately can and do throwbut a very dim and uncertain light uponeither the condition or the amount ofplant food a soil may contain. It is true that the results of these. Alfred Burton. analyses show a marked difference insoils, but from the data at hand, thesevariations may reasonably be supposedto be due more to the relative size ofthe soil grains than to any chemicaldifferences in the composition of thesoil. Taking an average of differentanalyses of soils, the following has beenstated by one writer. On a farm wherea three year rotation composed of corn,clover and oats was followed, the cornand oats being sold, and the straw, fod-der and clover returned to the ground,the soil would contain potash enoughto last 1521 years, soda 4050 years;magnesia, 3300 years; lime, 4367 years;phosphoric acid, only 542 years; sulfuricacid 292 years, and soluble silica 17,650years. These amounts of plant food arewhat chemical analyses have told uswere in the top foot of the soil, and weknow that plants send their roots for-aging two, three and four feet the subsoil is sometimes richer incertain ingredient
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectfloriculture, bookyea
