1824. Liquid Manure

1824.    Liquid Manure. The principal materials now used for liquid manures are to be used in the following proportions for all ordinary purposes: Guano, dissolve CO pounds weight in 10 gallons water, and of this strong solution, add 5 ounces to 10 gallons of water for use. Sheep's-dung, 1 peck to 30 gallons. Sulphate of ammonia, 11/4 ounces to every gallon.

1825. Liquid Guano to Hasten the Blowing of Flowers

1825.    Liquid Guano to Hasten the Blowing of Flowers. To hasten the blowing of flowers the following liquid has been used with great advantage: Sulphate or nitrate of ammonia, 4 ounces; nitrate of potash, 2 ounces; sugar, 1 ounce; hot water, 1 pint; dissolve and keep it in a well-corked bottle. For use, put 8 or 10 drops of this liquid into the water of a hyacinth-glass or jar for bulbous-rooted plants, changing the water every 10 or 12 days. For flowering plants in pots, a few drops must be added to the water employed to moisten them.

1826. Artificial Manure for Clover

1826.    Artificial Manure for Clover.

Mix together 10 parts each sulphate of ammonia, common salt, and oil of vitriol; 15 parts chloride of potassium; 17 parts each gypsum (plaster of Paris) and sulphate of potassa; 20 parts saltpetre; 25 parts crude Epsom salt (sulphate of magnesia); and 33 parts sulphate of soda (Glauber salts.)

1827. Artificial Manure for Wheat, Turnips, or Grass

1827.    Artificial Manure for Wheat, Turnips, or Grass. Take 28 pounds crude potash, 1 cwt. common salt, 2 cwt. each bone dust and gypsum (plaster of Paris), and 15 bushels wood ashes. Mix them together.

1828. Artificial Guano

1828.    Artificial Guano. Mix 11 pounds dry sulphate of soda (Glauber salts) with 28 pounds wood ashes; 84 pounds common salt; 112 pounds crude sulphate of ammonia ; and 7 bushels bone dust.

1829. Fertilizing Powder

1829.     Fertilizing Powder. To 18 parts very fine bone dust add 1 part each gypsum (plaster of Paris) and sulphate of ammonia. The seed should be steeped in the drainings from a dunghill; and after being drained, but while still wet, should be sprinkled with the powder and then dried.

1830. Phosphate for Manuring

1830.      Phosphate for Manuring. Macerate for some days, with frequent stirring, 2 parts crushed bones in 1 part oil of vitriol and 3 parts water. This forms a superphosphate of lime, which, mixed with water, dry earth, or sand, forms an excellent manure.

1831. How to Select and Manage Cuttings

1831.     How to Select and Manage Cuttings. The choice of cuttings should be made from the side shoots of trees and plants, and, when possible, from such as recline towards the ground, observing to leave a little wood of a former year or season's growth attached to them, as such are found to take root more readily than when they are wholly composed of new wood. The time to take cuttings is as soon as the sap gets into full motion. Before setting them they should be cut across, just below an eye or joint, with as smooth a section as possible, observing not to injure the bud. The superfluous leaves may be removed, but a sufficient number should bo left on for the purposes of vegetation. The practice of removing all or nearly all of the leaves of cuttings is injudicious. In some cases leaves alone will strike root. In the case of tubular stalked plants, it is said to be advantageous to insert both ends into the soil, each of which will take root, and may then bo divided, when two plants will be produced instead of one. An equable temperature, a moist atmosphere, a shady situation, and a moderate supply of water, arc the principal requisites to induce speedy rooting. Excess of any of these is prejudicial. When the size of the cuttings' admits, it is better to place them under a hand or bell glass, which will preserve a constant degree of heat, and prevent evaporation from the surface of the leaves, which is the most common cause of their dying, especially in hot, dry weather. What the degree of heat ought to be is decided by the degree of heat requisite for the mother plant. Most species of the erica, dahlia, and geranium, strike better when supplied with rather more heat than is requisite for the growth of these plants in green-houses. Cuttings of the myrtle tribe, camellias, and most other plants, require rather less heat than the plants in their growing state.