The Apple. Various

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СКАЧАТЬ analyses quoted above the amount of the necessary constituents of the soil to plant growth is not in any case large. The nitrogen may be present in the volatile and organic matter, and upon the proportion of this complex organic matter very often depends to a great extent the fertility of the soil.

      Some experiments made at one of the agricultural experiment stations upon the effect of "apple stock," that is, young trees raised for nursery purposes, on the soil, showed that in eleven tons of such stock the following quantities of ingredients were removed from the soil:

Silica	50.6	lbs.
Phosphoric acid	21.4	"
Sulphuric acid	14.3	"
Chlorine	1.3	"
Carbonic-acid gas	94.9	"
Iron oxide	6.1	"
Lime	138.6	lbs.
Magnesia	23.7	"
Soda	21.3	"
Potash	27.1	"
Total	399.3	lbs.

      

      This is no inconsiderable quantity of material to be removed by a single crop.

      Professor Goessmann, in discussing the ash of fruits, gives the following analysis of the ash of the Baldwin apple; this would represent the mineral matter taken from the soil by the fruit: Potash, 63.54 per cent.; soda, 1.71; lime, 7.28; magnesia, 5.52, and phosphoric acid, 20.87. Comparing this with the ash of other fruits, it is seen that the amount of potash required is larger than in the case of other fruits except plums and peaches, and the amount of phosphoric acid is high, but not as high as in the case of some berries. The application is obvious; in order to successfully raise apples there must be an abundance of potash and of phosphoric acid in the soil, and these ingredients must be in an available form.

      If we compare the apple and the pear by an analysis for fertilizing constituents, or such constituents as are usually introduced into deficient soil by means of fertilizers, we have the following table: 1000 parts of the fruit contain, in the case of each,

	H2O	N	Ash	K2O	Na2O	CaO	MgO	P2O5	SO3	SiO2
Apple	831	0.6	2.2	0.8	0.6	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.1
Pear	831	0.6	3.3	1.8	0.3	0.3	0.2	0.5	0.2	0.1

      When we study the composition of the apple, to determine the "proximate principles," as they are called, it is noticed that we have the constituents mentioned in the discussion of the elements contained in the fruit combined to form various substances; thus:

	Apples.	Pears.	Cherries.	Peaches.
Water	82.04	83.95	75.73	84.99
Sugar	6.83	7.00	13.11	1.58
Free acid	.85	.07	.35	.61
Albuminous substances	.45	.26	.90	.46
Pectous substances	.47	3.28	2.29	6.31
Soluble	14.96	10.90	17.25	9.39

      Free acid in fruits is not neutralized by sugar, but it is well known that an abundance of sugar will cover up the sour taste of a fruit. The constituents above noted are mostly found in the expressed juice of the fruit, and give it its characteristic flavor. Without the sugar in these juices it would not be possible to make any alcoholic beverages from them. In the process of fermentation, in the case of apple juice, we have first the change of the sugar to alcohol and carbonic-acid gas, which imparts to cider its characteristic taste and СКАЧАТЬ