COUNTRY LIFE
DISCOVERIES in the department of biology that has been oddly called dietetic botany, have multiplied of late, and some of them, if small, are surprising. For example: though it has been a maxim—in the Kantian phrase—of universal application that you can scarcely go wrong in adding lime to the soil, it has just been proved that lime may be deadly to orchard trees. The reason appears to be that it renders certain invaluable " trace elements " indigestible, and small, almost infinitesimal, though these may be, they are necessary to health. To the diagnosis of fruit trees suffering from such deficiencies (as farm crops may suffer from lack of Boron) has been added a specific cure. The tree is injected with a small dose of the missing chemical, and all is well. The general con- clusion is that orchard owners should be careful in the use of added lime, even if they can purchase the proper pills.
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