FERNANDO PO
657
FERTILIZERS
varies from a few inches to three feet in height. As a rule ferns other than the evergreens are not to be seen until the latter part of April, at which time the rolled-up fronds appear; some well-protected in warm wrappings, some quite naked. By May they show in their beauty of delicate tracery and fresh greenness; by June they are well-grown; by mid-July they are in most luxuriant leafage and many in fruit. August is considered the best month in which to search for our rare ferns. In the fall the hardy brake turns brown and withers soon; most of the other ferns follow the fashion of the trees in the matter of autumn coloring. See Parsons: How to Know the Ferns. See FILICALES.
Fernando Po. See SPANISH AFRICA.
Fernie, a town of 3,500. It is 65 miles east of Cranbrook on the Crowsnest Pas. Railway. It is noted as being the center of the coal-mining industry for this part of British Columbia. The coal-mines in and near the town are practically inexhaustible. The demand for coke and coal is daily increasing, and this ensures continued growth and prosperity for the town. Toronto capitalists largely control the coal industries at Fernie.
Ferrara (fer-rd'rd), capital of the province of the same name, in Italy, is situated on the River Po, 30 miles from the Adriatic. The most noticeable building is the ducal palace of the Estes, built in the i4th century. It is remarkable for its art-associations. Under the dukes of Este it produced a good school of painters, and in literature it is closely associated with Tasso, Ariosto and Gu'arini. The university, founded in 1264, has a library of 100,000 volumes. Ferrara was the birthplace of Savonarola. At the period of its greatest prosperity it had a population of over 100,000, and now has 82,310 inhabitants.
Ferret, a small, slender animal of the weasel family, closely allied to the polecat. Its color is usually a yellowish white, its length about 14 inches, and tail 5^ inches. It originally was imported into Europe from Africa. It is used in rabbit-hunting to drive rabbits out of their holes and also as an aid in getting rid of rats and mice. Even though raised in confinement, it never becomes really tame or trustworthy. Like the weasel it will make sad havoc in a poultry-yard, merely sucking the blood of the fowl it kills. It has been known to do serious injury to infants. Unlike the polecat, it is very sensitive to the cold.
Fer'ry, a passage by boat across water. Ferry-boats are made large to accommodate both foot-passengers and horses and carriages. They are either rowed across or drawn by a cable. Steam is also used to propel them.
Ferry, Jules Francois Camille, French statesman, was born at St. Die* in the Vos-
ges, France, April 5, 1832. After being admitted to the bar in 1854 he allied himself with the opponents of the empire and carried his hostility into journalism. He was elected to the legislature in 1869 and voted against the war with Prussia. He formed a cabinet in September, 1880, which remained in office until November, 1881, and he again became premier in 1883. He was defeated in 1885, on account of his foreign policy, which involved disaster to the French troops in Tonquin. He died at Paris on March 17, 1893.
Ferry land, an electoral district of Newfoundland. Population 5,697; chief towns, Ferryland, Renews, Fermense, Witless Bay, Cape Broyle and Bay of Bulls.
Fertiliza'tion (in plants). The act of union of the male and female cells, commonly known as sperms and eggs. Among plants the name is technically applied only when the sexual cells can be distinguished as male and female. When the sexual cells are alike in appearance, the process is spoken of as conjugation. The word fertilization, however, in a general sense covers the whole sexual process, and fertilization is present in all plants excepting in the very lowest thallophytes. The real significance of the process is not understood, since asexual methods of reproduction are often more common. The result of the union of the sperm and egg is the formation of a sexual spore, known in plants as the oOspore or fertilized egg, by which a new plant is developed.
Fer'tili'zers are materials added to the soil to replace those taken from it by plants, or, in a broader sense, added to affect its
Ehysical nature. They may be commercial srtilizers, barnyard manures, compost or green manures. The element most likely to be lacking is nitrogen; after that phosphoric acid and potash. Nitrogen is needed especially to produce stem and foliage, potash for flowers, fruit and seed, and phosphoric acid for general plant-vigor. The most valuable source of nitrogen is nitrate of soda, commonly known as Chile saltpeter; muriate of soda is obtained principally from deposits in Germany; and phosphoric acid from lime-phosphates, abundant in the southeastern states and usually requiring special chemical treatment to make the acid available to the plant. Other sources of these substances are cotton-seed meal, slaughter-house tankage, dried blood, dried fish, bone, wood-ashes, tobacco-stems, horn and hoof shavings and leather-scraps. The plant-food in these varies in amount, and its availability varies according to the rapidity of their decay. Most states require on each package a guaranteed chemical analysis. But a fertilizer made up largely of leather-scraps or horn shavings would show a high percentage of nitrogen, but be of little
