FORTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT. 55 



humus and it must be supplied every rear at first in some form as the 

 sun burns the' humus, aud it becomes exhausted from washing away 

 and other causes. 



The first step I took was to purchase an old straw stack and six 

 hayrack loads of corn stover in the spring of 1896, spreading this evenly 

 over the ground then plowing it under, having help to put the straw and 

 stalks in the bottom of the furrow to have it all plowed under. The 

 effect of this was manifest in the darker color of the soil. 



Next year I planted fodder corn in drills, and after the corn was 

 fully ripe, plowed the entire crop under in the fall, ninning the plow 

 crosswise of the rows, using a chain to tuck the stalks under. The 

 cherry trees I had planted made a slight growth, except the Morel lo, 

 but the apple trees made no growth for 4 years. They barely lived, 

 until I bought a quantity of hen manure and put a shovel full around 

 each apple tree on top of the ground and hoed it in. 



This gave them their first growth, and with the help of yearly appli- 

 cations of humius in the form of matured crops plowed under, a little 

 stable manure and some commercial fertilizer applied to growing crops 

 among the trees, they have made a good growth every year since. 



I am not in favor of the use of raw bone meal as a fertilizer for young 

 fruit trees on sand, it is too slow to act. Nitrate of soda, hen manure, 

 or some other highly concentrated form of nitrogen, placed on top of 

 the ground near the tree and hoed in is much better, or best of all, four 

 forkfulls of good stable n^anure just after the tree is set. This latter 

 not onl}^ is a good fertilizer for this and a number of succeeding years, 

 but also, what is most important of all. the first and most critical year, 

 it aids greatly in keeping the ground moist around the roots of the tree, 

 for it is mainly from the roots becoming dry that the newly set tree 

 dies. The third year I sowed part of the orchard to rye in August, hoe- 

 ing around the trees the following summer, and plowing under the follow- 

 ing spring. This was not very satisfactory as there are better crops to 

 raise to plow under for humus than rye alone. I might say right here, 

 that years before planting this orchard I was thoroughly convinced that 

 green manuring is of very little value as humus, and I have never prac- 

 ticed it. 



Sand becomes very hot in summer, especially if accompanied by long 

 continued dry weather and the crop, if plowed under in the green state 

 in the hottest part of the year, being nearly all water at that stage of 

 growth, nearly all evaporates and makes but little humus. If the green 

 crop is plowed under in May it has made so little growth as to be of 

 still less value. Green manuring on heavy soils mlay be a very different 

 proposition, but I am speaking entirely about light sandy soil — ''veri^ 

 sand sand." 



My 18 years of observation and experience have still further confirmed 

 me in the practice of plowing under matured crops for humus. 



I tried clover in the orchard, sowing the center of the tree space, 

 cultivating a narrow strip on each side of the tree rows. I discontinued 

 that practice for two reasons: 



1st. It takes 1% years to develop the clover plant, during which 

 time the trees have but little cultivation. 



2nd. The soil of the orchard was not yet in condition to grow a 

 good crop of clover. 



I plowed this clover under after 3 years, not taking any hay off. I 



