The Cultivation of Orchards. 303 



Fertilizers. — Nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus are the ele- 

 ments which need to be applied to orchard lands. 



Nitrogen is particularly efficacious in promoting growth. In 

 fact, the amount of growth and the color of foliage are reliable 

 guides for the application of nitrogen. When mature or bearing 

 trees make a foot or more of growth upon all shoots, and when 

 the leaves are of good size and dark color, the orchard probably has 

 enough nitrogen . A free application of nitrogen to such orchards 

 might do more harm than good, in promoting growth at the 

 expense of fruit, or, in the case of some stone fruits, in producing 

 a poorly matured growth which will be likely to suffer in winter. 

 Orchards are grown for fruit, not for forestry purposes. In gen- 

 eral, it is better to supply nitrogen by good cultivation — which 

 assists nitrification — and an occasional green-manure crop, than 

 by the application of nitrogenous fertilizers. If the orchard is 

 not growing and is yellowish in foliage, good cultivation — begun 

 early and repeated very frequently — in connection with the 

 use of potash, phosphoric acid and green manures, will 

 commonly correct it. It is probable that lack of moisture is 

 quite as much the cause of the weakness as lack of nitrogen, par- 

 ticularly if the orchard has been in sod. Now and then a tree 

 will be found which fails to respond to ordinary treatment. If 

 the tree is healthy — that is, not attacked by disease or borers — it 

 may sometimes be brought into a vigorous condition by applying 

 to it a light dressing of nitrate of soda ; but this treatment need 

 seldom be applied to an entire orchard. 



In orchards which are thoroughly tilled, the use of barn manures 

 should generally be discouraged, for the chief element of fertility 

 in them — if they are not leached — is usually nitrogen. This advice 

 is particularly applicable to vineyards, and all other fruits which 

 run very strongly to wood. It is better economy to apply barn 

 manures to the annual crops of the farm. The old neglected 

 apple orchards of the country, however, may recieve barn ma- 

 nures with safety ; yet, even here it is a question if economy 

 would not dictate tillage and late green manures to supply 

 the nitrogen, except, perhaps, for a season or two when an at- 

 tempt is making to rejuvenate an orchard. Mulching a sod or- 

 chard with manure often gives fairly good results in cases where 



