Peaches in Western New York. 



365 



large heavy leaves are as green this middle of October as they were 

 in June. Some of them have been entirely ruined by storms, and 

 now the lustiest one of the lot has got the yellows ! 



I believe that the key-note to the proper fertilizing of peach 

 orchards is potash and phosphoric acid and not nitrogen. Ashes, 

 muriate of potash, bone fertilizers, — these are some of the money- 

 makers for peach trees. Tillage, with green manure crops at the 

 end of the sea- 



son, can be relied 

 upon to furnish 

 the nitrogen in 

 most instances ; 

 and I am not 

 sure but that it 

 is even possible 

 to plow under too 

 much vetch or 

 crimson clover in 

 the course of 

 years. We have 

 been taught all 

 along that nitro- 

 gen lies at the 

 foundation of 

 successful agri- ' 

 culture, and this 



. Vase-fonn tree, 10 years old. From life. {Michigan.) 

 is true ; but its greatest benefits, when it is 



applied artificially, are to be expected upon the annual crops of 

 the farm and garden. It can also be applied advantageously, 

 in some cases, to newly-set fruit plantations. I do not wish to 

 disparage the use of nitrogen, for even in bearing orchards a 

 direct application may sometimes be necessary ; but I desire to 

 state what I believe to be a fundamental consideration in orchard 

 culture, that nitrogen can easily be used to excess and that it can 

 generally be obtained by means of tillage and green manure, and 

 also that potash and phosphoric acid need to be annually applied 

 to orchards of bearing age. 



There are direct experiments which show the effects of various 

 fertilizers' upon the peach. These were made upon an extensive 



