STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. J'] 



obtained, and outline a simple method of determining whether 

 or not similar results can be secured in any particular orchard. 

 The total plant-food requirements of a productive orchard are 

 also considered, together with the more important effects that 

 follow the application of the different fertilizer elements. 



3. The total plant-food draft of a mature and active or- 

 chard is greater than that of a 25-bushel crop of wheat in 

 every important constituent except phosphorus. It is practi- 

 cally inevitable, therefore, that sooner or later the output will 

 be reduced or off seasons will be developed in any productive 

 orchard because of a lack of sufficient plant food. 



4. The mineral requirements of wood are comparatively 

 low. This largely accounts for the fact that young trees usually 

 do not make a profitable response to fertilizer applications, 

 although they frequently respond well to manure or to other 

 methods of conserving moisture. 



5. The relative amounts of the various food elements re- 

 quired by the other parts of the apple plant are also of interest, 

 but as a rule they are not especially reliable as bases for mak- 

 ing fertilizer applications. The latter are best determined 

 experimentally, as there seems to be very little relation be- 

 tween the response of the trees and their total chemical require- 

 ments. 



6. Applications of nitrogen and phosphates and also of 

 manure have been especially beneficial in two of our experi- 

 mental orchards. In those orchards, potash at the same time 

 has been of little or no service. These results are reversed at 

 the present time in a third orchard, so far as yields are con- 

 cerned. 



7. The time required for results to appear has been sur- 

 prisingly short in all cases where fertilization has proved to 

 be really needed. In such cases, both the value of fertilization 

 and the kinds needed were clearly evident by the middle of 

 the second season, and no material changes have occurred 

 since. In one case, however, in an orchard in the early stages 

 of bearing, important benefits did not appear until the sixth 

 year. 



8. Neither acid phosphate nor "floats," when applied aloi^e, 

 have resulted in any important benefit. We are therefore 

 "completing" the fertilization of their plats by the addition of 



