Il8 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



these experiments that have been carried on over at Durham, 

 N. H., on a soil not very widely different from yours and 

 where the results were quite similar to those that we had in 

 New York. 



Mr. Morse : Don't misunderstand me. I said that on a good 

 deal of our best orchard land it was cheaper to buy fertilizer 

 than to cultivate the soil. I don't like to quote my own work, 

 but of course I know more about that. We own an old farm, 

 the trees set out on a hillside, and by using two or three pounds 

 of fertilizer, costing four or five cents to a tree, on a tree that 

 is two or three years old, we can get good growth. All we need 

 to do is to spade around it a little. 



Prof. Hedrick : What would that fertilizer be, potash or 

 nitrate of soda? 



Mr. Morse : Well, I have used my own formulas and when 

 I first commenced I used heavily the potash, but I have swung 

 it round and on the growing trees I use about 4-7-4, I think, 

 when I can get it. This question that came up here, it seems 

 to me we have got to wait and see if we can get potash. If we 

 can't we must get along without it. 



Prof. Hedrick: When you can't get it, try the nitrate of 

 soda. 



Mr. Morse: I have seen that tried and, as you say, it will 

 always show increase. I don't know so much about it in thor- 

 ough cultivation. I have been using chemical fertilizers for 

 more than fifteen years, and, as I told them here yesterday, 

 it seems now I have got to the point where I must have some- 

 thing else. The trees have gone back in the last three or four 

 years. And now I think we must have humus of some kind. 

 The question is, how shall we get it? The best orchard land 

 we have is on a high hill, tremendously expensive to haul 

 dressing there, if you can buy it — almost impossible to find 

 it, any way. So it seems to be a question. I wish you could 

 give me a tip on how to manage the trees and make them 

 come back to the original bearing. We had wonderful success 

 the first eight or ten years with our fertilizer. We thought we 

 knew almost all about it — all we had to do was to set out an 

 orchard, use a little chemical fertilizer, spray them a little, and 

 we could raise apples and get rich right off. 



Prof. Hedrick : Grow rye or some crop of that kind to get 

 more humus. 



