62 AGRICULTURE OF MAINE. 



pounds of fertilizer per acre, I apply so many pounds per 

 tree, as the tree seems to need it. If you go through any or- 

 chard in the summer time, you will see distinct individuality 

 in trees ; some are weak ; some are strong ; some need help, 

 some do not. I fertilize according to the condition of the 

 tree, as recorded in my orchard book. A tree to tree record in 

 a commercial orchard seems like a pretty big task, yet I believe 

 that until we come to the point where we deal with the indi- 

 vidual tree rather than with the orchard as a unit, we shall not 

 realize maximum returns. When the time comes to make my 

 estimate of the coming crop, in August. I go through the 

 orchard with a set of pocket note-books, a page to a tree, on 

 which I have a record of the crop of each tree, as well as its 

 health and vigor, for each of the seven years I have had the 

 orchard. I have to estimate the crop anyhow in order to know 

 how much barrel stock to order, and it is but little more trouble 

 to take this book along and record the condition of the tree 

 with the estimate of the amount of fruit it will bear. If the 

 tree is sub-normal and needs a stimulant, tie a white tag on it. 

 Then when hauling manure to the orchard in the winter, pick 

 out these tagged trees, so as to make the manure go as far as 

 possible. 



I always use manure if I can get it; it gives larger returns 

 than any commercial fertilizer I have used. Even when I 

 drive four miles to a livery stable and pay a dollar for a two- 

 horse load, I get more for my dollar than from any fertilizer I 

 have ever used. When the supply of manure fails, I have used 

 one part of nitrate of soda to three parts of acid phosphate. 

 Sometimes I have used one part of potash also, but our soils 

 do not need potash as much as yours do. This fertilizer mix- 

 ture is applied just after the blossoms drop. Nitrate of soda 

 is quickly soluble and blossoming is an exhaustive process, so 

 we get immediate results if applied at that time. 



Spraying Machinery. I wish to emphasize again what I said 

 last night about spray machinery. We must revise our esti- 

 mates as to the ability of a machine to cover trees. Twenty 

 acres of mature trees to one power outfit is plenty. I have 

 been trying to cover forty acres of twenty-year-old trees with 

 one gasoline outfit, and I am satisfied that I have lost the price 

 of three machines, or more, by doing so. It takes about seven 



