N"ew York Agricultural Experiment Station. 321 



and the following spring it was plowed. Since then it has either 

 been used for soiling crops or has been given clean cultivation. 

 till about August 1 and then seeded to some cover crop. . 



The Application of Wood Ashes to Treated Sections. 



The orchard was divided into eight sections, four of which have 

 had an annual application of wood ashes at the rate of one hun- 

 dred pounds per tree, and the remaining four sections have re- 

 ceived none. No other fertilizer has been applied to any part 

 of the orchard during the experiment except within two ov three 

 feet of trees which have been newly planted to fill vacancies. 

 The ashes have been weighed separately for each tree and spread 

 broadcast to the line midway between adjacent rows. They were 

 thoroughly mixed and carefully sampled before being spread in 

 the orchard. The analyses given herewith show the percentage 

 of potash in each application. 



First application 4.13 per cent, K2O 



Second " 3.89 " 



Third " 5 . 71 " 



Fourtli " 5 . 71 " 



Fiftli " 1.38 " 



Since one hundred pounds of ashes were applied to each tree 

 annually the above figures show the number of i>ounds of potash 

 per tree in each application. The trees are thirty feet apar-t each 

 way making forty-eight trees per acre. The amount of actual 

 potash which has been applied to the treated sections during the 

 five years is 20.82 pounds per tree or 999.36 pounds per acre, an 

 average of 200 pounds per acre annually. The amount of potash 

 commonly recommended for apple orchards varies from 50 to 100 

 pounds per acre annually. The amount of potash which was 

 applied in this experiment is exceedingly liberal, being twice as 

 great as the highest amount commonly recommended for apple 

 orchards. 



The amount of phosphoric acid in the ashes which were used 

 in this experiment was not determined. Dr. Van Slyke* states 

 that the amount of phosphoric acid in wood ashes varies from 



*N. Y. Agl. Exp. Sta, Bull. 94, p. 323. 



21 



