330 Report of the Horticulturist op the 



that with the conditions under which this investigation was 

 made liberal applications of hard wood ashes to the soil do not 

 increase the immunity of the apples from the scab. 



Whether the result would be the same on soil which is natur-' 

 ally very deficient in potash remains to be demonstrated. The 

 soil in the orchard which was used for this investigation has a 

 fair amount of potash and also of nitrogen and phosphoric acid 

 as shown by the following analyses. 



At the close of the experiment samples of soil to a depth of 

 nine inches were taken in each of the eight sections of the or- 

 chard. A composite sample was made of the soils which had 

 been treated with ashes and one of the untreated soils. The 

 Chemist reports the following analyses of the air dried samples: 



Treated with 



ashes. Untreated. 



P«r cent. P«r cent. 



Nitrogen 0. ISG 0. 214 



Phosphoric acid 0.112 0.128 



Potash 0.400 i 0.480 



This shows the percentage of potash which was soluble in 

 hydrochloric acid and not the total percentage in the soil. There 

 was 16.9 per cent of moisture in one case and 17.5 per cent in 

 the other. As far as these analyses go they indicate a fairly 

 uniform condition of fertility in both treated and untreated sec- 

 tions of the orchard. 



Some persons have expressed surprise that after the applica- 

 tion of potash amounting to 1,000 pounds per acre in five years 

 an analysis of the treated soil does not show a more marked in- 

 crease in the percentage of potash. Assuming that the soil in 

 this case contains 3,000,000 pounds per acre with 17 per cent of 

 moisture, one analysis shows 9,960 pounds of potash per acre 

 and the other analysis 11,950 pounds per acre in the first nine 

 inches of the soil. An application of 1,000 pounds of potash per 

 acre, supposing that none of it has passed below a depth of nine 

 inches, which is not probable, would not equal the difference 

 which naturally exists in the amount of potash per acre in differ- 

 ent parts of the orchard. Moreover, the errors of sampling and 

 analysis might obscure the effect on the soil, of an application 

 of 1,000 lbs. of potash per acre. 



