Fruit Production in New York 1363 



those are sown which will add most plant food to the soil, as 

 clovers and vetches which have the power of taking- nitrogen from 

 the air. 



The knowledge and skill of the entomologist and plant patholo- 

 gist are indispensable in growing fruit and every commercial 

 orchardist must know the insect and fungus pests and how to com- 

 bat them. But men who can not or will not spray, the general 

 farmer, the city suburbanite — the amateurs — should plant varie- 

 ties measurably immune to the most troublesome pests, for there 

 are such. 



Fniit trees, like other plants, need fertilizer. Yet fruit crops 

 do not require the addition of nearly so much fertilizer tO' the 

 average soil as do farm and truck crops. The basis for this state- 

 ment comes from observation, the experience of many fruit 

 growers, but more particularly from experiments carried on at 

 experiment stations. There are, too, several theoretical considera- 

 tions as to why fruits in general do not require the addition of as 

 much plant food as farm crops. These are: (1) From 80 to 90 

 per cent of a fruit crop is water ; the food used in the foliage is 

 returned to the soil. The percentage of solid matter is mucli 

 greater in farm crops. (2) Trees have a preparatory season of 

 several years before they begin bearing. Farm crops come and 

 go in a season. (3) The growing season for trees is long, from 

 early spring to late fall. It is comparatively short for farm crops. 

 (4) The roots go down and spread out in the case of tree fruits but 

 are comparatively restricted with farm crops. (5) Trees trans- 

 pire relatively large amounts of water and therefore relatively 

 diluted solutions of plant food may suffice to furnish food. (6) 

 All tree fruits have " off years " in which to recuperate. (7) It 

 is possible to give fruit trees more thorough cultivation, thereby 

 better conserving moisture and making food more available, than 

 in the case of farm crops. 



It does not follow from what has been said that tree fruits 

 never need fertilizers, but these considerations make it plain that 

 exceedingly great care must be used in feeding trees if it is to be 

 done without waste. The fruit grower ought to experiment very 

 carefully to see that he gets the wortli of his money before using 

 any considerable quantities of fertilizers in an orchard. 



