HANDLING THE FRUIT SOILS. 215 



"Manure has usually proved profitable doubtless essentially 

 because of its nitrogen contents. In most of the cases where it has 

 proved beneficial, however, its net profits have been approached or 

 surpassed by certain combinations of artifit ial fertilizers. 



"In a few orchards no form of fertilization has yet produced a 

 material response. This is considered to be due to the presence of 

 other limiters, of which proper moisture supply is frequently import- 

 ant. The existence of such orchards emphasizes the need of local 

 tests before making large and regular expenditures for fertilizers. 



"In the long run, any orchard that is actively producing and grow- 

 ing is likely to require fertilization, since the total plant food draft of 

 such an orchard is quite heavy — more per acre for every constituent 

 except phosphorus than is required by a twenty-flve bushel crop of 

 wheat." 



HANDLIX(; THE FRUIT SOILS. 

 Hints from tlie Leading Aiithoritie.s. 



Trees must not have wet feet. The level of stagnant water in 

 soil must be, at the very least, tw^o or three feet down, if trees are to 

 bear worth while. 



Too much water destroys friendly bacteria that are necessary to put 

 plant foods into forms in which trees can use them. 



Too much water renders plant food useless by changing it chemic- 

 ally and by caking soil. 



Carefully laid underdrains are almost an orchard necessity, and 

 do good in many ways. 



Breaking up hardpan helps drainage. Cover crops help to dry off 

 land in early spring. 



Apple trees must have at least enough water to make a layer 

 a foot deep, and this must be held in the top thirty-six inches of soil. 

 Other fruits can get along with slightly less but must have enough. 



Too little water starves trees directly by allowing them to dry 

 up, and to even a greater extent by making it impossible for roots to get 

 the food in the soil. Plant foods and fertilizers are of no use unless they 

 continually are accompanied by enough moisture to dissolve them and 

 Insure that they soak into the roots. 



There is always enough rainfall between March and August to 

 grow big crops, if it is rightly conserved. Right methods make this 

 easy, wrong methods make it impossible. 



To store enough water, ground must be broken up early, thorough- 

 ly and often; and to avoid its escape the surface must be worked and 

 kept in a dust mulch, to prevent evaporation during the growing season, 

 if other mulch is not used. This conservation tillage must begin early 

 in the spring, while ground is still damp, and must be done every ten 

 days or after every rain till in July or August. 



Organic matter in the soil helps to hold moisture. 



With sod mulch systems, the grass must be mowed often to 



