5(JU KKl'OKT (»F OKFKK OF KXPEKIMKNT STATI<>NS, 



"Surely tho imicli larj^or al)s()Iute amount of liuic, pliosplioric acid, 

 and potash in the bcarini,'' twi^s must \n\ either the cause or condition of 

 their hearing'." The Missouri Station also reports the results of anal- 

 yses of the leaves and peelinj^s of fruit of Ben Davis apph; trees that 

 had hecn fertilized with sulphate of iron. I'he fruit hornc on the 

 trees which had been fertilized with this substance had a nuich deeper 

 color than that from unfertilized trees, but contrary to expectution the 

 a>h of the leaves and peelings contained less sulphate of iron than was 

 found in the leaves and peelinos of fruit giown on trees which had 

 not received the sulphate of iron. At W3'e College, in P^no-land, sul- 

 phate of iron used in connection with complete fertilizei's had no eti'ect 

 on the color of apples." An excess of phosphate resulted in highly 

 colored apples, but there was no noticeable ellect on color due either 

 to the absence or excess of potash. 



When expensive commercial fertilizers are used in orchards they 

 should be accompanied b}" thorough tillage and spraying, othei"w^ise 

 the cost of the fertilizers may far exceed the returns from their use. 

 It is only in the best-tilled orchards that commercial fertilizers can be 

 used profitably. Professor Bailey states'^ that in his opinion it will 

 not pay to add commej'cial fertilizers to the general run of fruit plan- 

 tations in New York. Tillage and other treatment are not good 

 enough to warrant the extra expense. He gives an account of an 

 experiment Avith a bearing orchard in sod in Avhich one lot of trees 

 was top-dressed with 750 pounds of either muriate or sulphate of pot- 

 ash, but not cultivated. Another plat was given clean cultivation but 

 no fertilizers, while a third plat received both cultivation and 750 

 pounds of sulphate of potash per acre. Neither tillage alone nor fer- 

 tilizers alone gave beneficial results, but the two cond)ined resulted in 

 a more vigorous, darker green foliage and better yield. The apples 

 on the cultivated and fertilized plat were 7 to 10 da3"s later than the 

 others and were less highly colored. 



Another experiment with an unprofitable orchard 25 years ohl is 

 recorded. An expert upon examining the orchard thought that it 

 needed potash. Fertilizers were applied to the orchard in August. 

 Some trees were given 10 pounds of nitrate of soda each, others 

 received 10 pounds muriate of potash, others JO pounds sulphate of 

 potash, and others both nuiriate and sulphate. The fertilizers were 

 applied as far as the spread of the limbs. They were lightly plowed 

 in and harrowed. No results from the fertilizers were observable the 

 following year, l)ut the second year the foliage of the nitrated trees 

 was remarkably darker and more vigorous than the others and bore 

 a heavier load of fruit. These same results were observable the fol- 

 lowing year, but in a less degree. The fourth year all effects of the 



«Gard. Chron., 3. ser., 29 (1901), No. 752, p. 332. 

 b New York Cornell Std. Bui. 153. 



