562 REPORT OK OFFICE OF EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



on tho soil as any of tho ordinary farm crops, and should, llicicfoio, 

 ln' as ri'<,adarly t'iM-tiliz('<l as other crops. The a[)pruati<)n of coninicr- 

 cial fortili/ers without cultivation is likely to heu complete loss. The 

 two should ^o togothvr. Fertilizers and cidtivation ai)))ear to delay 

 the ripeninjjf period a week to ten days. Nitrojj^en is more often needed 

 in orchards than is jronerally suj)j)os(>d. Its use alone results in less 

 hijihly colored fruits. Neither potash nor sulphate of iron appears to 

 he the cause of hijih color in fiuit, while there is some evidence that 

 phosphoric acid in excess may conduce to high color. Fruit twigs are 

 much richer in mineral elements than water sprouts. 



GIRDLING TO PRODUCE FRUITFUDNESS. 



The Massachusetts Hatch Station" reports an experiment in which 

 three crab-apple trees were girdled to determine its effect on fruitful- 

 ness, A ring of bark, varying from one-eighth to one-lialf inch 

 wide, was removed from the trees in some instances just at the ground, 

 in others just })elow the main branches, and in still others on one or 

 more of the main branches. All the girdles made near the ground 

 healed over readily and completely. Those on the main trunk healed 

 less completed, but sufficiently to insure a good growth of tree, while 

 some of the girdled l)ranches died. All the trees showed a marked 

 increase in fruitfulness over those not girdled. No conclusions are 

 drawn from this experiment, but it is pointed out that girdling may be 

 of value in throwing rank-growing trees on very rich, moist soil into 



bearing. 



THINNING. 



Jn order to determine the value of thinning apples, the Massachu- 

 setts Hatch Station'' selected two Gravenstein trees, each of which 

 had made a heavy set of fruit. The thinned tree yielded 7 bushels of 

 lirst-class apples, 1 ))ushel of second-class, and Ui bushels of windfalls. 

 The unthinned trees yielded 2^ bushels of first-grade fruit, 2^ bushels 

 of second-grade, and 10^ bushels of windfalls. The cost of thinning 

 was 4H cents per tree, and the market value of the thinned fruit !^.45, 

 and of the unthinned tree l)ut ^2.12. Similar results were also 

 obtained on thinned and unthinned Tetofsky trees. In another experi- 

 ment in thinning Red Astrakhan, Baldwin, and Rhode Island Green- 

 ing the profits from thinning varied from 55 cents to $2.05 per tree, 

 the greatest average profit being- obtained from thinning Red Astrak- 

 han. The yields of these varieties were slightly increased by thinning, 

 but with the varieties Pearly Harvest and Hurlbut, the yields were 

 practicall}^ the same on the thinned and unthinned trees. 



aMassaf^husetts Hatch Stat. Bui. 1. 

 ^ Massachup(*tt,s Hati;)) Stat. Bill. 44, 



