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  have 
  learned 
  better. 
  It 
  is 
  simply 
  a 
  question 
  of 
  water 
  and 
  plant 
  

   food. 
  If 
  you 
  will 
  mulch 
  any 
  kind 
  of 
  a 
  tree, 
  nut 
  tree 
  or 
  any 
  kind, 
  

   with 
  ten 
  or 
  fifteen 
  inches 
  of 
  straw 
  and 
  stable 
  manure, 
  you 
  will 
  have 
  

   a 
  steady 
  growth 
  from 
  early 
  spring 
  until 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  fall, 
  and 
  it 
  will 
  

   make 
  a 
  strong 
  tree. 
  

  

  Professor 
  Smith: 
  While 
  we 
  are 
  waiting 
  for 
  Mr. 
  Reed 
  I 
  want 
  to 
  

   take 
  up 
  Mr. 
  McCoy's 
  soup 
  suggestion. 
  Water 
  doesn't 
  make 
  good 
  

   soup 
  without 
  something 
  in 
  it. 
  Experiments 
  show 
  that 
  you 
  

   can 
  mulch 
  ground 
  in 
  some 
  places 
  and 
  not 
  wake 
  up 
  the 
  tree, 
  but 
  

   fertiHzer 
  will 
  wake 
  it 
  up 
  the 
  first 
  year. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Potter 
  : 
  What 
  kind 
  of 
  fertilizer 
  did 
  you 
  use? 
  

  

  Professor 
  Smith: 
  One 
  must 
  experiment 
  to 
  see 
  what 
  his 
  land 
  

   is 
  short 
  on. 
  Sometimes 
  you 
  can 
  fertilize 
  your 
  trees 
  without 
  any 
  re- 
  

   sult. 
  Sometimes 
  potash 
  will 
  not 
  do 
  any 
  good 
  and 
  sometimes 
  it 
  

   will. 
  You 
  will 
  have 
  to 
  see 
  what 
  your 
  ground 
  needs. 
  For 
  young 
  

   apple 
  trees 
  I 
  found 
  in 
  my 
  particular 
  situation 
  that 
  nitrate 
  of 
  soda 
  

   is 
  all 
  I 
  want. 
  I 
  have 
  what 
  is 
  called 
  a 
  Porter's 
  clay 
  soil 
  on 
  the 
  Blue 
  

   Ridge 
  Mountains 
  of 
  Virginia. 
  I 
  use 
  that 
  and 
  then 
  my 
  trees 
  get 
  

   busy 
  and 
  grow. 
  They 
  make 
  rapid 
  growth 
  even 
  the 
  first 
  season 
  

   with 
  a 
  handful 
  of 
  nitrate 
  and 
  for 
  my 
  three 
  year 
  old 
  trees 
  half 
  

   a 
  pound 
  is 
  enough. 
  That 
  is 
  what 
  my 
  soil 
  seems 
  to 
  need 
  and 
  we 
  

   must 
  use 
  what 
  the 
  soil 
  is 
  short 
  on. 
  That 
  is 
  my 
  interpretation 
  of 
  my 
  

   situation 
  and 
  it 
  works. 
  

  

  The 
  President: 
  Who 
  can 
  tell 
  us 
  whether 
  nitrate 
  of 
  soda 
  is 
  

   good 
  for 
  nut 
  trees? 
  Can 
  you, 
  Mr. 
  Simpson? 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Simpson: 
  In 
  the 
  South, 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  so. 
  

  

  The 
  President: 
  The 
  reason 
  I 
  asked, 
  is 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  study- 
  

   ing 
  that. 
  I 
  wrote 
  Mr. 
  Potter 
  a 
  letter 
  suggesting 
  that 
  he 
  use 
  some 
  

   on 
  his 
  young 
  nut 
  trees 
  to 
  see 
  what 
  it 
  would 
  do, 
  and 
  later 
  I 
  found 
  

   out 
  that 
  all 
  through 
  the 
  South 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  regarded 
  as 
  desirable. 
  It 
  

   seems 
  they 
  claim 
  it 
  starts 
  pecan 
  trees 
  into 
  an 
  active 
  growth 
  but 
  

   when 
  they 
  stop 
  they 
  make 
  a 
  very 
  sudden 
  stop 
  and 
  don't 
  start 
  

   growing 
  any 
  more. 
  I 
  want 
  to 
  get 
  this 
  in 
  the 
  record 
  right 
  here. 
  

   You 
  understand 
  that 
  is 
  the 
  general 
  belief 
  throughout 
  ihe 
  South, 
  

   do 
  you 
  not? 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Simpson: 
  Yes 
  sir, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  considered 
  good. 
  

  

  The 
  President: 
  Dr. 
  Smith 
  has 
  made 
  a 
  very 
  careful 
  study 
  of 
  

   fruit 
  trees 
  and 
  knows 
  its 
  effect 
  on 
  them 
  from 
  experiments, 
  but 
  it 
  

   is 
  well 
  perhaps 
  to 
  consider 
  fruit 
  and 
  nut 
  trees 
  separately. 
  

  

  Professor 
  Smith: 
  I 
  should 
  suggest 
  to 
  anybody 
  who 
  is 
  think- 
  

   ing 
  of 
  working 
  with 
  trees, 
  to 
  get 
  some 
  seedling 
  pecans 
  and 
  plant 
  

   them 
  and 
  then 
  fertilize 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  and 
  others 
  not, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

  

  