136 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



I used last year a commercial fertilizer which I purchased from the 

 Farm Bureau. It was half bone meal and half acid phosphate. I liked 

 that very much as the acid phosphate mixed with the bone meal stayed 

 through for two or three years. I have had Ijcttcr results in getting a 

 cover crop since I have been using the acid phosphate. We are going to 

 trj' this coming year with nitrate of soda and potash but we have not any 

 definite results that I have been able to find an3'^where. We are going 

 to grow our nitrogen. 



Question: What do you grow for nitrogen in grapes? 



Mr. Buskirk: I personally woukl try the sweet clover. I think the 

 sweet clover is going to be a winter plant. Some use rye and vetch and 

 vetch has been used for the last seven or eight years as a high producing 

 plant. Rye and vetch in a large vineyard gets the start of me. You can 

 use a farm plow. I dislike a disc. 



Question: How deep do they plow the vineyard? 



Mr. Buskirk: About two inches. Just enough to turn the ground 

 over. We have got to have something for a cover crop that we can get 

 on and plow late in the season. I have serious doubt if there is any ferti- 

 lizer that would pay you the money that bone meal or acid phosphate do. 



Question: Don't you have to keep the commercial fertilizers up? 



j\Ir. Buskirk : You can use cover crops if your land is in the right con- 

 dition. You have got to continue using something. We have mined 

 these grape soils for 30 years and we have got to put something back for 

 30 j^ears. 



Chairman: We will reserve our questions initil we get through with 

 the topics along the line of fertilizers. 



We will now hear from Mr. Hamilton on Fertilizers pertaining to 

 "Apples." 



■ Mr. Hamilton: Mr. Chairman, members of the Michigan State 

 Horticultural Society and friends: 



A number of years ago I heard a lecture on the use of commercial 

 fertilizer delivered before this society in Grand Rapids. It seemed to me 

 to be very clearly demonstrated by the gentleman handling the sub- 

 ject, that in Pennsjdvania in a series of years, acid phosphate in connec- 

 tion with niti'ate of soda, added much to the growth of the apple trees 

 and the quantity of fruit produced. 



The next spring after this meeting I bought two sacks of acid phos- 

 phate, with the intention of using it in conjunction with nitrate of soda, 

 as an experiment. I found after getting the acid phosphate that I could 

 not obtain nitrate of soda, so decided to use the phosphate alone. About 

 blossoming time I told one of the men to weigh out five pounds of acid 

 phosphate into a pail, counting the number of handfuls it took to make 

 five pounds, and apply an equal amount to all of the trees in one row of 

 ai)ples in the old orchard, distributing it evenly over the ground as far 

 out as the branches of the trees extended. I was busy at the time and 

 in about half an hour or less the man returned reporting that the ferti- 

 lizer had gone a little over two rows. Naturally I was provoked because 

 in scattering the acid phosphate he had gone over double the number of 

 trees I had intended, and put it on about half as thick as I had instructed 

 him. 



I explained to him this was an experiment in which I was deeply 

 interested, and I was very much disappointed because he had put it on 



