Vermont State Horticultural Soctety 61 



There are six different lines of practice which appear open 

 to him. 



1. He may, as do most of his fellows, do nothing-. 



2. He may use home manurial resources. 



3. He may grow and plow under cover crops as green 

 manures. 



4. He may depend upon adequate tillage. 



5. He may make such selection as he can from the 

 fertilizers that are offered him — ill adapted though they may be. 



6. He may buy fertilizing crude stock and mix the goods 

 at home. 



Let us briefly discuss each of these propositions, laying par- 

 ticular stress upon the latter two. 



Before we take up this matter, it very much needs be said 

 that there are other things besides the depletion of the available 

 plant food of the soil that are apt to be at fault in the orchard. 

 Poor plans ; poor site ; ill adapted soils ; neglected tillage ; too long 

 delayed endeavors to rehabilitate the orchard ; lack of or ill- 

 advised pruning ; the growth of the orchard crop on shares, as 

 it were, with other crops, such as grass, weeds, or sometimes 

 beans, corn or other hoed crops ; insect attacks ; fungus diseases 

 and the like ; any one, several or all of these may be primary 

 or contributory causes of unsatisfactory orchard returns ; yet, 

 when all is said, soil depletion is a common cause and well worth 

 considering; not as a substitute for but in connection with and 

 in addition to, other procedures. 



Concerning the six procedures outlined above : 



I. The 'do nothing" policy has little to commend itself to 

 intelligent orchardists and needs no consideration. 



n. The use of the farm manures is justifiable, yet it must 

 be confessed that they are ordinarily not well adapted to orchard 

 growing. They are too nitrogenous and tend to force foliaceous 

 growth at the expense of the maturity of the fruit. They are 

 apt to push this growth so late into the season as to expose it to 

 winter damage. It is usually better practice to apply these 

 materials to other crops than the orchard. 



ni. Green manuring, using cover crops plowed under, is 

 often worth while. Cover crops hold moisture ; add humus to 

 the soil ; lessen nitrate losses ; and, in many ways, are of service. 

 If plowed under too late in the spring however, they are apt un- 

 duly to reduce the supplies of available moisture and of plant 

 food. The green manuring proposition is too big a one to dis- 

 cuss thoroughly at this time. Those interested therein should 

 get special publications on this subject from the Department of 

 Agriculture, Washington, D. C, or elsewhere. 



