Vermont State Horticultural Society 69 



II. Fertilisation. 



Less than one-half of the orchards of Wayne County were 

 found to have received enough fertilizer to be of use to them. 

 In many cases barnyard manure was used to feed the cover crop ; 

 the trees may have obtained a little benefit from its use. 



Cultivation lessens the demand for commercial fertilizers be- 

 cause it makes availible the plant food already in the soil. Many 

 growers say that they remove no crop from the orchard and 

 therefore the use of fertilizers is unnecessary. Evidently 

 they do not realize the drain made upon the soil by the growth 

 of wood and apples. A little comparison of the apple crop with 

 the wheat crop will show how much plant food is removed from 

 the soil by the orchard. 



Water. Nitrogen. Phos. acid. Potash. 



WhPPt ^^^^^" ^4-75% 2.36% .89% .6iy2 



vvneat ^g^raw 12.56% .56% .12% .51^^ 



Apple 85.30% .13% .01% .I9>^ 



Or to give the results in pounds of elements removed : 



Apples, leaves and wood remove from the soil : 



59.39 lbs. nitrogen, 16.84 lbs. phos. acid, 80.57 lbs. potash. 



The wheat crop and straw remove: 



43.32 lbs. nitrogen. 13.68 lbs. phos. acid, 20.07 lbs. potash. 



In other words the apple crop takes out of the soil more 

 nitrogen and phosphoric acid and four times as much potash as 

 does the wheat crop. 



Method of Manuring. Some still spread the manure in a 

 small circle around the tree trunk. The manure should be spread 

 over the whole surface of the ground. If any place is to be 

 left unfertilized let it be that same small circle around the trunk 

 of the tree. 



Cover Crops. Sometimes humus and not plant food is re- 

 quired by the orchard. This is very often the case in sod or- 

 chards. In 1902 only eight per cent, of the orchards in Wayne 

 County were sown to cover crops. Quite a number of different 

 things are used for cover crops, some of the most common 

 being buckwheat, rye, red clover, cowpeas, alfalfa, peas and oats, 

 and crimson clover. Red clover is admirable for this purpose 

 on account of its being a legume, and one crop can be removed 

 and the second turned under. On strong soils no fertilizing, ex- 

 cept green manuring, may be needed for several years. 



