FORTY-FIRST ANNUAL REPORT. 125 



A Member — Would it not be better to buy dry blood than nitrate of 

 soda? If a rain comes right afterward, where will it go? 



Prof. Patten — I don't believe in putting fertilizers on a very porous, 

 loose soil without 3'ou use cover crops to get humus into the soil, and if 

 you put on dry blood perhaps it would not wash out so readily as ni- 

 trate of soda. But I wish to emphasize the necessity of getting humus 

 into the soil before you do this. 



A Member — We have had an experience here and found out by putting 

 on a 2-8-10 fertilizer we were able to get a good catch of clover which 

 we could not do before. 



Prof. Patten — Perhaps your soil condition was such that this was 

 made possible. 



A Member — Is there any difference in what form you buy phosphoric 

 acid — say ground bone or rock for orchard use? 



Prof. Patten — Do you mean the raw rock and untreated bone? 



A Member — I mean as fertilizer is usually treated. 



Prof. Patten — There is not a bit of difference in the phosphoric acid 

 of bone and raw rock after they have been treated with acid. The un- 

 treated bone or raw bone is considered to be more available than the raw 

 rock. 



A Member — How shall we know when our apple orchard needs jiotash 

 and phosphoric acid? And if our orchards are bearing good crops, 

 about how much would you put on per acre? 



Prof. Patten — I don't know whether I can give you a very decisive 

 answer because the experience has been so varied — it depends upon the 

 locality, the soil you have, etc. So far as I know, there is no way that 

 you can tell when an apple orchard is in need of phosphoric acid or 

 potash; that is from the appearance of the fruit or leaves. You can 

 tell as far as nitrogen is concerned by the appearance of the foliage. 

 When the foliage is looking yellowish or yellowish-green it is in need 

 of nitrogen, but as I said before I do not know of any way to tell from 

 the appearance of the foliage or the appearance of the fruit whether it 

 is in need of potash or phosphoric acid. Some think that potash will 

 color up the fruit, but I do not believe that has been proven. Prof. 

 Green may be able to give information on that point. 



Prof. Green — I am not able to give any information on that point. 

 In our work we have no evidence that potash colors the fruit. 



A Member — What does potash do? 



Prof. Patten — ^Well, one of the functions of potash is to stiffen up the 

 woody part of the plant, when, for instance, your wheat or oats make a 

 big growth of stalk, it is an indication that there is lots of nitrogen in 

 the soil. Under these conditions, if the grain lodges and does not come 

 up again it is a good sign that the soil is deficient in available potash, 

 and its application would have stiffened up the stalks and prevented 

 lodging. Another thing, it aids in the formation of the starch and the 

 transfer of the starch in one form to another. 



A Member — If your fruit was green and inclined to be soft and 

 spongy, would that indicate that potash might be used to overcome 

 this difficulty? And on the other hand, if it is firm and red, would that 

 indicate that it has a sufficient amount of potash, on your theory of the 

 action that it hardens up the texture? 



Prof. Patten — I would not make any definite statement on that point. 



