EXPERIMENT STATION REPORTS. 197 



REPORT OF THE HORTICULTURAL SECTION. 



To Director R. S. Shaw, 

 East Lansing, Michigan. 



Dear Sir: 



The past year was characterized by quite an expansion in the experimental 

 work in horticulture which has been facilitated by the services of Dr. N. L. 

 Partridge who joined the department, September 1, 1921, and by Mr. R. E. 

 Marshall who began his services, September 15, 1921, and who is giving part 

 time to experimental work ; also by the greater facilities afforded by the acqui- 

 sition of the Graham Horticultural Experiment Station property. 



The fundamental problem in Michigan horticulture today is that of in- 

 creasing the production and quality of our bearing orchards and vineyards. 

 It is rather a problem of increasing the production of the present acreage than 

 of promoting increased plantings. With this idea in mind this department is 

 concerned largely in experimental work that will lead to the production of 

 larger and better crops of fruit from present plantings. Spraying, pruning, 

 fertilizing and plant selection are lines of particular importance from this 

 standpoint. 



During the past year the College has rented on a five year contract, five acres 

 of a vineyard on the farm of Mr. Carl Buskirk, Paw Paw, Michigan, for 

 experimental work in fertilizing and pruning grapes. This project was 

 requested by the Horticultural Experimental Committee of the State Horti- 

 cultural Society, there being a pressing demand at the present time for infor- 

 mation on the proper fertilization of grapes and the most ideal system of 

 pruning in relation to fertilization. Much of the time of Dr. Partridge has 

 been spent, since the beginning of the growing season this spring, making 

 general studies of these projects, a detailed outline of which together with 

 the other experimental projects of this section have already been pre- 

 sented to you. 



The section has been very largely interested in experimental projects 

 in relation to the fertilization of bearing orchards. Some forty or fifty ferti- 

 lizer tests were carried on in cooperation with the extension force in Michigan 

 orchards the past year. The outstanding fact in relation to these results 

 was the beneficial effects of quickly available nitrogenous fertilizers applied 

 early in the growing season to nearly all of the orchards where efficient culti- 

 vation was practiced. In the orchards where trees were in sod practically no 

 results were obtained from the use of fertilizers. It is the opinion of the writer 

 that this was due to the dry weather which characterized the growing season. 

 There was, therefore, an insuflacient supply of soil moisture in uncultivated 

 orchards to make this fertilizer available to the trees. We believe that by 

 these tests throughout the fruit sections we are demonstrating the general 

 need of fertilizing fruit crops to increase production and also the necessity 

 of orchard cultivation or mulching to insure a bountiful supply of soil mois- 

 ture. 



As a result of these tests the past two years, our growers are using far more 

 fertilizer than ever before and we expect to see this practice greatly increased 

 in the near future. These fertilizer tests are made not simply to induce fruit 



