316 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



fresh ashes can not be obtained, two or three times the quantity mentioned 

 of leached ashes would have a marked effect. Wood ashes have a tendency 

 to solidify and compact the soil, hence they are excellent on light land, but 

 care should be taken not to use them to excess on heavy soils. 



Coal ashes have a similar effect on the physical condition of sandy soils, 

 and may be used for this purpose, but they do not furnish any food for 

 plants, that is of value. 



For young trees, the quantities mentioned are much too large, unless 

 the fertilizers are to be applied broadcast for other crops, but, in old bear- 

 ing orchards, the amounts can often be increased with profit, and they 

 should be spread over the entire soil, as the feeding roots of the plants 

 are, for the most part, outside a circle ten feet in diameter drawn around 

 the tree. 



Where potash is needed iu the soil, as is frequently the case with bear- 

 ing orchards, and wood ashes can not be obtained, it can be secured as 

 muriate or sulphate of potash. These are waste materials from German 

 salt mines, and sell at about $40.00 per ton for the muriate and $25.00 for 

 the latter, the price varying with the amount of potash they contain. It is 

 from these salts that the manufacturers of the high-grade commercial ferti- 

 lizers obtain their potash. 



Two hundred pounds of muriate of potash will supply an abundance of 

 potash for a bearing orchard, if the soil is moderately rich, while a much 

 smaller quantity will generally have a very marked effect on young trees. 

 The other materials most likely to be needed by trees, and in fact by all 

 crops, are nitrogen and phosphorus, and in case stable manure is not readily 

 obtainable to supply them, recourse can often be had with profit, to chemi- 

 cal fertilizers. As a rule, the best source for nitrogen is in the form of 

 nitrate of soda or, as it is commonly called, Chili saltpetre. This costs 

 from $45.00 to $50.00 per ton at the sea-board, and, as not over 100 pounds 

 per acre are usually required, the expense is not great. Among the other 

 materials rich in nitrogen, are sulphate of ammonia, a waste product of 

 gas houses, and dried blood, etc., from slaughter houses. 



As a source of phosphoric acid, fine ground bone is largely used, 

 although dissolved bone black will give quicker effects. 



From 200 to 400 pounds of these materials per acre should Be enough. 



As a fornmla for mixing the above materials, for an acre of apples or 

 other fruits, we would then have 



50 to 100 pounds nitrate of soda. 

 100 to 200 pounds muriate of potash. 

 200 to 400 pounds ground bone. 



If 50 to 100 bushels of unleached wood ashes could be obtained, they 

 would more than take the place of the potash, and would supply perhaps 

 one half of the phosphoric acid required. 



Before using any chemical fertilizers to any extent, it is well to test the 

 effect of each of the above materials on separate plats, in order to learn 

 if they have any effect. Oftentimes one or more of them will be found 

 to be present in sufficiently large quantities, and if more was applied it 

 would only be wasted. 



The soluble chemicals should only be applied in the spring, or, better 

 yet, after growth has commenced; they should generally be scattered 



