Winter Meeting. 3^7 



associated with the supply of potash. \\ hilc an average grain crop 

 removes from the soil a great deal more nitrogen and phosphoric acid 

 than an average fruit crop does, the reverse is true of potash, and if 

 the soil is not rather rich in potash much more of it will need to be 

 supplied than of either of the other two elements. 



Nitrogen, when obtained in commercial form, is the most ex- 

 pensive of these elements to supply, costing about sixteen cents a 

 pound. It is supplied by nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, dried 

 blood, tankage and many other materials. Phosphorus costs about 

 four cents a pound, and is supplied by bone products, as bone meal, 

 bone black, dissolved bone, etc., and by the phosphatic rocks of the 

 southern states, especially Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida. 

 Potassium costs about four and a half cents a pound. It is obtained 

 as muriate of potash, sulphate of potash, kainit, etc., from the potash 

 mines of Strassforth, Germany, and from cotton hull ashes, wood 

 ashes, etc. Of course, it wouldn't be possible to secure wood ashes 

 for the large orchards of Missouri, but it will certainly pay to use 

 what can be obtained. Average unleached wood ashes contain about 

 one and a half per cent of phosphorus and about six per cent of 

 potash. Then at the price paid for these elements in other materials, 

 unleached wood ashes are worth about six dollars a ton, or ten cents 

 a bushel. Leached wood ashes are worth about two dollars and a half 

 a ton. Ashes supply not only the potash, but also phosphorus in 

 as large proportion as the orchadist is likely to need, and are rich 

 in lime, which is a benefit to many soils. 



For the orchardist who does not wish to grow a rather high 

 grade of fruit it usually will not pay to apply commercial fertilizers. 

 It must be remembered that there is a very large, though constantly 

 decreasing, quantity of these elements in the soil in an unavailable 

 form, and that they are continually becoming available. Good culti- 

 vation hastens this process very materially so that it will almost sup- 

 ply the needed phosphorus if not the potash and nitrogen. 



Nitrogen at any rate should very seldom be applied in commercial 

 fertilizers, for it can be supplied very much cheaper in leguminous 

 cover crops. If the orchard is not cultivated, clover may be a good 

 crop to grow. It is usually best to cultivate, though, so an annual 

 crop is much better. In the north two ideal crops for this purpose are 

 crimson clover and the vetches, especially the vetches. They may be' 

 sown after the orchard has been cultivated for the first half of the 

 season, and they will form a dense mat that stays partly green all 

 winter, thus covering the soil fertility. They do not thrive satis- 



