394 



State Horticultural Society. 



It will be observed that the peach requires a larger amount of 

 plant food per acre than any of the other classes of fruit, with the apple 

 second, and then a large decline occurs to the pear and the plum, which 

 did not differ materially. 



It is of further interest to note that the amounts of nitrogen and 

 potash used by a given kind of fruit tree are essentially the same, i. e., 

 the tree requires these two elements of plant food in about the same 

 amounts. The trees require only about one-fourth as many pounds 

 of phosphoric acid as of nitrogen' or of potash. "In mc^t commercial 

 fertilizers recommended for fruit trees, phosphoric acid is present in 

 proportions about four times the nitrogen. This is douiMies'-. on l!".e 

 assumption that the soil contains more nitrogen relatively than phos- 

 phoric acid, which may or may not be true in individual cases. The 

 question may be raised as tC' whether quantities of phosphoric acid arc 

 not frequently applied mucli in excess of the actual need of a season'i- 

 crop."* 



AMOUNTS OF PLANT FOOD USED PER ACRE r.V DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE TREE. 



Referring again to the use to which the tree puts the plant food, 

 as shown in the previous table, it will be of interest to observe the fol- 

 lowing data:* 



AMOUNTS OF PLANT FOOD USED PER ACRE BY THE DIFFERENT PRODUCTS OF 



THE TREE. 



Part of tree. 



Kind of 

 fruit tree. 



Nitrogen 

 lbs. 



Phos. acid 



{P-20b) 



lbs. 



Potash 

 ( K20) 

 lbs. 



Lime 



(UaO) 



lbs. 



Magnesia 



(MkO) 



lbs. 



Fruit . 



Leaves. 



Apple. 

 Peat-h. 

 Pear... 

 Plum.. 



New wood. 



Apple. 

 Peaeh. 

 Pear... 

 Plum.. 



Apple. 

 Peach. 

 Pear. . . 

 Plum.. 



6 4 

 4.1 

 2.6 

 3.0 



1B.3 



28.5 



7.2 



8.5 



0.6 

 2.6 

 1.1 

 L5, 



In respect to the amounts of plant food used per acre by the fruit 

 of the different varieties of trees, the amounts of nitrogen, phosphoric 

 acid and potash in the different fruits are in about the following order : 



*N,ew? York, Experini,eat StatLon. Bulletin, No..2(ij. 



