496 Reading-Course for Farmers. 



fertilizer the following. About five to ten tons per acre is a good dress- 

 ing. The most convenient time for applying it is in the spring before 

 growth starts and while the ground is still hard enough to drive on. 

 Spread it evenly over the entire surface. Do not heap it beneath the 

 trees. 



Commercial fertilizer. — A fertilizer rich in potash and phosphoric 

 acid is desirable for the orchard. Nitrogen is also a necessary element, 

 but for orchard work is less important than potash. Moreover, if 

 sufficient barnyard manure is applied and cover crops are grown, the 

 nitrogen will be furnished in sufficient quantities through these agencies. 



That potash is an important element of fertilizer, is shown from 

 the fact that it constitutes a large proportion of the ash of the wood of 

 a fruit tree and more than fifty per cent of the ash of the fruit, besides 

 forming the base of the well-known fruit acids. At the present time 

 muriate of potash is the best form in which to secure a supply. About 

 two hundred pounds per acre is a good dressing. Another good source 

 of potash for orchard work is wood ashes, providing it has not been 

 weakened b}^ leaching. Often, however, the hard wood ashes which 

 are bought on the market contain only about one-half as much potash 

 as they should. 



Phosphoric acid is obtained in the form of high grade superphosphate 

 and the bone compound. It is probably less important in fruit plan- 

 tations than potash, although this order is reversed in general farming. 

 Two hundred pounds of ground bone and one hundred pounds of South 

 Carolina rock superphosphate in connection with the muriate of potash, 

 as recommended above, form a good commercial fertilizer for the orchard. 



Cover crops. — ^The cover crop is not only a fertilizer, but it also provides 

 a mulch, and when plowed under the following spring improves the 

 physical condition of the land by adding humus. The kinds of cover 

 crops best suited for orchard work are mammoth clover, vetch and 

 crimson clover of the leguminous plants, and buckwheat, r}'e and oats 

 of the non-leguminous. 



A Five-Year Plan of Orchard Management. 



In order to combine the subject of fertilization and tillage and also 

 to simplify the problem of the grower, the following five-year plan of 



