159 



to standing trees, much niore than the damage done similar for- 

 ests in the Franco- Prussian war. Equally serious will be the 

 havoc wrought by forest fires. These will be set not only by 

 accident, but also purposely in order to harass the enemy. This 

 was the case in the forest of Compiegne, which is said to have 

 been fired by the British in order to drive out the Germans. 

 While the fire may have been effective from this point of view, it 

 also doubtless destroyed very largely the natural beauty of the 

 famous forest and seriously disarranged the carefully laid plans 

 for its management. If the war lasts as long as experts predict, 

 it is certain that large sections of the forests in which the armies 

 will operate will be cut down for firewood. To date it is evident 

 that there has been much cutting of young growth to use as 

 screens in hiding entrenchments and masking batteries. Cathe- 

 drals and other edifices are not the only objects that have been 

 devastated. Like the cities and towns, the forests will for many 

 years bear unmistakable evidence of the ravages of war, and in 

 many cases the damage done them will take much longer to repair. 



MANURING FRUIT TREES. 



For maintaining fruit trees in bearing, in health and vigor, 

 and enabling them to bear heavy crops of fruit, it is essential that 

 they be properly nourished. 



In practice, this is generally ensured by application of fer- 

 tilizers. 



In order to better understand the subject, it is worth the fruit- 

 grower's while to unearth this knowledge himself, in his own 

 orchard. 



There are three ingredients which need to be furnished through 

 the medium of fertilizers — namely, potash, phosphoric acid, and 

 nitrogen. The remaining essential plant food constituents are 

 usually present in the soil in abundant quantity, and need not be 

 supplied. Adverting to these three important constituents, it is 

 generally safer, when the fruit-grower is not properly conversant 

 with the tree's requirements on his particular land, to apply all 

 three. A one-sided manuring is not a profitable manuring, and is 

 not productive of the best results. 



In order to ascertain the requirements of fruit trees in his 

 orchard, the fruit-grower is recommended to experiment ; in other 

 words, manure certain rows of trees in the orchard with dif- 

 ferent manurial dressings and closely observe the results with 

 regard to yield, size, color, appearance, flavor, and keeping qual- 

 ities of the fruit produced, and also the appearance, vigor and 

 disease-resistant properties of the trees, and, not the least im- 

 portant, the profits accruing from their application. 



The beginner should remember that potassic fertilizers supply 

 potash phosphatic fertilizers, phosphoric acid ; and nitrogenous 

 fertilizers, nitrogen respectively. 



