26 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



eraL into which staple varieties is unloaded. The other is special and 

 somewhat restricted, because it demands high class products, both as 

 to quality and conditions. 



In catering to these demands, the grower should recognize the prin- 

 ciple that there are certain zones which have the conditions of soil 

 and climate that favor the highest development of certain varieties. 

 It is probable that nowhere in the country does Ben Davis attain such 

 fine appearance — and such quality as it is possible for that variety to 

 develop — as in the Ozark regions of Missouri and Arkansas. If we 

 would seek the finest Northern Spys that can be grown, I am not sure 

 but the best place to find them would be along the eastern shores of 

 Lake Ontario. For Gravensteins, I would look in Nova Scotia, for 

 Baldwins in western New York, -but it is safe to say that much is yet 

 to be learned m regard to the finer adaptations of varieties. One farm 

 may produce a variety which is No. 1, in every respect, while a farm 

 nearby, but somewhat differently situated in regard to soil and aspect, 

 is much less successful in growing that same variety. So the variety 

 question from my view-point resolves itself into selecting the kind which 

 can be grown, and the one which the fruit grower desires to grow. 



The fertility question. — Among many important items of orchard 

 management, none is of more vital importance to the fruit grower than 

 the maintenance of the fertility of the soil. In years past, this question 

 did not worry the corn, grain or apple grower of Michigan or Illinois, 

 but it is a question which will come home some time or other to the 

 tiller of the most fertile lands upon which the sun shines. The fertil- 

 ity of the orchard soil may be maintained in several ways, and it is prob- 

 ably certain that no single method is best under all circumstances. 

 One man may find that a top-dressing and pastured orchard is most satis- 

 factory. Another finds that green manuring with chemical fertilizers, 

 gives excellent results, while a third pins his faith to clean tillage, sup- 

 plemented by such manures as he may be able to secure advantageous]."y 

 One of the gratifying things bearing upon the future outlook of orchard- 

 ing, is that the number of fruit growers who regard their orchards in the 

 light of a specific crop on the soil and therefore requiring direct feed- 

 ing, is growing larger each year. The problem of feeding the plant 

 is not essentially different from the problem of feeding the animal. Each 

 resolves itself into one of economy in the use of foods. The esseuiial 

 foods should be used in their proper proportions, and thus we see at 

 once the difficulties surrounding this work. The difficulty was not so 

 great in former days, when barnyard manure was more easily obtainable 

 as at the present time. In these days, the supply is limited and the 

 question arises, what substitute can be used? 



Humus needed in orehard soils. — In humus we have a substance which 

 materially assists in the breaking-down process, which in turn results in 

 the liberation of mineral as well as nitrogenous plant food. It is un- 

 necessary to review the various steps which the nitrogen of organic 

 substances undergoes while being transformed into available plant foods. 

 It is sufficient to say that these steps are described under the term, nitri- 

 fication. It is, in effect, an oxidation process, closing with the foripation 

 of a nitrate, in which form the nitrogen becomes available to the plant. 

 This is not a chemical process but a change due to the intervention 



