Experiments hi. Fruit Maiiuriny. 100i> 



EXPERIMENTS IN FRUIT MANURING.' 



/.';/ F. .1. Hou-ell Fh. 0. 



The statement that we possess far less data in connection witli 

 fruit mannring in Victoria tlian we do with regard to other staple 

 crops cannot he vised as a re])roach to the Department. 'V\\c tronhle, 

 time, and accurate methods veqnired in investigations of tiiis nature, 

 as compared with the work entailed in the less ditficnlt and less 

 lengthy experiments carried out on other farm crops, have uj) to the 

 present prevented any satisfactory scheme of co-operation between tlie 

 grower and the Department. The great obstacle has, T think, been 

 the demand on the part of the Department for the gratnitons services 

 of men avIio could not afford it, and who in the absence of immediate 

 results of advantage i-egarded such services as an unreniunerative 

 sacrifice. Elaborate ]ilans have at times been prepared by this otfice 

 emliracing a com])rehensive series of tests for the orchard. Manures 

 have been carefully weighed, mixed and bagged, and detailed in- 

 structions sent out for their proper distribution. But the apparent 

 absence of results and the contradictory nature of returns have 

 indicated either an absolute failui-e in operative effect on the ))art of 

 manures, or raised suspicions that the great work entailed in tlu- 

 separate harvesting and weighings had interfered with the proper 

 carrying out of all operations. 



Do Manures produce an Effect ? 



Testimony to the ett'ect produced by manures in tlie orchard is so 

 general that we must regard the belief as resting on solid foundations. 

 Should this be the case, there is nothing to i)revent experiments 

 carried out on a proper system resulting in valuable and instructive 

 data. The word manures takes in a very widc^ range of different 

 fertilizing materials, ft is not enough to say that manures act. We 

 rec^uire to know how each ])articular fertilizing ingredient in its 

 various forms operates, and tlie extent to which it may be recpiired 

 and is operative on our different kinds and classes of fruits. Chemical 

 analysis reveals a wide divergence in the composition of our different 

 fruits, and although the assumption that on this basis alon(> manure 

 formuhe may be drawn up is an extreme view of the case since other 

 considei-atio'ns come in, still these great differences in the composition 

 of the different fruits indicate the wide scope of exju'riment which 

 must be undertaken l)efore we can expri>ss detinite o])inions on the 

 manurial requirements of the orchard. 



*A paper prepared by me and read by Mr. F. E. Lee at the conclusion of his 

 lecture before the Victorian Fruitgrowers' Central Association. 



