324 TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY REPoRT. 
investigations elsewhere that the superiority of commercial ferti- - 
lizers over stable manure for light soils, and the superiority of the 
stable manure over the commercial fertilizers for heavy soils holds 
in a general way for all plants and all localities. 
WOOD ASHES AND APPLE SCAB. 
The only other investigation** to determine the effects of any 
fertilizer on horticultural crops was an experiment to determine 
if applications of wood ashes to the soil in apple orchards would 
prevent or lessen apple scab. The writer states that this experi- 
ment was started owing to suggestions on the part of the members 
of the Western New York Horticultural Society, some of whom 
were strongly of the opinion that the condition of the soil in which 
trees were growing was largely responsible for their susceptibility 
or immunity to apple scab. It is noted that this was contrary to 
the results of the investigations previously made, which had appar- 
ently shown that the prevalence of scab depended on the variety 
and the weather during the growing season, and particularly dur- 
ing the blooming period. 
The varieties treated were Baldwin, Fall Pippin, Rhode Island 
Greening, Roxbury and Northern Spy. This experiment extended 
over five years. ‘“ The results show that with the conditions under 
which this investigation was made, liberal applications of hard- 
wood ashes to the soil did not increase the immunity of the apples 
from scab. Whether the results would be the same on soil, which 
is naturally very deficient in potash, remains to be demonstrated.” 
Aside from the negative effects of the ashes as a fungus pre- 
ventive, an improvement was noted in the color of the fruit in 
practically all the varieties. The effects on the keeping quality 
were very contradictory and it is impossible to draw any conclu- 
sions. The majority of the evidence, however, indicates that the 
applications of ashes slightly extend the keeping time of the fruit. 
Some interesting observations are made on the differences in struct- 
ure observed in the skin of the fruit in resistant varieties as com- 
pared with less resistant varieties. The writer says: “ Fall Pippin 
makes itself conspicuous each year by taking front rank among the 
varieties which are susceptible to this disease, while Maiden Blush, 
even in a most unfavorable season, has comparatively little of the 
disease.” Other resistant varieties are Ben Davis, Grimes, and 
** Rpt. 16:316 (1897). 
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