MANURING AND FERTILIZING 



merit on a small scale before using fertilizers 

 extensively. 



Stable Manure. — The necessary plant 

 food Is best supplied by stable manure applied 

 at the rate of ten loads per acre for a light 

 application to twenty loads per acre for a heavy 

 application. This amounts to a load for from 

 two to five mature trees. Such an application 

 will not only go far toward supplying the neces- 

 sary nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash, but 

 especially if coarse will add considerable humus 

 and Improve the physical condition of the soil. 



Except on land which washes badly, manure 

 should be applied In the fall and winter. It 

 should not be piled near the trunk of the tree 

 but spread uniformly over the entire surface of 

 the ground. It Is particularly Important to 

 spread the manure under and beyond the far- 

 thest extent of the branches as this is the most 

 important feeding root area of the tree. 



Commercial Fertilizers. — Where manure 

 is not available or where it cannot be applied 

 insufficient amounts, commercial fertilizers may 

 be resorted to, after they have been experiment- 

 ally tested out. Leguminous cover crops 

 are the best source of nitrogen, as has been 

 indicated, but where these do not grow well, 



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