APPLE GROWING 



or In seasons when they have for some reason 

 failed, nitrate of soda or dried blood are good 

 substitutes. From two hundred to three hun- 

 dred pounds of one or the other of these may 

 be applied broadcast In the spring soon after 

 growth Is well started and all danger of Its be- 

 ing checked by frost or cold weather is past. 

 It Is well to apply the nitrate of soda in two 

 applications a few weeks apart, especially on 

 soils which are leachy and in wet seasons, as 

 part of the nitrogen may leach away if all is 

 applied at once. These should be thoroughly 

 worked into the soil with a spring-tooth harrow. 

 To supply the other two elements, from two 

 hundred to four hundred pounds of treated 

 rock phosphate or basic slag for the phosphoric 

 acid, and the same amount of sulphate of potash 

 for the potash, should be applied at any time 

 in the early part of the season, preferably 

 just before a light rain, and worked into the soil 

 as before. Home-made wood ashes are a good 

 source of both these elements, and especially of 

 the potash. They cannot be purchased econo- 

 mically in any quantity, but on the general farm 

 there could be no better way to utilize the wood 

 ashes made around the place than by applying 

 them two or three bushels to a full grown tree 



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