January, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Orchard Fertilizers 



"2 A. W. Cook, Guelph, Ont. 



FERTILIZERS must be understood 

 — their nature, their contents, 

 their time of application, and 

 what results they will produce. These 

 being understood by the grower, he 

 can use them without fear as to the 

 ultimate results, and each year will 

 see him using them in larger quanti- 

 ties, thus making his manure go far- 

 ther, which will not only sn-able him 

 to produce more, but to produce at a 

 reduction in cost. Fertilizers in the 

 commercial sense are destined to play 

 an increasing part in our fruit grow- 

 ing business, and the sooner we get 

 acquainted, the sooner shall we be 

 enabled to make our investment in the 

 fruit growing industry pay us maxi- 

 mum returns at a minimum expense. 



To use our various brands of manu- 

 factured and mineral fertilizers, econo- 

 mically and with profit, it is essential 

 that the fruit grower be conversant with 

 the nature of fertilizers, whether they 

 are conductive to tree growth, or whe- 

 ther they shall be to produce fruit, or to 

 aid the tree in assimiliating plant foods 

 in larger quantities. He must know his 

 soil, and what it is deficient in. He 

 must understand the availability of 

 the plant foods in the fertilizer, be- 

 cause to a large extent, it is only the 

 available plant foods which are of 

 actual value to the purchaser of fer- 

 tilizers. Without an understanding of 

 these principles, many will risk the 

 possibility of wasting time and money, 

 and experiencing a sad failure in the 

 uses of commercial fertilizers. 



Commercial fertilizers may be pur- 

 chased in many forms. They may be 

 had in special brands for special crops, 

 01- they can be purchased separately, 

 each plant food by itself. We have 

 advocates, who strongly uphold the 

 use of fertilizers in both the prepared 

 and the mineral, Avhich are mixed by 

 the user. As a genei-al rule a saving 

 from four to ten dollars can be saved 

 , by using fertilizers such as nitrate soda 

 and acid phosphate, and mixing one's 

 own fertilizers during the winter 

 months. This can be best done by the 

 use of a cement mixer. It can be mixed 

 both by hand or power, and gives most 

 satisfactory results in most instances. 

 By using fertilizers in this way, the 

 fruit grower is able to apply just what 

 his land requires. He can supply 

 greater quantities of nitrogen or phos- 

 phoru.s— and until the outbreak of the 

 war — potash, by home mixing. It is 

 not necessary to purchase so many spe- 

 cial brands for special crops. The 

 strongest advocates for "home mix- 

 ing" are often those men who have 

 used the factory prepared fertilizers, 

 and in an experimental way tried the 

 home mixing. The result is that they 



are still users of home-mixed fertilizers. 



We are only concerned in four plant 

 foods, because of early depletion from 

 continuous cropping. These are gen- 

 erally known as nitrogen, potash, phos- 

 phorus, and calcium or lime. They are 

 to be had in nitrate soda, sulphate 

 ammonia, muriate and sulphate potash, 

 acid phosphate and bone meal. Lime 

 comes in the form of quick lime, car- 

 bonate of lime, and marl. 



Nitrogen forces the growth and pro- 

 duces thriftiness; without. its presence 

 in our soils, our orchards would make 

 but little growth. Large sized leaves 

 of a dark green color indicate its pres- 

 ence in quantit}'. 



Phosphorus aids the tree in assimi- 

 lating other plant foods. It also as- 

 sists in transporting the various foods 

 to each section of the tree. Without 

 its presence we have a poorly devel- 

 oped tree. 



Potash produces fruit; hence the 

 necessity of an abundant supply. 



Calcium hardens and makes our trees 

 sturdy, enabling them to bear the 

 crops of fruit. It is of great import- 

 ance to-day, because it breaks down 

 the crude potash in our soils making it 

 available for the trees. It is also essen- 

 tial for correcting acidity in sour soils. 



A Lesson Learnt. 



The use of commercial fertilizers 

 without the addition of humus in some 

 form has taught us that it is not con- 

 ducive to the upkeep of our soil. 

 Humus in such forms as barnyard ma- 

 nure and green cover crops helps us 



A FAITHFUL READEk. 



I have been a subscriber to 

 The Canadian Horticulturist for 

 39 years and am much pleased 

 with the magazine, as I find it 

 very instructive. — R. McLagan, 

 Stratford, Ont. 



to obtain the most satisfactory results, 

 because they give our soils a greater 

 capacity for retaining water, which is 

 so essential to all plant growth. They 

 supply the necessary organic matter 

 which goes to keep our soils in a por- 

 ous condition so that we may obtain a 

 good circulation of air within our soils. 

 Without its addition in the practice of 

 applying commercial fertilizers, our 

 soils will soon cease to be profitable 

 because of the depleted organic matter. 

 Systematic cultivation must invari- 

 ably accompany the use of manures 

 and fertilizers, but it must also be re- 

 membered that one cannot take the 

 place of the other. Cultivation is 

 essential, because it helps to make oui' 

 fertilizers more available, by the thor- 

 ough incoi'porating of them within the 

 soil, hence making the plant's food 

 within easy reach of its multitude of 

 roots. It also assists the climatic con- 

 ditions in breaking down some of the 

 insoluble foods by bringing them in 

 contact with the action of the sun, rain 

 and winds. 



Application of Fertilizers. 



The time and manner of application 

 requires more serious thought than has 

 generally been given to these essential 



A profitable crop of strawberries grown last season by Mr. S. B. Chute, Berwick, N.S. 

 Ohute Is a flrra believer in the benerflts derived from the use of commercial fertHlxers. 



Mr. 



