THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



Floral Edition. 



A display of vegetables, cra.ted and open pack, made at the recent L.atnibton County 

 Horticultural Exhibition, held in Sarnia, Ont. 



points. In our apple orchards we have 

 a considerable length of tinae after 

 planting has taken place before the 

 trees begin to make demands upon the 

 soil, and because of this the tree, as a 

 general rule, manages to make suffi- 

 cient growth upon soils of general fer- 

 tility without the addition of manure. 

 The peach and such quick growing 

 trees require fertilizing from the time 

 of planting. However, an over-supply 

 of nitrogen in the case of peaches is 

 apt to prolong growth, with the re- 

 sult, that in some sections of Ontario 

 there is twig freezing, because of the 

 immature condition of the tree. In 

 applying fertilizers or manure to 

 young trees, it must be remembered to 

 plough them under. If not, the growth 

 of the roots is towards the surface, 

 where their food is, and during times 

 of drought they suffer because of an 

 insufficient supply of moisture. Also 

 when ploughing takes place a great 

 many are severed because of their close- 

 ness to the surface of the soil. 



Continuous cropping from year to 

 year, exacting from the soil plant 

 foods in the same quantity, places a 

 handicap against the fruit grower. 

 The farmer by a rotation of his crops 

 can build up his soil, but the fruit 

 trees' demand for certain foods is con- 

 tinuous, hence the necessity of an an- 

 nual amount of manure and fertilizers 

 to produce fruit. 



With a slow maturing fruit, such as 

 the apple, some of our fertilizers which 

 become available slowly can be used. 

 These are in the form of tankages, bone 

 meal, etc., but with such fruits as the 

 peach, we must invariably supply quick 

 acting fertilizers, because they come 

 into maturity earlier in the season. It 



has been determined by various ex- 

 perimenters that trees which have 

 been properly fertilized, have been 

 able to produce larger quantities of 

 fruit in adverse seasons than the unfer- 

 tilized ones. This is because the trees 

 have been enabled, by the liberal use 

 of plant foods, to make them stronger 

 and less susceptible to adverse condi- 

 tions which make other trees unprofit- 

 able in such seasons. Because of the 

 usages of manures and fertilizers we 

 find that such trees bear profitable 

 crops for a greater length of time. All 

 stone fruits require greater quantities 

 of lime than our seeded fruits. 

 Experiment First. 

 It is well to experiment in one's own 

 orchard to determine the nature and 

 amount of fertilizers and manures 

 which can be used most profitably. If 

 one desires to use cover crops to sup- 

 ply the nitrogen and organic matter, 

 he can best supply this in the clovers, 

 and generally the use of mineral fer- 

 tilizers will prove most satisfactory in 

 such an experiment, because one can 

 supply them in any given amounts as 

 he deems it necessary. He can also 

 have a better idea of each individual 

 plant food, and see more clearly the 

 results from the same. Plots can be 

 laid off in a section where the soil is 

 most uniform, also where the trees are 

 as near alike as possible, both as to 

 variety and size. On these plots one 

 can use both manures and fertilizers 

 together, also try each plant food by 

 itself, or in conjunction with others. 

 In the application of nitrate of soda, 

 it should be applied in three applica- 

 tions, because it is immediately avail- 

 able. In supplying potash, wood ashes 

 will have to supply the necessary pot- 



ash, but be sure and apply only those 

 which have not been bleached. Defin- 

 ite results cannot be determined in two 

 years. An experiment of this nature 

 helps one to get a broader view of fer- 

 tilizers and their uses, and besides one 

 learns at a small expense ; neither does 

 one run the risk of losing money by 

 their careless use. 



We hear a great deal about the scar- 

 city of potash, and if the situation was 

 as alarming as some would have us be- 

 lieve, we certainly would have cause 

 to worry. A year has passed without 

 its use to a large extent, and manj' 

 of us have as' large crops as ever. In 

 the most of our soils we generally have 

 from one to two per cent, of potash, 

 this being equivalent to twenty thou- 

 sand pounds per acre to a plough 

 depth. However, as it is in a crude 

 form, we must resort to other agents 

 to break it down so that it may become 

 available. This is done by the applica- 

 tion of lime, along with barnyard ma- 

 nures, or cover crops. The lime has- 

 tens the decay of cover crops, which 

 form aids to break up the crude pot- 

 ash. In appl^^ng lime to sandy lands, 

 it should not be applied at more than 

 one thousand two hundred pounds per 

 acre in about every four years. Thor- 

 oughly air-slacked lime, or the ground 

 lime stone rock are the safesrt, forms 

 to use, as they do not hasten the decay 

 of our organic matter, as other forms 

 of lime do. Lime should be applied 

 during the fall or early winter, so as 

 to obtain best results. 



Fertilizers Have Paid 



L. D. Robinson, Berwick, N.S. 



Probably no farmer in Canada has 

 used so much commercial fertilizer as 

 S. B. Chute. He has demonstrated the 

 fact that these chemical manures can 

 take the place of stable manure in or- 

 dinary farm operations. His magnifi- 

 cent orchards have been built up al- 

 most wholly by their use. Only dur- 

 ing the past few years has he been able 

 to use any considerable quantity of 

 stable manure. His main dependence 

 has been, and still is, commercial fer- 

 tilizers. He has tried them all — bone- 

 meal, acid phosphate, basic slag, mu- 

 riate and sulphate potash, nitrate of 

 soda, sulphate of ammonia, fish scrap, 

 and others. He believes in using lib- 

 eral quantities of these manures. For 

 the present he has almost discontinued 

 th€ use of potash, in the belief that 

 his soil is not in need of that element. 



Nitrogen is supplied by using ni- 

 trate of soda at the rate of 100—200 

 lbs. yearly per acre, about the time 

 when the buds are bursting. Phos- 

 phoric acid is supplied either in the 

 form of acid phosphate at the rate of 

 300 — 500 lbs. per acre ; bone at the rate 

 of 350 — 400 lbs. per acre; or slag at 

 the rate of 500—1,000 lbs. per acre. 



