RECLAIMING A BARREN ORCHARD. 



229 



Then wait. 



In the beginning mineral fertilizers were 

 used on all the orchards, except certain 

 rows which were reserved as checks — for 

 experimental purposes — in that part of the 

 orchard that had never been manured. As 

 the expected benefits from the use of these 

 fertilizers did not appear they were grad- 

 ually abandoned except on certain rows 

 near the check rows, upon which the use 

 of the fertilizers has been continued up to 

 the present time for experiment. 



The results of this fertilizer experiment 

 have thus far been entirely negative, and it 

 has been valuable chiefly in emphasizing 

 the importance of certain other factors in 

 the renovation of these orchards. It is 

 shown conclusively that the mineral ele- 

 ments were not deficient in this soil, and 

 if they were not formerly available it was 

 probably due to the poor soil-conditions, 

 and to a lack of a regular and abundant 

 supply of moisture. Improved soil con- 

 ditions and the increased supply of mois- 

 ture have rendered these elements more 

 available, and the healthy leafage — due 

 largely to spraying — enabled the tree to 

 make profitable use of them. 



The greatly increased vigor and fruitful- 

 ness of these orchards, continued through 

 a term of years, furnish very convincing 

 evidence of the value of these methods — 

 good tillage, cover crops, pruning, spray- 



ing. While it may be possible under 

 other conditions to pursue quite a differ- 

 ent course with favorable results, yet the 

 objects to be attained must be essentially 

 the same under all circumstances. The 

 tree itself must be protected from its ene- 

 mies, and food and moisture must be 

 abundant and available, the leafage must 

 have sufficient exposure to sunlight, and 

 the fruit must be protected from parasitic 

 injury. 



Perhaps no better testimony in regard 

 to the results can be presented than a 

 statement of the actual amount of fruit 

 produced during the six years, beginning 

 with 1895, the year following the adoption 

 of these methods, and including three 

 "bearing" and three " off " years. The 

 total amount of fruit sold during that time 

 was 35,672 bushels — an average of nearly 

 6,000 bushels per year — ^the smallest crop 

 being about 3,000 bushels. Of the total 

 amount 78.5 per cent., or 9,337 barrels, 

 was classed and sold as No. i fruit. 



Further evidence of the effectiveness 

 and value of these methods is found in the 

 fact that the farmers of the vicinity have 

 almost without exception adopted them, 

 and are practising them more or less thor- 

 oughly, with a very marked increase in 

 the health and productiveness of their or- 

 chards. — Willis T. Mann, in Country Life 

 in America. 



W. H. Bunting, St. Catharines, writes to the Sun 



The cherry crop is somewhat in doubt ; trees 

 blossomed well, and it is thought that the very 

 early and late blooming sorts will show fair crops, 

 while midsummer kinds are seriously injured by 

 the frost. 



Peaches and plums are in somewhat the same 

 condition, some varieties in some localities having 

 escaped injury, while in other cases the damage is 

 quite serious, more especially with regard to the 

 Japan plums and the yellow fleshed peaches of the 

 Crawford type. 



The opening buds of the grape were in some 

 cases cut off to the extent of 50 per cent , but as 

 the season is early it is probable that beyond re- 

 ducing the crop to a moderate deg^ree. unless 

 further injury from rot or mildew follows, there 

 will be a fair crop of this valuable fruit. The area 

 under g^ape culture is rapidly increasing.' 



It is a little early to speak with any degree of 

 assurance regarding the apple and pear crops, but 

 present indications point to a large production of 

 these standard fruits. 



