MANAGEMENT 49 



ing. Still the promotion of a more vigorous wood 

 growth is precisely what is needed in many 

 orchards, and in such cases barnyard manure might 

 be the very thing to be prescribed. It has the great 

 advantage, further, of bringing a considerable sup- 

 ply of humus or vegetable matter to the soil, and 

 that is usually an important item. As a rule barn- 

 yard manure is not an economical fertilizer for fruit 

 trees except when used in moderate quantities and 

 in connection with mineral fertilizers bearing phos- 

 phoric acid and potash. It is better for apples and 

 plums than for other fruits. It is of doubtful value for 

 peaches, special cases aside ; while on pears it is 

 actually dangerous from the fact that the extra 

 growth it induces is especially liable to attacks of 

 the pear blight. 



Lime, while not considered primarily as a fer- 

 tilizer, is often very valuable in orchards. Many 

 otherwise excellent fruit lands are "sour," that is, 

 the soil has a surplus of acid. This extra acidity is 

 highly detrimental to the growth of fruit trees, and 

 should be corrected. The most important correc- 

 tions are lime, cultivation and drainage. Lime may 

 be used at the rate of one ton to the acre, sometimes 

 more, or occasionally less. 



Wood ashes are frequently recommended in glow- 

 ing terms as peculiarly suited to the feeding of fruit 

 trees. This suitability is more fancied than real. 

 While they are excellent when properly used and 

 reinforced with other fertilizers, they are generally 

 omitted entirely from the orders of well-informed 

 fruit men. The real reason for this is simply that 

 the same quantity of good plant food may nearly 

 always be bought in some other form at a much 

 lower price. Wood ashes contain chiefly potash 



