TIVENTIETH ANNUAL MEETING. 177 



Question number 8 : "What results have been obtained 

 by using- basic slag on apples and peaches?" 



Vice-President Drew : There are other people here 

 more competent to answer it, or answer it a good deal better 

 than I can. There is Air. Barnes, of Barnes Brothers, you 

 have seen their fruit, and I believe he is a large user of basic 

 slag, in fact, I think most of the large growers in Connecticut 

 are using it in preference to acid phosphate. For myself, I 

 have used it for the last five years on peaches and apples, and 

 I thoroughly believe in it. You hear a lot of people telling 

 about using lime on fruit lands. And if you can get it in that 

 connection, why, basic slag would be good, too, from 17 to 

 19 per cent of phosphoric acid, and anywhere from 30 to 50 

 per cent of lime. And the experiment stations tell us when 

 they use this Wagener method of analysis you have about 16 

 per cent of that, that is available, (that is phosphoric acid), 

 and the basic slag is soluble, and that is what is now sold. 

 For all practical purposes it is just as valuable. And I take 

 it from the orders that all these large people in Connecticut 

 are giving, and the amount they are using, that they believe 

 in it. There is one thing about it that hasn't been mentioned, 

 and that is that basic slag contains a large amount of iron, 

 and a lot of people think that may account for the very deep 

 green color it gives to the foliage. Of course, a certain amount 

 of iron and phosphate might help that. Now there is a 

 question, will basic slag help color the fruit ? I think, myself, 

 it is in particularly good form to do that. All other condi- 

 tions being favorable, I think it will aid in gettingr a good 

 color on the fruit, and I think that is one of the greatest 

 problems in New England. I think basic slag, in connection 

 with potash, is the best fertilizing element to use. 



A Member : How does it compare in price with acid 

 phosphate ? 



'Mr. Drew : I don't know, I don't buy acid phosi)hate, 

 so I don't know what the price is. I imagine slag is $13 or 

 $14 a ton, and I should imagine where you buy it in large 

 quantities it is even cheaper than that. The growers in Con- 



