FERTILIZERS IN THE VINEYARD AND ORCHARD 319 



is a general fault with inexperienced planters. On very fertile soil even a 



wider distance will be better. 



ANALYSIS OF THE APPLE TREE AND ITS PRODUCTS. 



Apple leaves collected in May contain water, 72.36 per cent.; ash, 2.33 

 per cent. ; nitrogen, 0.74 per cent. ; phosphoric acid, 0.25 per cent., and potash, 

 0.25 per cent. Collected in September they contain water, 60.71 per cent. ; 

 ash, 3.46 per cent.; nitrogen, 0.89 per cent.; phosphoric acid, 0.19 per cent., 

 and potash, 0.39 per cent. The fruit of the apple contains 85.30 per cent, 

 of water, 0.39 per cent, of ash, 0.13 per cent, of nitrogen, 0.01 per cent, of 

 phosphoric- acid and 0.19 per cent, of potash. The wood of the whole tree, 

 roots and branches, averages 60.83 per cent water, 1.50 per cent, ash, 0.35 per 

 cent, nitrogen, 0.05 per cent, phosphoric acid, and 0.17 per cent, potash. 



Estimating 40 such trees per acre, there would be removed from the soil 

 in a crop of ten bushels per tree, in the fruit alone, 32 pounds of nitrogen, 

 8 pounds of phosphoric acid, and 45.6 pounds of potash. 



A crop of wheat of twenty bushels per acre removes from the soil in 

 grain and straw about 29 pounds of nitrogen^ 9 pounds of phosphoric acid and 

 5 pounds of potash. It will be seen then that the draft on the soil, especially 

 in potash, is far heavier from a crop of apples than a crop of wheat. It has 

 taken a large amount of plant food to build up a big tree, and to supply its an- 

 nual crop of leaves and fruit; and in most cases the owner of the orchard 

 expects to get a crop of hay or pastureage from the orchard, too. And then 

 we hear people wonder why they do not get fruit as their fathers did on the 

 same farm. They manure their wheat, but starve the orchard which is draw- 

 ing on the mineral resources of the soil more than three times as much as the 

 wheat is. 



To supply the manurial needs of the fruit alone on a bearing orchard 

 as above, would require per acre 200 pounds of nitrate of soda, 60 pounds of 

 acid phosphate and 100 pounds of muriate of potash. If, however, the 

 orchard is in sod and the grass is kept mown for the benefit of the trees, there 

 will not be the need for that amount of nitrogen, as there will be a large 

 amount of organic matter returned to the soil, and for the benefit of the trees 

 themselves we would increase the amount of phosphoric acid, and make the 

 dressing of nitrogen in the form of tankage or cotton seed meal, and use 

 300 pounds of acid phosphate, 200 pounds of cotton seed meal and 100 

 pounds of muriate of potash per acre. Or it might be as well to put the phos- 

 phoric acid in the form of floats or pulverized rock, which would be more 

 slowly available it is true, but would, nevertheless probably be better for trees 

 than the more readily available acid phosphates. 



