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of manure used with the mulch per acre. 



DR. STEWART. We have adopted the 12-toii per 

 acre unit for the manure applications throughout our ex- 

 periments, but, as I have said my present recommendation 

 would not be more than eight. 



MR. STAPLES. And on the complete fertilizer? 



DR. STEWART. There again I would recommend 500 

 pounds of the 6-10-5 combination. We have used somewhat 

 more than that in our experiments, but that is what I would 

 recommend. 



MR. IVES. You spoke of using three tons of mulching 

 material. What source do you obtain the mulching material 

 from and about what does it cost year after year? In other 

 words, what was available to you at a reasonable cost? 



DR. STEWART. We have used in these experiments 

 anything from swamp hay or buckwheat straw — hay avail- 

 able merely for the cutting and hauling — or the buckwheat 

 straw which is available for the hauling, in that instance — 

 up to baled straw costing us $8 and $10 a ton. We had to 

 have it, because we were running experiments, and had to 

 get it there regardless of cost. When mulching material 

 gets up to eight and ten dollars a ton, however it is out of 

 the (question as a mulch, unless the conditions are very 

 nisual. You have got to be able to get cheap material, 

 -cheaper than that, to get a steady profit. The best return 

 in apple values we have had for our mulching was about 88 

 bushels per acre of apples with three tons of mulch. That 

 means that you have got to stay down among the relatively 

 cheap materials. On young trees we are getting good in- 

 creases in growth from it, and they will probably show up 

 later, but for immediate profit you need relatively cheaper 

 materials. 



MR. IVES. What price are you getting for the 88- 

 bushel yield? 



DR. STEWART. The fruit is handled by the grower, 

 and he is getting all the way from 75 cents to $1.25 a 

 bushel. I would say that it has been averaging pretty close 

 to a dollar a bushel, but you can't always guarantee an 88- 

 bushel gain. As a matter of fact, in our intermediate 

 orchards,— those just developing the bearing habit,— our 

 gain from mulch has run around 25 bushels per acre, and 



