88 state; pomological society. 



direction with a view to improvement, I thought it might serve 

 as an object lesson. 



EXPERIMENTS IN ORCHARD FERTILIZING. 

 Prof. W. M. MuNSON. 



According to Prof. Roberts of Cornell University, the average 

 value of the fertilizing elements taken from an acre of soil by 

 apple trees during a period of twenty years, counting in ten 

 crops of fruit, is approximately $377. Of this amount $147 

 or a little more than 39% is in the fruit; $160 or about 42.5% 

 in the leaves; and $70 or about 18.5% in wood for the growth 

 of the tree. 



The total amount of nitrogen, exclusive of that used in the 

 growth of the tree, is about 1,300 lbs.; of phosphoric acid 

 310 lbs.; and potash 1,900 lbs. per acre. "To restore the 

 potash alone, as above, and that used by the growth of the tree, 

 it would require 21.69 tons of high grade ashes containing 5% 

 potash. To restore the nitrogen would require 16.19 tons of 

 commercial fertilizer containing 5% nitrogen." 



When we add to the amount here mentioned the large 

 amounts of fertilizing elements removed by crops of hay, or 

 grain, or by pasturing the orchard without giving extra food to 

 the animals, is it any wonder that some of the older orchards 

 of the State are beginning to look feeble and are in many 

 cases ceasing to be productive? How many orchards in Maine 

 during the past twenty years have received the equivalent of an 

 average of a ton of ashes and 400 lbs. of nitrate of soda per acre 

 each year? 



Of course the fact should be taken into account that a portion 

 of the material above referred to is returned to the soil in the 

 way of fallen fruit and leaves and in the excrement of animals ; 

 but with a liberal allowance for these returns the value of 

 fertilizing elements actually removed from the soil during the 

 period named will probably not fall short of $200, or $10 per 

 acre. 



Now while the old hillsides of New England constitute a vast 

 storehouse of food material, and our apple trees are best fitted 

 to abstract the store and put the material in a form suitable for 



