STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 75 



The method of apphcation that we have followed is merely 

 10 scatter the fertilizer or manure broadcast over the surface 

 of the ground, taking care not to get it too close to the tree 

 trunk, where there are few absorbent roots, and extending the 

 applications well out beyond the spread of the branches, lo 

 conform more closely with the distribution of feeding roots, 

 the rate of application is made heaviest in the central part of 

 this area, or in general it is applied most heavily under the 

 outer two-thirds of the spread of the branches. This fertiliza- 

 tion may either be left on the surface to be washed in by the 

 rains or it may be harrowed or lightly plowed into the soil. 

 With all this done, it should be remembered that the fertilizer 

 applied iil any given season can hardly materially affect the 

 yield of that year, since the fruit buds are formed in the latter 

 part of the preceding season. Important results, therefore, 

 should not be expected before the following season, at the 

 earliest, and as indicated in some of our experiments, they 

 may not appear until considerably later and still prove of 

 value. 



Determining the Actual Needs of an Orchard. 



The general fertilizer formula indicated above is for use 

 only until the exact needs of the particular orchard can be de- 

 termined. In other words, it is intended only to meet the im- 

 mediate demands. If in the meantime one wishes really to 

 answer the question of how to fertilize his own orchard, he 

 can do so by following the plan outlined in Table VII. This 

 plan is especially adapted to the needs of commercial orchard- 

 ists and to "community" tests on the part of the smaller 

 growers. Like other things of value, a test of this kind re- 

 quires some work, but as yet it is the only way that one can 

 become really acquainted with the needs of his orchard, and 

 where the income from the latter is important, the time thus 

 spent should be most profitable. 



