STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 97 



nitrogen, 60 pounds of "phosphoric acid" (PzOu), and 100 

 pounds of "potash" (K2O) per acre. About half of the nitro- 

 gen is carried in nitrate of soda and the other half in dried 

 blood, about loo pounds of the former and 150 pounds of the 

 latter being required. The phosphorus is carried in acid phos- 

 phate, thus requiring about 400 pounds, and the potash in the 

 high-grade muriate, which contains about 50% of K2O, and 

 hence requires 200 pounds. 



At the present retail prices, such a fertilizer costs about 

 $12.80 per acre. Here again our results indicate that a reduc- 

 tion of at least 10 pounds in the phosphoric acid and of 50 to 

 75 pounds in the potash would usually be equally efficient, and 

 would effect a saving of about $2.60 to $3.65 per acre. In ordi- 

 nary practice also, part or all of the nitrogen might be obtained 

 from leguminous crops or by the use of manure, although this 

 has not always proved to be really economical. The manure 

 used in our experiments, — at $2.50 per ton, which is about as 

 low as it can be obtained and applied, — costs nearly 2^ times 

 as much as the fertilizer we are using and its benefits do not 

 average materially better. Considerably more actual plant food 

 is also being added in the manure, since the amount applied 

 should carry about 120 pounds of nitrogen, about 80 pounds of 

 P2O5, and no to 115 pounds of K=0. 



All the tillage plats are plowed early in May and are kept 

 cultivated until about the middle of July, when those receiving 

 the cover crops are seeded to such plants as crimson or medium 

 red clover, and hairy vetch. On the other tillage plats, culti- 

 vation is stopped at about the same time as on those receiving 

 cover crops, but no seeding is done and only such vegetation 

 as comes up naturally is obtained. 



On the mulch plats, all herbaceous growth remains in the 

 orchard and it is mowed at least twice during the season. The 

 first cutting is raked to the trees as a mulch, and the second is 

 left where it falls. In the older orchards also, about three tons 

 per acre of outside materials, such as old straw, swamp hay, 

 buckwheat straw, or other vegetation, are brought in annually 

 to form an additional mulch around the trees. In the younger 

 orchards, much less outside material is needed, and in some of 

 them a satisfactory mulch has been maintained from the growth 

 between the rows, after one or two initial applications from the 



