Ing from an Aaerican Fruit Grower article, --"Lcthara plants were 

 uiuiched v/ith rye strc.v; at the rate of aoout eight tons per acre. 

 In addition, nitrate of soda Vi'as applied in April and July to the 

 mulched and control cultivated rov;s . At a depth of tv;o inches, 

 soil te/aperatures were higher in sumuer and lower in winter under 

 tillage than under mulch. The total cane growth \;as much grec tcr 

 in the jaulched row than in the cultivated. Yields in 1938 v/ore 

 five times as large in the mulched as in the cultivated block, but 

 no significant differences vrere established in berry size. Deter- 

 minations of the potash of leaves collected in the fall of 1933 

 from mulched and cultivated plants :^:ho\ved <;.39 and .S6f' respectively. 



If potash is applied to the surface of the soil it may 

 soon beco.ae locked up by cheiaical reaction into an unavailable 

 form. "This suggests," according to H. 3. Tiokey writing in the 

 Rural i\lev; Yorker, ''tr.it if potash is put deep into the soil, say 

 16 or 13 inches, it v.ill be d.'' aced in the active absorbing zone of 

 the tree roots in most Eastern orchard soils ana also below the 

 zone in v.iiich potassium is fixed by t.lternc te \;etting and drying. 

 It's lateral movement should then be ample for supplying the needs 

 of the tree." The locking up of potash applied to the surface of 

 the soil may be one reason for the common lack of response to such 

 applications, .'vt the same time the liberal a.aounts of available 

 potash found rmder heavy mulch offers further justification for 

 heavier mulching in our sod orchards. 



I ^Nursery Business Receives Early Sti:.iulus 



V'h,en the i.Icssachusetts Horticultural Society was or- 

 ganized in 1329 with 160 members a Com,nittee on Fruits '.vas desig- 

 nated-- "To have charge of v/hatever rtlates to the multiplication 

 of fruit trees and vines by seed, scions, buds, layers, suckers 

 or other modes, the introduction . of new varieties, the various 

 methods of pruning and training theia and whatever relates to their 

 culture and that of all other fruits'," 



On the first premium list of the Society i. prize oi 

 ^■^5 was offered for the "Best treatise on cultivation and manage- 

 ment of fiMit trees". For the "best nursery of apple trees of the 

 most approved kinds of fruit, not Itss than lOOvO in number and not 

 less than tv;o years old from budding or grafting," a prize of ^10 

 was offered. A similar prir-e v.ccS offered for pear trees. For 

 the best apples, not less than two dozen, the prize v.-as $4- 



