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 THE 1947 ORCHARD FERTILIZER PROGRAM 



 '    —— - ■■• - — ' ' ■'  I I i| I 1 il )J oil ) |i I li n n l.» U . 



During the war w© were told that in the peace time to came 

 fertilizer nitrogen would be In over supply. Evidently that time is not 

 yet here for we are told that during the spring of 1947 nitrogen will be 

 in very short supply. Most Massachwqette orchards are in sod and the grass 

 must be fed as well as the tre«sj of course the grass rots and this nitrogen 

 may eventually get into the trees. 



Probably a few orchards get too Jnu»h nitrogen in an effort to 

 increase yields, and color and firmness may suffer. Sometime in the near 

 future we are going to have a big crop ajid a smaller nitrogen application 

 might result in a smaller crop of better colored apples, llhen this bumper 

 crop will come is anybody's guess, 



A common recommendation ia ± lb. of nitrate of soda, or the equiv*- 

 l«n* . for each yoar of age of the tre^; thus a 40 year old tree might get 

 10 lbs, of nitrate or tho oquivalent In oth-f^r carriers. This proscription 

 should not bo taken too exactly, li" the poll is one that is called Vf^ry 

 f'irtile,a lesser amount, and on on© of low fertility a larger amount might 

 bo hotter. 



If a grower is unable to buy -as much nitrogen as seems necessary 

 he may resort to the practice recoWnandod during tho v/ar of suppressing 

 grass in the orchard during spring, thus reducing ths nitrogen requirement. 

 Unless treos are starved for nitrogen, feeding them nitrogen in midsurmner 

 or later is extroiftely unv/ise. Wo want rath^^r high nitrogen in tho troGS in 

 spring and early suiiimcr and a reduced .eiiiount in late summ^jr and fall. This 

 march of tree nitrogen favors a large loaf area and good sot of fruit and 

 then better color and less harvest drop, 



Apple trees ought usually to have nitrogen fertilization overy 

 year and most orchards will profit by a coraploto fertilizer v-jry few 

 years, J. K. Shaw 



INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF LONG CONTINUED CULTIVATION 



The Ohio Experiment Station compared tho physical and chemical 

 state of 12 Lake Erie vineyard soils which had. been under cultivation for 

 very long periods, with soils of adjacent fence rows which were presumably 

 like the vineyard soils in their oarli--r years. Those studios indicated 

 a great loss of organic matter and nitx-ogon, also of calcium and exchango- 

 ablc bases, At)parently acidity had increased in most but not all tho 

 vineyards. It is of ospooial interest to note that there was as much 

 tendency to gain as to lose potasn and a greater tendency to gain phos- 

 phorus. The behavior of magnesium was not reported, Wlioro organic matter 

 and nitrogen were very low, the application of coimiercial fertilizers 

 availed little. This is anoth -r illustr^.tion of tho value of organic 

 matter in agricultural soils. Few Massachusetts orchards are in culti- 

 vation but it is vfiso to pay attention to tho organic matter in sod orchards. 

 The value of hveavy mulching lies largely in tho abundant organic matter 

 supplies. (Ohio Bulletin 663,_ 1946). 



J. K. Shaw 



