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Fertilizing According to Tree Needs , Aj^'ple trees growing in sod are 

 generally somev;hat deficient in Nitrogen; hence, the common practice 

 of giving the tree a few pounds of a nitrogenous fertilizer each 

 spring. But if we guage the application by age of tree or trunk 

 diameter, we are likely to give certain trees too much Nitrogen, 

 and others too little. Better indicators of Nitrogen needs are 

 (l) average terminal growth, (S) color of fruit last season and 

 (3) the amount of pruning the tree has received. A tree pruned 

 rather heavily needs less Nitrogen than an unpruned tree. And a 

 tree at the hottom of a slope where it has access to a deep, fer- 

 tile soil may be making adequate growth without additional Nitrogen. 

 3o instead of malcing a blanket application, our program should be 

 flexible enough to take into account the needs of each individual 

 tree. Obviously, if we add the nitrogenous fertilizer (urea) to 

 the materials in the spray tank, and thus apply an amount of 

 Nitrogen in proportion to the number of gallons the tree receives 

 there is no assurance that the Nitrogen needs of the tree will be 

 met, A large over- vigorous Mcintosh tree which may need no 

 Nitrogen at all will actually get an over supply because more 

 gallons of spray material are required for complete coverage, 



>)<**** ***>|! ********** 



Next Month — A nev*- feature, covering observations in 

 a particular County, will begin in the April issue of 

 "FRUIT NOTES". (Horcester County will initiate this 

 new, dovm-to-earth review of local items.) 



