- 9 - 



high quality mulching material for the young trees by broadcasting 500 to 800 

 pounds of mixed fertilizer per acre. Place the mulch in a band under the spread 

 of the branches. The amount of fertilizer required for the trees with this 

 system of culture will vary with the quantity and quality of mulch applied 

 around each tree. If the trees are not making sufficient growth, one-eighth 

 pound of ammonium nitrate per year of tree age may be applied to the mulch* 



Recomrriendations for fertilizing peach orchards are given in the following 

 table. The amounts given may need to be increased if the trees are in a heavy 

 sod. A suggested increase would be to double the amount of nitrogen. 



Suggested Rates of Fertilizer for Bearing Peach Orchards 



Approximate Amounts per Tree 



Tree Age 



3-6 

 6-9 

 9-12 

 12 6t over 



Ammoniimi 

 Nitrate 



Muriate 

 of Potash 



Pounds 



%-l 



1 -Ih 

 l%-2 



2 -4 



or 0-15-30 



Pounds 



1-2 

 2-3 

 3-4 

 4-8 



Founds 



2- 4 

 4- 6 

 6- 8 

 8-12 



8-16-16 



Pounds 



2- 4 

 4- 6 

 6- 8 

 8-16 



-W. D. Weeks 



I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I 



IS THERE A BEST TIME FOR ORCHARD MOUSE CONTROL? 



Now that the snow has melted, mouse damage — trunk girdling--to fruit trees 

 will be very conspicuous. If a grower sees evidence of real recent girdling, 

 it might pay to do some emergency broadcasting with Zinc Phosphide-treated 

 Steamed-crushed Oats to prevent further damage. Usually this practice is not 

 worth the effort at this time of year because the majority of the tree girdling 

 has already occurred; and with the absence of snow cover in the orchards, the 

 mice will turn to the green grass which is appearing. In other words, tree 

 girdling is a temporary subsistence-type of feeding which usually takes place 

 during the winter months when food is scarce. 



Oftentimes we are asked: "Will reducing the mouse population at other times 

 of the year help to reduce the mouse breeding population and thereby prevent 

 damage the following winter?" The answer is: "No". The population dynamics of 

 orchard mice are so great and migration so rapid that any control effected during 

 spring and summer would only be temporarily effective and would not prevent damage 

 the following winter. 



In summary, we do not recommend putting out poisoned baits now unless you 

 have definite signs of fresh girdling and only as a stop-gap to prevent further 

 damage from occurring. We do not recommend baiting in the orchard until the 



