APPLES 325 



Fertilizers. The best fertilizer for the young orchard is green 

 manure formed by a winter cover crop started late in the summer 

 and plowed under the next spring. This furnishes a good supply 

 of nitrogen which the young trees need so much. Some phosphoric 

 acid and potash may be applied after the trees are older. Pro- 

 fessor Waugh recommends for each young apple tree : 



Nitrate of soda 1 oz. 



Basic slag meal 10 oz. 



Low grade sulfate of potash 6 oz. 



As the trees come to bearing age a less "proportion of nitrogen 

 is required. 



If there are no attacks of San Jose scale or other insects inju- 

 rious to the young trees, the spraying may not be required before 

 fruiting age. 



Varieties. The choice of varieties for any orchard will depend 

 chiefly on whether the fruit is to be used for home consumption 

 or is to be sold in the markets. Home orchards may reasonably 

 contain a larger assortment of varieties ranging through the 

 ripening season. It is important to select varieties which are 

 family favorites and have good qualities for home use; while for 

 market, varieties must be selected which are well known and 

 will stand handling. In the home orchard new varieties may 

 also be experimented with, but the commercial orchard should 

 not contain untried sorts. 



Spraying. In most sections of America insect enemies and 

 diseases of fruit are so common that even the farmer with a small 

 orchard should not attempt to produce good fruit without spray- 

 ing. The cost of equipment, material and labor is slight compared 

 with the results attained. He should understand the nature of 

 the different insect enemies and fungous diseases. All efforts at 

 spraying must be well directed and well suited to the purpose. 

 The principles underlying the various operations are given in the 

 chapter on Control of Insects and Diseases. 



The culture of tree fruits is commonly called pomology, but 

 that term is often extended to include all kinds of fruit growing. 

 The real tree fruit may be grouped under two heads: (1) Pome 

 fruits, those containing a core, such as the apple, pear and quince. 

 (2) Stone fruits, or those containing a single seed with a hard, 

 stony shell, such as the peach, plum and cherry. 



Apples. Wild crab-apples are found in America, but the an- 

 cestry of most of our important crabs, and the foundation stock 



