PEARS 



1599 



trees and those growing in the poorest 

 soil. If it is desired to continue fertil- 

 izing the trees individually during the 

 third and fourth years, it may be done in 

 the manner described, but the fertilizer 

 may be placed in the second or third fur- 

 row from the tree instead of the first one. 

 In succeeding applications it is better to 

 fertilize the whole area of the ground 

 rather than the individual tree, especially 

 in the case of standards and Orientals. 



In the fertilization of the orchard some 

 general system of building up the soil as 

 a whole should be adopted, and the three 

 following methods are worthy of consid- 

 eration: 



The first method, which has already 

 been discussed under "Cultivation," con- 

 sists in applying fertilizers to truck crops 

 grown as nurse crops in the orchard. The 

 residual effect of the stable manure and 

 fertilizers applied to the nurse crops is 

 very beneficial to the soil and, therefore, 

 to the trees in the orchard. 



The second method consists in the use 

 of green manures and the mineral fertil- 

 izers, potash and phosphoric acid. A very 

 good proportion is three parts of acid 

 phosphate and one part of muriate of 

 potash. This mixture is applied at the 

 rate of 400 to 800 pounds per acre, and 

 will supply all of these ingredients neces- 

 sary for large crops. The green manures, 

 that is, crimson clover, cow peas, etc., are 

 depended on to furnish the nitrogen and 

 the necessary organic matter to keep the 

 soil in a high state of fertility. In the 

 pear orchard the problem of growing the 

 green manures is not a difficult one, for 

 the reason that the tree-growth is made 

 early in the season and the long growing 

 period from midsummer to autumn is 

 available for growing leguminous crops. 

 If crimson clover is grown, it should be 

 plowed under rather early in the spring 

 to get the best results. 



The third method, the simplest of all, 

 consists in the direct feeding of the trees 

 and the soil with fertilizers and manure. 

 If the trees do not respond in a satisfac- 

 tory manner to good cultivation and 

 pruning, that is, if they do not throw out 

 from 12 inches of growth on the dwarfs 



to 3 feet on the Orientals; and if they 

 show the ordinary symptoms of starva- 

 tion, that is, small fruit and small foliage, 

 plant food should be applied to them until 

 they grow out of this condition. In this 

 respect the dwarf pear is much more ex- 

 acting than either the ordinary standards 

 or the Orientals. It requires high ma- 

 nuring and fertilizing, and the fertilizers 

 must be applied very close to the tree, as 

 the quince roots do not spread out like 

 those of the pear. 



Many old-fashioned fruit growers pre- 

 fer to use wood ashes, stable manure, and 

 ground bone for the fertilization of dwarf 

 and other pear trees, and there is no ques- 

 tion that these materials are very desir- 

 able, if not the best to use. As a rule, 

 however, potash can be bought much 

 cheaper in the form of muriate, and phos- 

 phoric acid cheaper in the form of acid 

 phosphate, so that it is more economical 

 to purchase these forms, and they are 

 probably just as good. 



It is an excellent practice to fertilize 

 the bearing dwarf-pear orchard in the 

 manner above described for the young or- 

 chard. Three to six large forkfuls of 

 stable manure may be applied in the fur- 

 row in the spring or thrown around the 

 trees in winter, and from one to five 

 pounds of complete fertilizer of the form- 

 ula suggested should be applied early in 

 spring and cultivated or harrowed into 

 the soil. Standards and Orientals will of 

 course respond to good fertilization and 

 cultivation, but as their root system is 

 very widespread and deep, they do not feel 

 the necessity of additional plant food as 

 keenly as dwarfs, and do not respond to 

 its application so readily. 



In the use of potash and phosphatic 

 fertilizers there is little danger of injury 

 from an excessive amount, but nitrogen- 

 ous fertilizers must be used with great 

 care. Stable manure should be applied 

 only in early spring, never in midsummer, 

 and a light dressing, not to exceed six 

 large forkfuls, is the maximum amount 

 that may be used safely on each young 

 tree, although trees bearing heavily will 

 stand more. Care must also be exercised 

 in the use of nitrate of soda, cotton-seed 



