FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS 

 ON AN ABNORMAL ORCHARD SOIL 



By J. K. Shaw, Research Professor of Pomology 



About 1890, shortly after the establishment of the federal system of experiment 

 stations, several "soil test" fields were established in Massachusetts. One of 

 these, called the North Soil Test, is still continued under a soil treatment similar 

 to that begun more than fifty years ago. The purpose of these "soil tests" was 

 to determine the fertilizer requirements of the various soils on which they were 

 established. One soil might lack nitrogen, another phosphorus, another potash, 

 and another lime. Consequently, these elements were supplied alone and in com- 

 bination and the results measured in terms of various crops grown. The results 

 from the North Soil Test were printed in many reports and bulletins of the 

 Massachusetts Experiment Station and were summarized by HaskelU in 1922. 



Field Tests 



The plots each contain 1/20 acre and are approximately 103^ feet wide and 

 204 feet long, separated by a 3-foot space. The lower, west, half of each plot 

 has been limed from time to time. 



In 1922 each plot was set to apple, peach, grape, and raspberry plants. Each 

 year a furrow was plowed along the edge of each plot and a subsoil plow run 

 through the furrow. The purpose was to cut the tree roots and prevent trespass 

 into the three-foot guard space and possibly into an adjoining plot. As the plots 

 were narrow, the trees could not be maintained for many year?. 



In 1931 a new planting was made of apple trees only. Own-rooted Mcintosh 

 and Wealthy trees were used and great care was taken to make sure that the 

 average size of the trees on each plot was exactly the same. These trees continued 

 until 1938. Various measures of growth were made each year, some of the more 

 significant being reported in this paper. The trees were not kept long enough to 

 come into full fruit production, but some measures of early bearing are reported. 



The field was managed on the cultivation-cover crop system using barley, rj-e, 

 or buckwheat. On some of the plots the cover crop did not grow well and the 

 organic matter in the soil must have been depleted. Unfortunately, no measures 

 of soil organic matter are available. 



The fertilizer treatments on the plots from 1922 to 1930 were similar to the 

 previous applications. The amounts per acre were: 



PLOT POUNDS PLOT POUNDS 



1, 4, 8, 12 no fertilizer 9 superphosphate 320 



muriate of potash. 160 



2 nitrate of soda 160 



10 nitrate of soda... 160 



3 superphosphate 320 superphosphate 320 



5 muriate of ootash .... 160 



muriate of potash 160 



11 gypsum 800 



nitrate of soda 160 



superphosphate 320 13 nitrate of soda 160 



superphosphate. 320 



nitrate of soda 160 muriate of potash 160 



muriate of potash .... 160 dried blood 160 



iHaskell S. B. A Thirty Year Fertilizer Test. Mass. Exp. Sta. Bull. 212. 1922. 



