8 



The quantity and frequency that lime should be applied depends greatly 

 upon the conditions of the land. As a general rule, it may be stated, that 

 from half a ton to one and a half tons per acre, applied say every five or six 

 years, is sufficient. 



No prescription can be written for feeding all fruit trees, as there are 

 so many varying conditions. The feeding of plants is not unlike the feeding 

 of animals. We do not feed horses and swine on the same diet ; each is 

 known to do best under its own particular treatment. A good florist under- 

 stands his plants and knows their wants; a good fruit-grower needs a similar 

 knowledge of the plants he is to depend upon for success. 



The New Hampshire College Experimental Station has a bulletin in press 

 written by the Horticulturist, Prof. F. Win. Raue, in which he discusses the 

 subject. The kind and amount of fertiliser for each kind of fruit is given 

 and the subject discussed. 



Apples. For nitrogen: (1) 50 to 100 Ibs. nitrate of soda; or (2) 40 to 

 80 Ibs. sulphate of ammonia; or (3) SO to 160 Ibs. dried blood. 



For phosphoric acid : (1) 300 to 600 ft>s. bone meal ; or (2) 200 to 400 Ibs. 

 dissolved bone black; or (3) 250 to 500 lt>s. dissolved rock. 



For potash : (1) 100 to 200 Ibs. muriate; or (2) 100 to 200 Ibs. sulphate; 

 or (3) 400 to 800 Ibs. kaiuit; or (4) 1,000 to 2,000 Ibs. wood ashes. 



Too much nitrogen is to be avoided, as the tendency ^vill be to run to 

 growth rather than to fruit. The potash may be applied in the fall; also 

 one-half the phosphoric acid; but the remainder should be applied in the 

 spring. Potash is generally considered the most important constituent, since 

 fruits withdraw much larger quantities of it than of the nitrogen or phos- 

 phoric acid. 



MULCHING 



Is useful during hot, dry summers, when natural moisture is short, 

 to protect the soil over the roots of trees from the scorching effects of the 

 sun, and sometimes, when there is a sufficiency of frost, to confine it in the 

 ground so as to retard the rising of the sap. Mulching, however, should be 

 done judiciously, and, as in manuring, it should not be placed in proximity 

 to the trunk, and it should be done lightly, so as not to induce the roots to- 

 come too near the surface, and the mulch should, after it has decayed, be dug 

 into the soil. Almost any rubbish does for mulching, such as weeds of all 

 kinds, provided they are not in seed, ferns, old straw, etc. I have used chips 

 from the wood-yard successfully ; these, of course, cannot be dug in. Saw- 

 dust of coniferous woods should not be used ; on account, I presume, of the 

 acrid principle they contain, the sawdust of such wood seems to have a 

 deleterious effect on land. 



PRUNING. 



Continuing my remarks under this head in Bulletin No. 12, where I 

 endeavoured to give some advice as to the method of starting a tree in life by 

 judicious pruning at the outset, and so training the tree in the desired shape,. 

 I will now try to show how the important subject of pruning should be con- 

 ducted in after life, so as not only to keep the tree with a well-balanced head, 

 but at the same time to induce the greatest fruitfulness. Injudicious pruning: 



