4 N. H. AGE. EXPERIMENT STATION. [Bulletin 11 



such an excessive amount of nitrates that little accumulated as 

 an excess or as a residual in the soil. 



At the outset it is well to state that the assumption is not herein 

 made that the presence or absence of large amounts of nitrates 

 is the sole cause of vigorous growth or the reverse, for without 

 question other factors are of great importance. Aeration in 

 itself has doubtless a beneficial effect other than increasing 

 nitrification, for the oxidation processes may make available 

 other forms of plant food materials and also encourage a beneficial 

 soil flora. Just how much these various cultural treatments 

 furnish additional nutritive material and how much they may 

 be of a "sanitary" value cannot be fully stated. 



THE ORCHARD. 



The work here reported has been conducted in a mature 

 Baldwin apple orchard of nine acres which was acquired for the 

 purpose of experimentation in 1908. Prior to that time the 

 orchard was in grass and the hay cut and removed each year 

 until it was in a weakened and unproductive state. Ten plots 

 were laid out with a division row l^etween each so that the in- 

 fluence of one plot would not extend over to an adjoining one. 

 The orchard is quite level and the soil fairly uniform but the 

 plots are somewhat lighter on one end than on the other. 



CHARACTER OF THE SOIL. 



Of the ten plots in the orchard we are interested at this time 

 in three only, Nos. 1, 4 and 5, none of which have been fertilized. 

 The soil of these plots is practically identical and is therefore well 

 suited to a study of the comparative amounts of nitrates and 

 moisture present under the different systems of culture. Later 

 in the paper, however, mention is made of Plots 11 and 12 in 

 connection with liming. The soil of those plots is somewhat 

 heavier and they have also been fertilized as described below. 



A composite sample was taken from the first series of plots 

 mentioned and a mechanical analysis made. The following 

 table gives this analysis: 



