56 



HOME FRUIT GROWER 



No fear need be entertained as to the application of wood ashes, 

 ground bone and other general fertilizers at any time. Dried blood, 

 tankage and fish scrap are also good but should be applied in Spring, 

 because the nitrogen they contain will thus have the best chance to 

 perform its function with the least possible loss. Nitrate of soda 

 is seldom needed for tree or bush fruits. When it is used it should be 

 applied only after growth starts in Spring, never later than mid-Spring, 

 because it is the most stimulating of all fertilizers and its effects should 

 all be confined to the early part of the season. 



As far as possible 

 every particle of material 

 that will decay leaves 

 stems, garbage, etc 

 should be saved to make 

 "plant food" and if not 

 fed to poultry or other 

 animals, made into com- 

 post with sods, manure 

 and any slowly soluble 

 commercial fertilizer, such 

 as ground bone, wood 

 ashes and tankage. Bones, 

 whether ground or not, 

 are very valuable for bury- 

 ing beneath grape vines, 

 trees and bushes. Surplus 

 mice, rats, cats, dogs, 

 horses, elephants and 

 mastodons may thus 

 similarly be made to give 

 better accounts of them- 

 selves than by polluting 

 food, making night 

 hideous or jostling us 

 humans too much. One 

 of my neighbors paid 

 $1.50 for a seven-foot 

 shark, which he cut up 

 and buried in his small 



fruit plantation. This is 



Fig. 29. -Keep the ground bare around young trees, th j useful 

 though cover crops are growing thickly just J 



beyond the circle have heard Of. 



