Fertilizing Orchards. 217 



behavior of his trees and then applies such materials 

 as the plants appear to need. Any of the mate- 

 rials mentioned in the foregoing remarks may be 

 mixed together, so that the phosphorus and potas- 

 sium can be applied at the same sowing. It should 

 be said, however, that if wood ashes is mixed with 

 a nitrogenous fertilizer, some loss of nitrogen may 

 ensue, unless the material is used at once.* 



Voorhees givest the following "practical sugges- 

 tions" for the fertilizing of orchards: "A system of 

 manuring for cultivated orchards, based upon the 

 limited data at ou^ disposal, may be outlined as 

 follows : 



"To provide vegetable matter and to improve th<> 

 physical quality of poor soils, apply yard manure 

 once in four years, in fall or winter, at the rate 

 of from five to ten tons per acre. To aid in the 

 decomposition of vegetable matter, and to insure a 



* To answer inquiries concerning the prices of fertilizing materials, it may 

 l>e said that muriate of potash costs $40 and upwards per ton, sulfate about 

 $48, dissolved boneblack about $24, ground bone about $:), kainit about $13, 

 and nitrate of soda 2% cents per pound. These prices vary, of course, with 

 the composition or mechanical condition of the materials. The average com- 

 position of unleached ashes in the market is about as follows : Potash, 5.2.") 

 per cent ; phosphoric acid, 1.70 per cent ; lime, 34 per cent ; magnesia, 3.40 

 per cent. The average composition of kainit is 13.54 per cent potash, 1.13 

 per cent lime. The composition of sylvinit (which is said to be known as 

 sulfate of potash in some quarters) is about 16 per cent of potash, in the 

 form of both muriate and sulfate, mostly the former. The fact that the 

 soil itself is the greatest storehouse of plant-food is shown by the follow- 

 ing average of thirty-five analyses of the total content of the first eight 

 inches of surface soils, per acre : 3,521 pounds of nitrogen, 4,400 pounds of 

 phosphoric acid, 19,836 pounds of potash. Much of this is unavailable, but 

 the good tillage and cover cropping which have been recommended tend to 

 unlock it. 



t E. B. Voorhees, address before Mass. Hort. Soc. Mar. 28, 1896. 



