106 FERTILIZERS 



Application. In applying fertilizers it is much better to use 

 a fertilizer spreader when possible. Of course where the trees 

 are young, and the fertilizer is therefore spread over only a 

 part of the surface, it is usually necessary to put it on by hand. 



Insoluble materials, or those slowly soluble, like bone meal 

 and basic slag, should be applied before the land is plowed or 

 should be otherwise thoroughly incorporated with the soil. Those 

 which dissolve readily, like muriate and sulfate of potash or 

 nitrate of soda, may be spread upon the surface and will wash 

 in with the first rain. 



The potash and phosphoric acid salts are not readily washed 

 out of the soil and may therefore be applied at almost any season 

 of the year, though the orchardist should avoid a time when 

 there are likely to be dashing rains which will carry them off 

 in the surface water. But nitrogen is very likely to escape and 

 should be applied after growth has started so that it may be 

 taken up quickly. 



The fertilizing of the various kinds of fruit trees will vary 

 somewhat but there will probably not be any greater variation 

 than might occur between two different varieties of the same kind 

 of fruit or between two blocks of the same fruit on different 

 soils. For example, the Wagener and Gravenstein apples will 

 probably vary nearly as much in their fertilizer requirements 

 as will the general classes of apples and peaches. And two 

 blocks of Baldwin apple trees on very different soils may need 

 quite as different fertilizers as a block of peaches and a block 

 of apples. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Compare orchards with wheat in their exhaustion of soil fertility. 



2. What have experiments proved in regard to orchard fertilizers? 



3. What are the effects of nitrogenous fertilizers? 



4. Give the effects of fertilizers rich in potash. 



5. What is the influence of phosphoric acid on fruit trees? 



6. Discuss the forms of fertilizer to be used in supplying nitrogen. 



7. From what sources may the phosphoric acid be derived? Which are 



best for young trees? 



8. What two forms of potash are in common use? Give an advantage 



of each. 



9. Is orchard fertilizing practised in your section? 



