182 Food for Plants. 



figure 2 shows one from a check tree. Both branches 

 were collected on the same day. An examination of 

 the figures in Plate L will show that the advancement 

 of the foliage on the Nitrate-sprayed tree is compara- 

 tively less marked than that of the bloom. This same 

 condition is shown in detail in Plate LI, in which it 

 will be seen that there is relatively little difference in 

 the advancement of the foliage of the sprayed and 

 unspraj'ed branches. Later in the spring, however, the 

 effect on foliage growth became more pronounced, and 

 the sprayed trees assumed a more vigorous, green ap- 

 pearance than the check trees. The single tree that re- 

 ceived the 50 pounds of Nitrate of Soda applied to the 

 soil showed no greater vigor than the check trees. 



Both the row sprayed with Nitrate of Soda and 

 the check row^ received summer sprayings directed 

 toward the control of apple powdery- mildew and of 

 codling moth and various other insect pests. While the 

 treatment of the two rows w^as not the same, there was 

 no essential difference in the results — that is, the crop 

 loss from codling moth and other insect pests did not 

 exceed 1 per cent, on either plat and there was no dam- 

 age to the fruit from summer spraying. It is therefore, 

 evident that the difference which showed up in the crop 

 production of the two rows must be attributed to the 

 winter Nitrate spraying. 



Crop Results. 



The check row of seven trees, which received no 

 winter spraying but which was properly protected by 

 summer sprayings, produced 8 loose boxes of fruit at 

 picking time. On the other hand, the adjoining row, 

 sprayed in Febniary with the solution of Nitrate of Soda 

 plus lye, produced a total of a little over 40 boxes. 

 Thus, the winter Nitrate spraying increased the crop 

 production to fully five times that of the unsprayed 

 row. Similar adjacent plats, which were winter- 

 sprayed with various ci*ude-oil emulsions and soap 

 sprays, produced crops varying from 5 to 9 boxes 



