l.")4 Food fop. Plants. 



siicli ;is liiiic Xili'.-ilc, liiiK' (.'N anaiiiid, ami sulphate (>!' 

 auiiiiouia, nixc similar rt'Kults? Kollowiii,i»' aloii^' this 

 liiic it would he interest iui;' to know what elTi'ct, if any, 

 the other t'ortilizor olemonts, potavsli and phosphoi-'ic 

 acid, nn.u'ld ha\-e when applied as sprays, and liually, 

 what r(>sults mis;ht be ()))taiiied I'lom a similar a])prK'a- 

 tion of other substances not ordinarily considered as 

 ha\inu' any particular fertilizer value. 



Experiments intended to answer these and a num- 

 ber of other more or less important questions were 

 started in February, 1913, in the same orchard in which 

 the previous year's work was done. Eleven 13-year- 

 old trees were used in each plat. A frost occurred at 

 the time the fruit was setting which ruined the crop 

 and nuide it impossible to obtain results in crop pro- 

 duction. Data were obtained, how^ever, on the elTect 

 of the various sprays on the blossoming of the trees 

 in the spring, and the notes taken may lie summarized 

 as follows : 



The plats sprayed with Nitrate of Soda at the rate 

 of 1 pound to the gallon came into bloom earlier than 

 the check trees, just as they had done in 1912. This 

 effect Avas more marked in the cases in which lye was 

 added to the Nitrate solution than when the plain water 

 solution was used — that is, the addition of lye in the 

 proportion of 16 pounds of caustic soda in 1(K) gallons 

 of spi'ay solution increased the action of the Nitrate 

 of Soda in bringing the trees out ea.rlier. Caustic soda 

 appeared to l)e just as effective as caustic potash. 

 Nitrate of Soda used at the rate of half a pound to the 

 gallon, either with or without the addition of lye, was 

 not nearly so effective as a solution of 1 ])ound to the 

 gallon. A solution of one-fourth of a pound to the gal- 

 lon, with lye added, had practically no effect. Nitrate of 

 Soda, at the rate of 1 pound to the gallon, to which 

 oxalic acid was added in the proportion of 50' pounds 

 to 125 gallons of solution, produced results similar to 

 Nitrate of Soda plus lye, so far as the effect of hastening 

 the blooming period is concerned. Lime Nitrate, 130 



