Tenth Annual Meeting 195 



phosphoric acid, and 135 pounds of potash, with lime in vary- 

 ing amount up to 4,500 pounds per acre. This is a very large 

 amount of fertilizer; as much as we put on land for tobacco, 

 which is usually more heavily dressed than any other farm crop. 

 It is equal to a dressing of 600 pounds of nitrate of soda, 300 

 of acid phosphate and 270 of muriate or 300 of high-grade 

 sulphate of potash per acre. 



In 1896 the Station undertook some experiments with ferti- 

 lizers in three different orchards in this state. In two of these 

 there has not yet been harvested a full crop of peaches, frosts 

 having nearly or quite destroyed the blooms each year that they 

 have promised us a crop. It is hardly worth discussing at all 

 these two experiments at this time. 



I will briefly speak of the results of the third experiment, but 

 I ask you to remember that these are in no sense final. Such 

 an experiment needs to be carried on for a considerable number 

 of years to be at all conclusive. The effect of fertilizers in 

 orchards is not measured alone by the yield of fruit during the 

 first few years, but also by the continued growth and bearing 

 life of the trees. It has been shown that a large part of the 

 profit in suitable and liberal fertilization comes in lengthening 

 the productive life of the orchard. 



For this reason such experiments need to be continued for 

 a much longer time than suffices in the case of ordinary garden 

 and field crops. 



The third experiment is in the orchard of Mr. A. E. Plant, 

 at Branford. 



The land for this orchard, after lying in grass for several 

 years, was broken up in the fall of 1894, and was dressed dur- 

 ing the winter with 75 to 100 bushels of unleached ashes. It 

 was set to peaches in the spring of 1895. Twelve hundred 

 pounds of Mapes' corn manure to the acre was put on and the 

 whole piece planted to corn. The next winter another dressing 

 of 75 to 100 bushels of ashes was put on and in the spring of 

 1896 our experiment began. 



We laid off six plots, of about one -third of an acre each, 

 3 rows of trees in each plot, and 16 trees in each row. To 

 each plot has been applied, each year since, 160 pounds of acid 

 phosphate, and to one-half of each plot 3/2 bushels of lime 



