196 The Connecticut Pomological Society 



(equal to 167 pounds). Three of the plots received 65 pounds 

 of muriate of potash ; one received double and still another four 

 times that amount. The last one of the series received 260 

 pounds of high-grade sulphate. 



One plot received no nitrogenous fertilizer, a second had 

 170 pounds of cottonseed meal, and on the others crimson 

 clover has been sown each year in August and turned under 

 in the spring. 



The experiment, you will see, is planned to answer these 

 questions: 



1. Is a nitrogenous fertilizer worth while? 



2. If so, how does a green crop, like crim.son clover, com- 

 pare in effect with a fertilizer like cottonseed meal? 



3. Which quantity of muriate of potash gives the best re- 

 sults, — 200, 400, or 800 pounds per acre? 



4. Do 800 pounds of sulphate of potash have any different 

 effect from the same weight of muriate? 



5. Is the annual dressing of lime of any value? 



Well, you know the usual experience with orchards. It 

 was found that the land of Plot A, which received no nitrogen, 

 was too wet and a drain had to be laid in it. Trees died and 

 were winter-killed and had to be taken out and new ones set. 



In the five years from 1896 on, of the 48 trees set on each 

 plot, A, which was too wet at the outset, has lost more than 

 half the number, 29 — all of them of course at once replaced; 

 B, dressed with cottonseed meal, has lost 13; C, which had 

 crimson clover and the smallest amount of muriate, lost 15; 

 D, with a larger amount of muriate, 11; and E and F, with 

 the largest amounts of potash as muriate and sulphate, have 

 lost in these years only one tree each. Of the whole number 

 lost, three only were suspected of "yellows." 



I am inclined to attribute this larger loss of trees on certain 

 plots more to the lay of the land and the damper soil than to 

 any action of the fertilizers. From this orchard we have picked 

 two crops — 1899 and 1900. 



Since not all the trees were in bearing, I have calculated the 

 yield to baskets per tree in bearing. Now, I think it is quite 

 too soon to draw any conclusions from this test. The orchard 

 is not old enough to fully show the effects of the treat- 



