MANURING ORCHARDS. 157 



These results, although only applying strictly to the apple, are 

 valuable in indicating the rate of soil exhaustion by fruit grow- 

 ing. It is to be remembered, however, that the larger root 

 development of the tree would enable it to draw its nourishment 

 from a larger area of soil than is the case with wheat, and thus 

 probably permit of normal growth for a longer period. 



The Experience of Practical Orchardists. — The experience 

 of practical fruit growers, particularly if they are successful, is 

 also of value in this connection. 



During the past year statistics were gathered in New Jersey 

 concerning the methods of practice in fruit growing, and among 

 the questions asked was, " The ivind of manure used and the 

 amounts applied per acre." The results obtained are instructive in 

 showing, first, that orchardists do recognize the necessity of a 

 liberal feeding of their fruit crops ; and, second, that the rate of 

 profit, other things being equal, is largely dependent upon such a 

 practice, though the methods in use are widely different, and, in 

 many cases, unsystematic and irrational. 



I have selected those gathered in Burlington County, on pears and 

 apples as illustrations, because they furnish good examples of pro- 

 gressive practice, and because those from other counties have not 

 been finally tabulated. Of 1G9 growers of pears, representing 

 an area of over a thousand acres, 162 use manures of some kind ; 54 

 only barnyard manure, the application ranging from 5 to 15 

 tons per acre annually ; 41 use commercial manures, exclusively, 

 the larger part of which consists of ground bone and muriate of 

 potash, the annual application averaging 600 pounds per acre ; 33 

 use barnyard manure and fertilizers together, an average applica- 

 tion of 11 tons of the former and 600 pounds of the latter per 

 acre ; 34 use miscellaneous home products, including lime, wood 

 ashes, coal ashes, river mud, muck, etc. ; and 7 only of the entire 

 number do not manure at all. Of this whole number, 90 per cent 

 report that fruit is the most profitable crop that they raise, the 

 gross returns ranging from $50 to $600 per acre, with an average 

 of $150. 



Of 194 growers of apples, 183 use manure ; 82 barnyard manure 

 exclusively, at the rate of nine tons per acre; 30 both barnyard 

 manure and fertilizer, at the rate of nine and one-half tons of the 

 former and 500 pounds of the latter ; 29 use fertilizer alone, 

 chiefl}' bone and potash, at the rate of 700 pounds per acre ; 8 use 



