igg massachusetts horticl ltural societv. 



Discussion. 



Samuel Hartwell asked, "What is the comparative cost of 

 manuring an orchard with barnyard manure and with chemical 

 fertilizers ? " 



Professor Voorhees replied that twenty tons of yard manure, at 

 Si. 50 a ton, would cost $30, while the chemical fertiUzers suggested 

 could be bought for $11. In New Jersey commercial fertilizers 

 are relatively cheap and city manures comparatively dear. 



Mr. Clement said : "The Professor has stated that the life 



of a peach tree is eight years. Is not that rather a small number? " 



Professor Voorhees replied, that it is, but that it is the age at 

 which orchardists in New Jersey generally remove their orchards. 

 It is a shorter time perhaps than it is here or farther south, but 

 with our methods, when no manure or fertilizer is used, it has 

 proved the time to stop. 



Mr. Clement further asked whether the yellows were supposed 

 to be helped or cured by the use of mineral fertilizers, to which 

 Professor Voorhees answered, that this point was not borne in 

 mind in the experiments. In some of the orchards which were 

 reported to him as affected, it was found that the apparent 3'el- 

 lows were often caused by a deficiency of food or by the root- 

 louse. When a supply of nitrogen was given the yellow color 

 usually disappeared and the tree assumed a healthy growth. 



Being asked, "What proportion of nitrogen should be put into 

 an application of wood ashes?" Professor Voorhees said that he 

 would not recommend a mixture of nitrogenous matter and wood 

 ashes, but rather that the ashes be applied in the fall at the rate 

 of one ton per acre, and that the nitrogen be applied in spring in 

 the form of nitrate of soda ; as a rule the application should not 

 exceed one hundred and fifty pounds per acre. An excess may 

 give too much leaf growth. Nitrate of soda carries sixteen per 

 cent of nitrogen, so that there are twenty- four pounds of nitrogen 

 in this application of one hundred and fifty pounds of nitrate of 

 soda. Apply as early as possible, so that it may be in the tree in 

 July. Turn green manure under very early — before June — for 

 the same reason. 



Thomas Harrison asked about applying nitrogen early in the 

 life of tiie tree, and whether the amount given and the form of 

 application should be varied in different years. 



