Fertilizing the Orchard 83 



the deficiency in the soil caused by the production 

 of this quantity of fruit. 



QUANTITIES OF FERTILIZERS TO APPLY. 



The amount of fertilizers tp apply on any piece 

 of land to give the best results is largely a matter 

 of experience, owing to the variations that exist in 

 the nature of the soils. Some soils are naturally 

 rich in potash, others in nitrates, while others again 

 may be somewhat weak in these ingredients. There- 

 fore soils should be supplied with the fertilizing 

 elements they are most lacking in, if manure is to be 

 applied in the most satisfactory and economical 

 manner. Again the quantity and the nature of the 

 manure to apply w T ill also depend upon the age of 

 the trees. For instance, young trees generally 

 require greater proportionate amounts of nitrogen 

 than trees in full bearing, as they should be kept in 

 vigorous growth, and nitrogen greatly promotes 

 wood and leaf growth. 



On the fertile virgin soils of the Murray Valley 

 young trees or vines require little, if any, artificial 

 fertilizer until they begin to bear crops. The only 

 exception are citrus trees, which are benefited for 

 the first few years by light dressings of nitrogen or 

 superphosphate hoed into the ground in rings 

 around the trees two or three feet away from the 

 stems. 



Vines in bearing, being very heavy croppers, need 

 considerable quantities of fertilizers to assist bal- 

 ance the plant food removed by the crops. A mix- 

 ture of 2 cwt. superphosphate, 1 cwt. potash and 

 about J cwt. sulphate of ammonia to the acre should 

 about make good the plant ingredients removed 

 from the soil by a crop of one ton of dried fruit, but 

 besides this the irrigation water will probably leach 

 an additional amount of plant food down into the 



