84 Fruitgrowing under Irrigation 



sub-soil out of the reach of the plants, so a rather 

 heavier dressing than this should be applied if the 

 fertility of the soil is to be maintained. Last season 

 the writer applied 6 cwt. of vine manure to the acre 

 on his vineyard, and the result, aided by a fertile 

 soil and favourable season, was a two-ton crop of 

 dried fruit to the acre. This season it is intended to 

 use 8 cwt. to the acre, as it is doubtful if 6 cwt. of 

 this vine manure contains sufficient ingredients to 

 make up for a two-ton crop. 



The argument is sometimes advanced that as fer- 

 tilizers have the effect of increasing the size of the 

 fruit, they should be sparingly applied, especially 

 to such a fruit as currants where very large berries 

 are not desirable. But surely it is a better proposi- 

 tion to manure heavily and harvest a two-ton crop, 

 even if some of the berries are large, than to manure 

 sparingly and obtain a one-ton crop of medium-sized 

 fruit. 



Deciduous Trees in Bearing. Grown on similar 

 soils, deciduous trees require practically the same 

 class of fertilizers as vines. As on the whole these 

 are not nearly as heavy croppers as are vines 

 yielding on an average only about one-half the 

 weight of dried fruit to the acre that vines do, 

 considerably less manure need be applied to the 

 acre. For general purposes, such varieties as 

 apricots, peaches, and nectarines, yielding from 10 

 cwt. to 15 cwt. to the acre dried, would require, to 

 keep up the fertility of the soil, about 1 cwt. mineral 

 superphosphate, 1 cwt. bone dust, 1 cwt. potash, and 

 ^ cwt. sulphate of ammonia. 



Citrus Trees in Bearing. As has been previously 

 pointed out, about 9 cwt. of fertilizers made up of 

 2 cwt. phosphates, 3 cwt. potash and -i cwt. sulphate 

 of ammonia would be sufficient to cover the food 

 stuffs removed by a crop of 400 cases, allowing for 



