314 Fertilizers 



THE APPLICATION OF FERTILIZERS FOR FRUITS 



A point which should be carefully observed in the fer- 

 tilizing of orchards is the method of application. The 

 fertilizers should, as far as possible, be distributed through- 

 out the lower layers of soil, where the feeding roots are 

 located. If applied wholly on the surface of the soil, the 

 tendency of the root is to go to that point, or where the 

 food is, and trees which have the larger proportion of the 

 feeding roots near the surface are more liable to suffer 

 from drought than those which have them distributed at 

 greater depths in the soil. Hence, in the application of 

 fertilizers to orchards, particularly in the early life of the 

 trees, they should, as far as possible, be well worked into 

 the soil, which may be readily accomplished by applying 

 upon the surface before plowing. The after-fertilizing, if 

 it seems desirable to leave the orchard in sod, may be 

 upon the surface, though in that case the soluble fertilizers 

 are preferable, since they would rapidly descend, while the 

 insoluble would do so more slowly, or only as rapidly as 

 they became soluble. 



THE FERTILIZING OF APPLES AND PEARS 



The necessity for the application of fertilizers in the 

 growing of apples and pears is largely due to the fact that 

 it is really a continuous cropping of the same kind, and 

 therefore more exhaustive than a cropping which removes 

 more plant-food in the same period of time. While upon 

 good soils the trees may be able to acquire sufficient food 

 to mature maximum crops for a considerable period, the 

 life of the tree, as well as the character of the fruitage, will 

 be very favorably influenced by the fertilization. 



