July, 1926] Apple Ixdustry in New Hampshire 33 



jjotatoes, 22 beans, and 18 garden crops. Cabbage is used by 5 growers. 

 In the southern part of the state there are some thrifty farmers who 

 \ouch for the fact that they have been able to entirely pay for their 

 investment in bringing the orchards into bearing by the production of 

 garden crops between the rows. Only those experienced in market 

 gardening could hope to do this. All crops should be kept sufficiently 

 far from the trees not to harm the orchard. 



Of the 111 men who grow a cover crop to be plowed under, the 

 largest i)roi)ortion, namely, 30 growers, or about 27 per cent, use buck- 

 wheat. Twenty growers merely cultivate until mid-summer and then 

 allow weeds to form the cover crop. Rye, millet, oats, clover, vetch, 

 and rai)e are among the other materials used. The weed cover crop 

 is not as reliable as a seeded crop, but the evidence from a considerable 

 number of experiments indicates that the rather serious bad effects 

 wiiich follow constiint cultivation of an orchard until late autumn are 

 .seldom experienced if the cultivation is ceased during niid-sunuuer and 

 weeds allowed to develoi). 



Of the growers interviewed. 797 furnished information as to their 

 l)ractice in fertilizing the orchard. Of these 58. or 7.3 per cent, do not 

 use fertilizer. Fovu- lunidrrd ;ind seventy-three, or nearly 60 per cent, 

 fertilize regularly e\ery year while 11 men make a jiractice of fertiliz- 

 ing c\erv second year. The remaining 255 men, or about 32 per cent, 

 fertilize at irregular intei\ ,ils. The need of fertilization varies accord- 

 ing to the sj'stem of orclianl culinre. Trees in cultivated orchards, 

 especially if > oung, ofteti fail to resi)ond to tiie application of fertilizer 

 for a considerable i)eriod of \ears enough to justify the expense of 

 the application. If trees are jilanted in sod, annual fertilization is ab- 

 solutely (essential for the iirodnriiou of be.< yields. Since we have 

 .seen thai more ih.in 70 iier cent of the orchards are in some form of 

 sod culture and since only 60 per cent of the growers practice annual 

 fertilization, there is evident need for improvement in this i)ractice. 

 High \iel(ls and ade(|uate returns cannot be expected unless the trees 

 are fertilized enough to make vigorous growth. 



In Table 13 information is presented on the number of growers using 

 each of various kinds of fertilizers. The percentage of the total number 

 of growers using each niat(M-ial is indicated, but because each may use 

 two or more kinds, these percentages total to much more than 100. It 

 may be noted that the group who fertilize annually use in the main 

 nitrate of soda and stable manure. From other observations it may 

 also be stated tliat the group of men using nitrate of soda probabl.y is 

 most largely made up of tho.se who have large commercial units. 

 Only those with small orchards and large dairy herds can hope to have 

 an adequate supply of stable manure . When the fertilizer has to be 

 piu'chased, it is most economically obtained in the form of nitrate of 



.soda or .sulphate of ammonia. 



There is a considerable difference in opinion as to the necessity of 

 tising fertilizer elements other than nitrogen. The evidence from ex- 



