February, ]9'39] agricultural experiments 1928 23 



we^ll (listriltutfcl over a distance of ?)/ to 3^ feet along a central trunk. 



Heavy ])runing is known to delay bearing, but the average yield of more 

 than half a box ])er tree from the ten-year old Northern Spy trees is an 

 excellent early return for this variety, and indicates that a certain amount 

 of jiruning will give good results without too great a sacrifice in early crops. 

 The Mcintosh trees this season, in si)ite of the fact that rainy weather at 

 blossom time very materially reduced the set, produced about 40 pounds, or 

 nearly one box for each tree. 



In both Mcintosh and Spy the production was slightly less on trees of 

 the full leader ty])e than on those trained to semi-leader or vase. This is 

 not due to smaller size of trees because the trees in this plot are favorably 

 situated and measurements of trunk diameter show that they are fully as 

 large as any other trees in the plot. The results seem to indicate that the 

 tyi)e of pruning necessary to train to a full leader ty])e has reduced the 

 bearing area. Prunings this season were slightly heavier in the full leader 

 type than with the modified leader tree, but were materially lighter in the 

 case of the vase form trees than with either modified leader or full leader. 

 (Hatch Fund.) 



FERTILIZING PEACHES 



Experiments with fertilizers on peach trees continue to show that nitro- 

 gen is the most important clement necessary to good yields. In the heaviest 

 crop yet harvested the increase due to the application of two pounds of 

 nitrate of soda ])cr tree was 84 pounds of fruit. This is an increase of 

 about 30% over the trees not receiving nitrogen. Contrary to previous 

 experience, trees receiving potash in addition to nitrogen failed this year to 

 produce more than those receiving nitrogen alone. (Hatch Fund.) 



EFFECT OF FERTILIZER ON STRAWBERRIES 



A large strawberry plot of Howard 17s was fertilized at the rate of 20 

 tons of manure an acre, and was subdivided into 8 fertilizer treatments. 

 The fertilizers were spread broadcast and worked into the soil before 

 planting. 



The greatest effect was shown in the numl)er of new plants formed. 

 The plots that received 1,500 pounds of acid phosphate, in addition to the 

 20 tons of manure an acre, produced about 20% more runner plants, and 

 the plots receiving 20 additional tons of manure about 30% more than the 

 other plots. 



The yield per acre under these two treatments was not greatly different 

 in spite of the increased number of plants. This was probably due to the 

 crowded conditions in the plots whicli caused a reduction in the number of 

 flowers produced per plant. The plots receiving an additional 20 tons of 

 manure produced the largest number of runner plants per acre, and also 

 produced the lowest number of flowers per plant. The lowest plant- 

 producing plots were those that bore the greatest number of flowers per 

 plant. The total number of flowers for each acre was about the same in 

 both cases. 



The effect of the fertilizers on the size of fruit was not marked. There 

 was little variation in size. The tendency was for the plots receiving 20 

 extra tons of manure to produce the largest fruit ; fruits from these plots 

 weighed about 10% more on the average. 



