May, 1937] AcRiCLLTrRAL Research in X. H., 1936 27 



jury, and it is not very susceptible to mosaic. Newburgh was planted 

 in 1935. The growth is vigorous, and the plant seems resistant to mo- 

 saic. It has not fruited yet. All canes were winter-killed during the 

 winter of 1936-37. 



Plums. Bradshaw, which produces large handsome deep purple or 

 blue fmits, is one of the most promising European varieties on trial. 

 Lombard comes next with good production but somewhat less attractive 

 appearance. The Green Gage plums, Washington and Jefferson, are of 

 fine flavor, but yield rather light crops of fruit. The Japanese sorts, 

 Burbank and Abundance, continue to yield well, but are of low quality. 



Sweet Cherries. The Yellow Spanish continues to be the most de- 

 pendable sweet cherry at the Experiment Station. It withstood the 

 severe winters of the past few years, especially the winter of 1933-34, 

 better than other varieties. Bing recovered sufficiently to produce a 

 good crop of excellent fruit in 1936. Cold has killed most of the Gov- 

 ernor Wood trees. 



Sour Cherries. Montmorency still seems to be the most desirable 

 sour cherry, and has one of the mildest flavors of this type. Early 

 Richmond ranks second. (Hatch Fund) 



Nitrogen Versus Complete Fertilizer in the Orchard 



Tests of a complete fruit fertilizer of 7-8-5 composition versus a fer- 

 tilizer carrying the same cjuantity of nitrogen but no phosphorus and 

 potash were continued by G. F. Potter and G. P. Percival in the culti- 

 vated Mcintosh orchard at the University farm and under sod mulch 

 in the White orchard at Pittsfield. In the White orchard, the complete 

 fertilizer has increased the growi:h of mulch. Undoubtedly this will ulti- 

 mately benefit the trees. To date, however, the average yield per tree 

 for the period of the experiment in both these orchards is slightly less 

 for the trees on which the complete fertilizer is used than for those to 

 which nitrogen only is applied. It is possible that this is due to the 

 fact that the nitrogen in the complete fertilizer is in a less available 

 form. In the White orchard, the color of the fruit has been slightly bet- 

 ter and the percentage set slightly lower on the complete fertilizer plots. 

 However, when examined statistically, these differences appear no larger 

 than might be caused by uncontrolled fluctuating factors. In the plot 

 at Durham, these differences in color and set do not exist. In neither 

 orchard is there a significant difference in the size of the apples, the per- 

 centage bloom, or the average annual shoot grovvi;h. 



The experiment was extended in 1935 and 1936 to include 5 new 

 orchards in the Connecticut Valley and in central and southern New 

 Hampshire, where it is thought that the trees may respond to additional 

 supplies of potash. In each case, 10 or 12 trees were fertilized with ni- 

 trogen only and other similar trees were fertilized with an equal quan- 

 tity of nitrogen plus some potassium. The carrier used on most of these 

 trees was chemical potassium nitrate, containing 14% nitrogen and 44% 

 potash. In one orchard a Chilean mixture of nitrate of soda and nitrate 

 of potash was used which has a composition of 14% nitrogen and 14% 

 potassium. The potassium was applied in early spring on the surface 



