Experiments with Special Fertilizers in 

 Fruit Culture. 



160. CURRANTS AND PEACHES. 



The experiments with Ciirrants, which are described in the snbse- 

 quent communication, are but a continuation of an investigation 

 inaugurated upon the college grounds ten years ago. Field experi- 

 ments with sugar beets, for the purpose of ascertaining the influence 

 of special fertilizers on the saccharine qualities, and the general 

 character of the roots raised by their assistance, suggested the exten- 

 sion of the inquiry to fruit-bearing plants. For the sake of brevity, 

 and of a desirable understanding of the points involved, I reproduce 

 here the introduction of one of the first publications on the subject 

 under discussion : " The question whether a systematic and rational 

 manuring of our fruit-bearing plants is essential for the continued 

 production of good crops, engages more attention from year to year. 

 Judging merely from the results obtained in general farm manage- 

 ment, in consequence of the adoption of the rule to restore annually 

 to the soil under cultivation either the entire amount or in part as 

 circumstances may advise those of its constituents which the crops 

 carried off have abstracted, it seems but reasonable to assume that 

 the same principle applied to the cultivation of fruits and garden 

 crops in general, must prove in the end most advantageous as far as 

 quality and quantity of the crops resulting are concerned. A liberal 

 supply in particular of those essential elements of plant food which 

 are found in the fruits in conspicuous quantities, and for obvious 

 reasons must serve important functions in their growth if judiciously 

 provided, cannot otherwise but prove beneficial to the entire plant. 

 To secure that amount in a more definite form, than as a general rule, 

 has been customary, improves most decidedly our chances to ascer- 

 tain not onl}' the special wants of the plants under cultivation, but 

 to recognize also the particular form in which the various elements of 

 plant food exert their most valuable influence on the quality of the 

 crops. Believing in the correctness of these views, I entered a few 

 years ago upon a series of analytical chemical inquiries to determine 



