STONE FRUITS 



477 



to advantage. Vetch is an ideal crop where the seed can be secured at a 

 reasonable price. Some growers raise their own seed, sowing winter vetch 

 with rye and cutting and threshing the combination the following season. 

 One bushel of rye and a peck of winter vetch makes a good combination 

 for this purpose. In this connection, it is very desirable to get all the humus 

 possible into the soil before the orchard is set, since it is frequently difficult 

 to get as much growth as desired from the cover crop and consequently 

 the supply of humus 

 in the soil soon runs 

 low. 



Fertilizers. — The 

 fertilizer needs of stone 

 fruits, as with other 

 fruits, have not been 

 worked out as fully as 

 could be desired, yet it 

 has been pretty well 

 shown that reasonably 

 liberal fertilizing is 

 profitable. Practically 

 all commercial peach 

 growers fertilize their 

 orchards and most of 

 them very liberally. 

 Plums and cherries are 

 probably fertilized less 

 freely on the average 

 than peaches, largely 

 perhaps because size 

 with them is less im- 

 portant. There must 

 be enough nitrogen 

 added in some form so 

 that, together with 

 what can be gained 

 through cover crops, 



the trees will be induced to make a good medium, well-ripened yearly 

 growth. Peach trees ought to make from one to two feet on the leaders 

 and plums about the same. Sweet cherries will stand perhaps a little more 

 and sour cherries less. The foliage ought also to be kept in good vigorous 

 condition. To accomplish this will require varying amounts of fertilizer 

 and the orchard man must use his judgment as to what is required. 



The following are formulas which are used by good growers, but 

 even in different parts of the same orchard, and certainly in different 



1 Courtesy of Dept. of Experimental Pomology, Pennsylvania Experiment Station. 



Peach Tree with Well-Formed Framework, Heavily 

 Cut Back for Renewal Purposes. 1 



