STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 143 



plying this deficiency. This being conceded, each one must be 

 left to exercise his own judgment in the application of fertilizers 

 to his trees and crops, and in this he will be governed by the geo- 

 logical character of his land, whether granite, gneiss, limestone, 

 sandy loam, clay, marl, light sand or alluvial clay deposits, as each 

 of these formations contains more or less of the alkaline salts so 

 essential in vegetable life. He will also be governed by the con- 

 dition of the soil, whether in a high or low state of cultivation. 

 On land in "good heart" the same amount of animal, vegetable 

 and mineral manures will not be required as in land exhausted of 

 its active fertilizing elements. 



* Top-DRESSixG. Copied because it seems to he an excellent mode 

 of applying manures to hoed and other crops grown in orchards. 



" Since twenty years ago some radical changes have taken place 

 in the teachings of both scientific men and skillful farmers in re- 

 gard to the methods of preparing and applj'ing manures to the 

 soil. Formerly, in leading works on agriculture, the subject of 

 top-dressing was either not mentioned or was dismissed with a few 

 crude remarks. Recently, the people abroad and in this country 

 have had their attention called to the matter by numerous allusions 

 to it in their journals on farming and gardening, and by the able 

 discussions of practical tillers of the soil. 



To any one giving the least thought to the subject, it will be 

 seen that we have patches of ground in our gardens, lawns, and 

 often extensive fields on our farms, the surface of which should not 

 be disturbed or turned over, sometimes for several years. There 

 are certain stimulants or fertilizers, as the mineral, which all admit 

 will generally exert the best influence on all products of our farms 

 and gardens, if they are spread on the top of the ground. The 

 points of controversy are reached when we come to compare the 

 merits of the two modes of applying barn-yard and animal manures 

 — the covering and the broadcasting — to our fields plowed year 

 after year. 



On what special principles should top-dressing be recommended 

 as one to be more generally used ? 



First. Decomposition of both inorganic and organic substances 

 goes on more rapidly on the surface under the influence of moist- 

 ure, sunlight and heat; and if the valuable volatile matters in 

 some of our manures can be. prevented from escaping into the at- 



* By W. C. Whitford, President Milton College, Transactions Wisconsin Horticultural 

 Society, 1874. 



