146 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



FRUIT TREE FERTILIZER. 



Sir, — Would you kindly give an early answer in the Canadian Horticulturist, re- 

 specting the recipe for a complete fertilizer as issued in the March number. What could 

 you substitute for the forty bushels of wood ashes, as such an article cannot be obtained in 

 or near Toronto. 



W. H. Parker, Mimico, 



Sir, — You will kindly allow me to correct the printers errors and to make 

 an additional note in reference to the fruit fertilizer given by you in the 

 February issue. I would recommend the following as an application per acre 

 for fruits : 



40 bushels of fresh hardwood ashes, @ loc $4 00 



100 pounds of bone or bone black, @ i^c i 5° 



100 pounds of nitrate of soda, or\ 



75 It of sulphate of ammonia/ 3 5° 



$9 00 



In place of the wood ashes, potash salts, such as the muriate or sulphate can be 

 used, which will cost from three to four and a half cents per lb. of high quality 

 (52% potash). Use about 150 lbs. of the best potash salt, which, however, will cost 

 about $6, and will give a little more than half the potash contained in the forty 

 bushels of ashes. In case ashes are not available it would probably pay best to 

 deal directly with a fertilizer manufacturer and buy his potash or fruit fertilizer 

 ready mixed. 



I make the change from sulphate of ammonia to nitrate of soda because I 

 find that the price of the nitrate of soda varies with different dealers but very 

 little, from three to three and a^half cents a pound ; whereas, for some unknown 

 reason, we have had sulphate of ammonia quoted to us from 3^4^ to 9 cents a 

 pound. 



In buying a potash fertilizer, such as the muriate or sulphate, the buyer should 

 carefully note the amount of potash guaranteed, as it may vary from 50% to 10%. 

 As a bushel of ashes contains from three to four pounds of potash he can readily 

 make his comparison in value. 



Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, C. C. James. 



Powdery Mildew of the Grape. — Prof. Scribner, in his new work on 

 Fungus Diseases, recommends sulphur as the only remedy needed. He says : 

 *' Flowers of sulphur dusted on the vines (or in hot climates, simply spread over 

 the ground beneath them), serves effectually to destroy the Powdery Mildew. 

 No other treatment is necessary to protect the vines from this parasite. In 

 regions where this fungus is most injurious, it is the custom of vineyardists to make 

 at least three applications ; first, when the young shoots are about four inches 

 long ; second, when the vines are in bloom ; and third, just before the berries 

 begin to color." 



