CHAPTER IX 



FERTILIZING THE COMMERCIAL 

 APPLE ORCHARD 



FERTILIZING is one of the many important orchard oper- 

 ations and one about which much has been said and writ- 

 ten, and yet few definite conclusions have been published. 

 Many state experiment stations and individuals have exper- 

 imented with orchard fertilizing from time to time and 

 much has been written about the values of different sys- 

 tems. In many cases, however, erroneous conclusions have 

 been drawn because of outside influences which intervened 

 to destroy the value of the experiment. For that reason 

 increased or decreased yields have been attributed to the 

 use of certain fertilizers, when as a matter of fact they 

 were due to other causes. As a result of the many contra- 

 dictory statements published on fertilizing, this important 

 orchard operation is the one practiced least systematically. 



The wide difference in soil conditions complicates much 

 of the experimental data on this subject. Means and 

 methods of application practiced .in the different regions 

 are also variable. In all experimental reports there are 

 some definite conclusions on which most investigators 

 agree. One point definitely brought out is the great value 

 of such nitrogenous fertilizers as nitrate of soda and stable 

 manure to nearly all orchard sections. 



A prominent investigator of orchard fertilization is J. 

 P. Stewart, and long-standing and interesting experiments 



