Fertilizing the Commercial Apple Orchard 187 



have been conducted by the Pennsylvania State College 

 under his 'direction. The results of his work in general 

 are of great interest and are more applicable to the 

 eastern conditions under which they were obtained. Other 

 important experiments have been made by various state 

 experiment stations, particularly those of Ohio and Oregon. 

 C. I. Lewis and E. J. Kraus of Oregon have offered valu- 

 able contributions on this subject. Thorough investiga- 

 tions have been conducted by experiment stations in Ohio, 

 New York, New Hampshire, Virginia, Indiana and other 

 states. 



PRESENT PRACTICES IN FERTILIZING 



Before discussing the results and conclusions arrived 

 at by these and other investigators, it is of interest to note 

 the general practices followed throughout the different 

 commercial areas and the attitude of the average com- 

 mercial grower toward fertilizing. It is only within recent 

 years that the grower has given any great degree of atten- 

 tion to this important subject. However, as with spray- 

 ing, fertilizing is becoming more and more general and 

 necessary. As yet, however, great numbers of growers 

 do not realize its value. Many are content to allow their 

 orchards to bear very small or medium-sized crops when a 

 few dollars expended in the purchase and application of 

 stable manure or commercial fertilizers would greatly in- 

 crease their returns at a minimum price a barrel or box. 

 It is only a question of time until the fertility of soils will 

 become depleted. It remains, therefore, for the minority 

 of growers, those few who use fertilizer, to convince or- 

 chardists generally of the great value and increased profit 

 to be derived from judicious use of various- fertilizers. 



