Fertilizing the Commercial Apple Orchard 201 



trees which are growing indifferently and not bearing well. 

 These latter are in need of fertilization. It is, therefore, 

 a good plan to go through the orchard and tag such trees 

 in the summer so that they may be manured or fertilized 

 the following spring according to their individual needs. 



The common method of applying commercial fertilizer 

 is simply to scatter it broadcast under the trees from two 

 weeks to a month before bloom, care being taken not to 

 get it too close to the trunk. Application should extend 

 well out beyond the spread of the branches in order to 

 conform more closely with the usual distribution of the 

 feeding roots. Heaviest application should be made over 

 the area covered by the outer two-thirds of the branches. 

 Fertilizer may be left on the surface to be carried down by 

 the rain or it may be harrowed or lightly plowed into the 

 soil. Barnyard manure may be applied at almost any 

 time, although applications late in the growing season are 

 likely to over-stimulate wood growth. Winter dressings 

 are most common. 



With nitrate of soda good results have been secured by 

 dividing the amounts to be applied into two parts, making 

 the first application about a month in advance of the bloom 

 and the second about a month after the fruit has set. 

 Favorable responses have been obtained from second ap- 

 plications as late as July. The rate of the second appli- 

 cation may vary, according to the size of the crop which 

 the tree is carrying, heavier application being profitable in 

 full crop years. The double application of nitrate of 

 soda is credited with a tendency toward steadying and 

 maintaining annual yield. In most regions this fertilizer 

 is scattered broadcast in dry form, largely on the area cov- 



