MAINE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. 



I916. 



Orchard Fertilizer Experiment 

 Yields of Apples in Pounds Per Tree. 





1914 



1915 



2-year 



Plot No. 



No. trees. 



Average 



yield per 



tree. — 



Lbs. 



No. trees 



Average 



yield per 



tree. — 



Lbs. 



average - 



yield per 



tree. — 



Lbs. 



6A 

 6B 

 6C 



132 

 129 

 123 



172.8 

 158.8 

 194.2 



132 

 130 

 124 



121.1 

 131.8 



157.4 



147.0 

 145.3 

 175.8 



It is to be remembered that in all of these experiments nothing 

 has been grown upon the land except apple trees and apples. An 

 orchard cover crop of rye is sown in the fall, is plowed under 

 early in the spring, and the land is kept cultivated until well 

 into August when the cover crop is again sown. The plant food 

 stored up in the wood growth and that which has been removed 

 in the apple crop has been taken from the soil, but beyond that 

 the soil has not been made to pay tribute to any other crop. 



This experiment is to be continued for many years, or until 

 decisive results are obtained and the unfertilized rows show 

 evidence of need of plant food. 



Acid Phosphate and Florida Rock as Fertilizer for Oats. 



Shortly before planting time in the spring of 1915 the Sta- 

 tion was asked to test the efficiency of raw phosphate on Aroos- 

 took Farm. The experiments for the year had already been 

 planned and the land remaining was not very suitable for ex- 

 perimental purposes. However, it was decided to make a pre- 

 liminary test of acid phosphate and raw ground Florida rock, 

 using oats as the test crop. 



Four one-half acre plots were laid out on as even a piece 

 of ground as could be obtained. The plots were crossed by a 

 small runway in which there was some water shortly before 

 planting. Even at the time of planting a strip about 50 feet 

 wide in each plot was quite wet. Over this area the stand was 

 quite poor and the yield was undoubtedly greatly affected. How- 

 ever, since the conditions were practically the same in each plot, 

 the results are comparable one with another. The absolute 

 yield is lower than that obtained on more favorable soil. 



