Barn and Field Experiments in 1917. 9 



FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS ON APPLE TREES AT 

 HIGHMOOR FARM. 



As it is pretty generally known, when the State purchased 

 Highmoor Farm it had something over 3.500 apple trees upon 

 it. These trees were about 25 years old, but for the most part 

 had been completely neglected, as regards pruning, fertiliza- 

 tion, culture and spraying. The first season that the Station had 

 the farm the orchards were plowed, cultivated and sprayed. 

 Pruning was begun and has been continued until at the present 

 time the orchards are in pretty fair shape. It was, of course., 

 not desirable or practical to thin the trees out at the start to 

 where they should be at the end. but the pruning while rather 

 severe each year has been gradually decreased in amount. The 

 trees are well cared for by spraying for insects and fungi. 



The orchards were annually fertilized at the rate of 1,000 

 pounds per acre of a commercial fertilizer carrying 5 per cent 

 of ammonia. 8 per cent of available phosphoric acid and 7 per 

 cent potash. At the end of the third year the orchards had so 

 far responded that they gave a good crop and since that time 

 fertilizer experiments have been carried on in various portions 

 of the orchards, as follows : 



Nitrogexus Fertilizer Experimext. 



The use of highly nitrogenous fertilizers has been advo- 

 cated as a means of forcing trees into bearing and in some parts 

 of the State has been tried with results that seemed to be 

 gratifying. This method was first suggested by Doctor Fisher 

 of Massachusetts and was tried by the Station several years 

 ago in cooperative work with Mr. Pope in his orchard at Man- 

 chester without very decisive results. At Highmoor Farm a 

 row of 32 Baldwin trees was divided into 3 sections. The 

 trees were treated alike so far as the application of standard 

 fertilizer was concerned, but 10 of the trees at each end of the 

 row received in addition nitrate of soda at the rate of 100 

 pounds per acre. Also the Baldwin orchard was divided into 

 2 parts so that part of it received the usual treatment and in 

 addition received 100 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre per 

 year. 



