142 The Principles of Fruit-growing 



The grower should also remember that the plants need 

 all the elements of plant-groT^'th, and not one of them 

 alone. For example, a heavy application of nitrogen to 

 soil deficient in potash and phosphorus cannot be expected 

 to give useful results. Similarly, the application of potash 

 to soil that is very poor in nitrogen or phosphoric acid 

 would be comparatively unavailing. The heavy loamy 

 or clay lands usually contain abundance of potash and 

 phosphoric acid in a more or less unavailable condition, 

 and much of these materials may be liberated to the plant 

 by careful tillage and the incorporation of humus. How- 

 ever, it is nearly always advisable, in bearing orchards, 

 to add these materials in manures or concentrated ferti- 

 lizers. The quickest results following the use of fertilizers 

 will be seen in the sandier lands. Two or three years often 

 elapse after the application of chemical fertilizers to heavy 

 lands before any decided results are observed. In other 

 words, clay lands ordinarily show quicker results from 

 tillage than from fertilizers. 



While all this may seem to be wholly imsatisfactory 

 to the man who wants recipes and rule-of-thumb direct- 

 tions, nevertheless it is impossible to do more than to 

 suggest and to give advice. The uncertainty will seem less 

 to the actual practical grower, however, than to one who 

 reads about the situation and is not yet hard against the 

 problem. The actual grower, if he is acute, arrives at a 

 judgment from experience and observation that is not 

 far wrong. He talks with his neighbors, visits other planta- 

 tions, attends the meetings, hears lectures, reads, and asks 

 questions. All good farm practice is guided by such means. 



Individual plants. — It may not be necessary to treat 

 the plantation as a whole. The soils and other conditions 

 may differ widely in different parts. If single trees or 



