How fertility is lost. The finest and richest soil is being washed away. 

 A part can be saved by a cover crop in fall and winter 



This cover crop of crimson clover was sown August 2, to be plowed 

 under in April. It prevents leaching and enriches the soil when turned 



It is a -simple matter to fertilize two or three 

 trees with a fertilizer containing nitrogen only 

 (such as dried blood or nitrate of soda) , two or 

 three more with a fertilizer containing potash 

 only (such as muriate of potash), and two or 

 three with a fertilizer containing phosphoric 

 acid only (such as superphosphate). Then 

 watch results. Questioning the soil in 

 this way usually reveals the fact that it does 

 not need all three of these essential plant 

 foods; possibly only one, perhaps two. It 

 may show that applications of phosphoric 

 acid, for example, are wasted; no increased 

 vigor or fruitfulness results from applying it. 

 Lime may be needed even more than fertilizer ; 

 barnyard manure may give better results 

 than applications of commercial fertilizers 

 costing many times more. All these things 

 come to light in a fertilizer test. 



If the results of a definite fertilizer test are 

 not available as a guide to fertilizing, the fruit 

 grower can hazard a guess as to what is 

 needed by observing the nature of the soil, 

 the growth of the trees and the appearance 

 of the fruit. Clay soils are usually richer 

 in potash than in the other plant foods. 

 Sandy soils, as a class, need nitrogen. If the 

 trees are making a poor growth, and it is 

 not due to lack of tillage, disease, uncon- 

 genial climate or soil, the conclusion is 

 justified that the soil needs nitrogen. 



When the trees grow late and luxuriantly, 

 and the fruit ripens late, is poorly colored 

 and lacks flavor, it is probable that there is an 

 excess of nitrogen and a deficiency of potash 

 in the soil. These 

 and other indications 

 should have more or 

 less weight in deciding 

 the question of ferti- 

 lizers. Ask the advice 

 of your nearest neigh- 

 bor who has grown 

 fruit successfully; his 

 opinion is worth far 

 more to you than 

 mine is. 



If a brand of ferti- 

 lizer can be found that 

 fits the need of your 

 soil, by all means use 

 it; but the safest (and 

 usually the cheapest) 



, j . i The roots of fruit trees 



method is to buy the fore> put 



raw materials and mix them at home. There 

 are certain materials, called "standard high- 

 grade fertilizers," which are uniform in com- 

 position and can be bought in quantity of 

 most fertilizer dealers. Thus, as sources of 

 nitrogen, may be mentioned cotton-seed meal, 

 sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of soda, high- 

 grade driedblood. As sources of phosphoric 

 acid the buyer may choose between South 

 Carolina rock, or "floats," and high-grade 

 superphosphate.. If potash is desired, some 

 of the standard unmixed fertilizing materials 

 that may be bought are kainit, muriate of 

 potash and high-grade sulphate of potash. 

 These are a few of the more prominent raw 

 materials used by the fertilizer manufacturer. 



WHICH PLANT FOODS ARE MOST NEEDED ? 



No fruit tree can be well nourished and 

 productive unless all the plant foods are 

 present to some extent. But fruit growers 

 have noticed that in general a liberal supply 

 of potash is more essential for fruit than 

 a liberal supply of phosphoric acid or nitro- 

 gen, because it is used most in the growth of 

 the tree and the development of the fruit. 

 Fifty per cent, of the solid part of fruit is 

 potash, and this plant food is also the chief 

 constituent of the fruit juices. Hence orchard 

 fertilizers should usually contain a large pro- 

 portion of potash, unless it has been found 

 that the soil is already rich in it. Do not 

 neglect, however, nitrogen or phosphoric 

 acid, nor yet lime. An abundance of lime 

 in the soil strengthens the trunk and the 



forage widely. Those of this twelve.year-old apple tree are about 20 feet long. There 

 the fertilizer out between the rows, where the feeding roDts can get 



70 



branches, and has a very important influence 

 in hastening the time of ripening. If the soil 

 is deficient in lime or inclined to be sour, 

 liming may be more profitable than any 

 other treatment that could be given. 



HOW MUCH FERTILIZER TO APPLY 



If possible fertilize bearing trees by the 

 deficiencies of the soil as determined by ex- 

 periment, not by any general advice such as 

 is here given, but a few suggestions may not 

 come amiss. On poor soils it will usually pay 

 to fertilize at the rate of about 6oo to 800 

 pounds of high-grade fertilizer per acre every 

 year. On moderately rich soils 300 to 500 

 pounds is usually sufficient. The amounts 

 used would vary with the age, productiveness 

 and vigor of the trees, the needs of the soil and 

 the kind of fertilizer used. One of the very 

 best orchard fertilizers for general purposes, 

 especially if green or barnyard manures are 

 used, is a mixture of equal parts ground bone 

 and muriate of potash. Six hundred pounds 

 of this per acre per year would be considered 

 a very liberal application for bearing trees on 

 soil of average fertility. If more nitrogen is 

 needed, and the use of barnyard or green 

 manures is not deemed expedient, nitrate of 

 soda may be used at the rate of from 100 to 

 250 pounds per acre, or dried blood at the 

 rate of from 300 to 500 pounds per acre. 

 Another deservedly popular orchard fertilizer 

 is unleached wood ashes. An average sample 

 usually contains about 6 per cent, of potash, 

 2 per cent, of phosphoric acid and 32 per 

 cent, of lime. The 

 price paid for them 

 should always be de- 

 pendent upon analy- 

 sis. Ashes like the 

 above are likely to 

 cost about ten to 

 twelve dollars per ton, 

 and may be used at 

 the rate of about forty 

 to sixty bushels per 

 acre on rather poor 

 soil. Ashes have a 

 wide-spread popular- 

 ity for fertilizing fruit, 

 not only because they 

 contain potash and 

 phosphoric acid in 

 about the right pro- 



