ON MANURES. 



II45 



for green manuring : they should be quickly-growing plants 

 yielding a large quantity of green stuff ; the crop should be 

 ploughed or dug in when the weather is moderately moist and 

 warm to favour decomposition. 



Manures Applicable to Fruit=growing. 



It is important that artificial manures should be applied to 

 fruit-trees for their successful growth, as there is little doubt 

 but that the so - called precarious nature of, or failure in, 

 fruit-farming is largely due to improper methods of cultivation. 

 Fruit-trees require manuring as much as ordinary garden crops, and 

 it should always be borne in mind that the soil has to receive back 

 that which has been taken from it in the crops of fruit removed, 

 and this restitution is made by using the proper manures. 



The fruit - grower will no doubt desire to ask how he 

 is to tell just w^hat kind and what quantity of fertilisers 

 to apply to his land. This is one of those questions which no 

 person can answer for him. Prof. L. H. Bailey says, having 

 studied the matter carefully, and having observed his orchard 

 from day to day and year to year, the cultivator should be able 

 to discover the treatment which it needs. As a general statement, 

 it may be said that the fruit orchard which is yielding satis- 

 factory results is receiving the very treatment which it requires ; but 

 where it is giving unsatisfactory returns some change in the 

 management should be made. An orchard which is in grass and 

 not doing well should certainly be ploughed up and tilled. The 

 beneficial effect of this operation has been fully demonstrated 

 at the Woburn Fruit Farm. An orchard which is tilled and is 

 not doing well may be benefited by seeding down with clover, 

 to be afterwards fed off by sheep, the residue being ploughed in. 

 If the growth is strong and vigorous, and the trees or fruit-bushes 

 seem to be going to wood at the expense of the fruit, it shows 

 that the soil contains too much nitrogen in proportion to the 

 mineral supply. A good dressing of superphosphate, bone-meal, 

 or basic slag, combined with some potash salt, should be given 

 in the autumn or very early spring. In all cases in which the 

 growth is not sufficient, and the leaves are yellow and drop 

 early, it is probable that either more nitrogen or more moisture, 

 or both, are needed, or it may show that the soil contains too 

 much lime in proportion to the other minerals. In these cases 

 a mulching of farmyard manure should be given, or probably 

 quicker and cheaper results may be obtained by the direct 

 application of nitrogenous fertilisers, such as nitrate of soda, 

 sulphate of ammonia, guano, or dried blood. 



The fruit-grower should remember further, that the trees need 

 all the elements of plant-food, and not one of them alone. For 

 example, a heavy application of nitrogen upon soil which is 

 deficient in potash and phosphoric acid cannot be expected to 



