THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



September, 1913 



fContinfied from pa^ i6i). 



not the same necessity to applv 

 manures directly to the trees. 

 This is, howcvec, the almost uni- 

 versal practice, and that there is a 

 rijrht as well as a wrong way of 

 doing this has been proved bv ex- 

 periment times out of number. 



This experiment was carried out 

 in a block of trees of a cooking 

 variety of apples known as 

 " Beautv of Auradell." The soil 

 is a sandv loam, of good depth, 

 and so far as careful inspection 

 will show seems to be %'ery uni- 

 form throughout the block. The 

 trees are tmiform in si'.e, hea.lthv, 

 and fifteen vears old. Previopis to 

 the comm'encement of the experi- 

 ment in |i'9o4 thev had received an 

 occasional dressino- of lione dust, 

 and had vielded srood average 

 crops. In the snrinp- of that vear 

 the block was divided into three 

 lots, each containin? 28 trees, and 

 the various plots were treated as 

 follows : — 



— Plots. — 

 Plot I. — Vnmanured. 

 Plot 2. — 2 Ills, bona dust, t lb. 

 superphosphate per tree. 



Plot ^. — ift. sulphate of potash, 

 2 lbs. bonedust, i Wt. superphos- 

 phate per tree. 



In season 1905-6 the manures 

 were applied uniformlv over the 

 whole area on the nth August, 

 and were immediatelv brontrht un- 

 der bv plou(rhin(r between the rows 

 and bv hoeine rbund the trees. 



Next vear, partly because the 

 manures were applied somewhat 

 late, and partlv on account of the 

 extremelv drv and unfavorable sea- 

 son, no definite resrilts were ob- 

 tained. In the following season 

 remarkable results were obtained. 



The exact yields were as fol- 

 lows : — 



Plot T rave 17s bushels Tst eradc 

 and ■^7 bushels 2nd grade fruit per 

 acre. 



Plot 2 gave ?,oo bushels ist grade 

 and 75 bushels 2nd grade fruit per 

 acre. 



Plot o gave 600 bushels 1st grade 

 and ,'^7 bushels 2nd grade fruit per 

 acre. 



— A Question of Figures. — 

 It is seen from these figures 

 that, taking the first grade fruit 

 into consideration, the increase per 

 acre produced bv the addition of i 

 lb. sulphate of potash per tree to 

 the mixture of ' bone dust and 

 superphosphate, amounted to 300 

 bushels of apples. 'I'his is an in- 

 crease which would at almost 

 anv prices show a good return for 

 the monev spent on manure, and 

 at the price now ruling for fruit 

 cannot be regarded 'other than as 

 profitable in the hdehest decree, 

 when one considers that it was 

 obtained for an outlay of 13/6 per 

 acre per annum. Further, the re- 

 sults of this experiment afford an 

 additional proof that notash not 

 onb- increases the yield, but -ilso 

 improves the qualitv of the fruit. 

 The fruit from the potash nlot 

 contained exactlv half as manv 

 second-grade apples as that from 

 the plot without potash, and this 

 although the total vield from pot- 

 ash was nearly twice as great as 

 from the other. 



— Sulphate of Potash. — 



Attention has been repeatedly 

 , called to the importance of applv- 

 insr manures which return to the 

 soil the inirredients removed in the 

 crop sold off the farm or orchard. 

 No more striking illu.stration of 

 the truth of this argument could 

 well be found than that afforded 

 by the experiment here reported. 

 It has been pointed out that ap- 

 ples remove large qaiantities of 

 potash from, the soil. Bone du.st 

 and su)ierphosphate, either alone or 

 in combination, contain no pot- 

 ash, and no application of these 

 manures, however heaw, can pos- 

 siblv make up for a deficiency of 



potash in the soil. It is evident 

 from the residts of this experi- 

 . inent, that the trees lacked pot- 

 ash badly, and this is no excep- 

 tional condition in the orchards of 

 Australia. It is no use applying 

 bone dust and superphosphate alone 

 to soil deficient in pota,sh unless 

 these manures be supplemented bv 

 others supplying that important 

 ingredient, and orchardist's who 

 ha\ e not yet tried the addition of 

 sulphate of potash to the fer- 

 tilisers usually applied, should not 

 fail to do so. Apply to trees 

 in full bearing with the other 

 fertilisers as a top^ressing over 

 the whole area of the orchard, and 

 brought under bv a light hoeing 

 immediatelv after application. 

 From I lb. to 2 Ris. per tree in 

 bearing, according to age and size, 

 is the correct quality of sulphate 

 of potash. 



4 



Canning and Drying Fruit. 



Rverv fruit grower who supplies 

 fruit to the market, whether he 

 has one or one hundred acres un- 

 der fruit trees, should very care- 

 fullv consider the matter of co-iop- 

 erative canning, drying, and pre- 

 serving fruit l)v various other me- 

 thods, for in this co-operative work 

 lies the surest hope for the pros- 

 perity of the individual, and the 

 progress of the indiistry. A good 

 deal has been done in recent years 

 but there is room and opportunity 

 and soon mav be urgent necessity 

 for greatly extended work in this 

 direction. Rvery fruitgrower should 

 support existing associations where 

 pos.sible or actively assist any 

 miOvement in this direction in his 

 own district. 



The advantages of co-operation 

 may be briefly summed up as — 



I. A large e.stablishmcnt with a 

 large output woidd justify the en- 

 gagement of a thoroughly qualified 



DEOIDUOUS FRUIT TREES. 



WieKS Bros.. 



Late If. Wicks, Riverside and Balhannah, Payiieham 



We specialize in Docidnoua Fruit Trees and Vines. 45 acres of faultlessly grown Fruit Trees. 



Large Stoc'<s of Apples, Almonds, Apricots, Cherries, Plums and Pronee, Pear.'!, Peaches, Quince?, etc., etc. 



ORDERS FORWARDED TO ANY PART OF THE COMMONWEALTH, 

 (nspection invited. Visitors met by appointment at Balhannah Railway Station 



Catalogues Frce^on Application. 



