1905.] Experiments in Fruit Growing. 



625 



Investigations into the manurial requirements of strawberries, 



gooseberries, currants, raspberries and apples have now been 



carried out at the Woburn Experimental 



Experiments Fruit Farm for tne past seven years, and 

 in Fruit Growing 1 , . r . , , 



at Woburn. tne ments °f tne various dressings applied 



are discussed in considerable detail in the 

 fourth report which has been prepared by his Grace the Duke 

 of Bedford and Mr. Spencer Pickering, F.R.S. The results 

 obtained, which are of great interest to fruit growers, can be 

 briefly summarised as follows : — 



Strawberries. — (1) Moderate dressings of dung (12 tons to 

 the acre), or of artificials, gave 12 to 15 per cent, increase in the 

 crops. (2) The dunged plots were much superior as to the size 

 and quality of the fruit, and, in a lesser degree, as to the growth 

 and vitality of the plants. (3) Heavier dressings of dung 

 increased the size of the plants but had no effect on the crops. 



(4) Heavier dressings of artificials had no good effect on 

 the size of the plants, and had a deleterious effect on the crops. 



(5) Neither dung nor artificials rendered the ripening earlier 

 though they slightly extended the period of the pickings. 



(6) Water applied to the plants during the swelling of the 

 berries produced no very certain effect ; water containing 

 artificial manures produced no more effect than water alone. 



Gooseberries. — (1) Moderate dressings of dung increased the 

 growth, but diminished the crops for the first three years ; 

 they then increased the crop considerably. (2) Moderate 

 dressings of artificials produced no appreciable effect on the 

 crops. (3) The dunged plots were much superior to the others 

 as regards size and quality of fruit and as regards the growth 

 and vitality of the bushes. (4) The plots dressed with artificials 

 were but little better than those receiving no dressing, and the 

 bushes in them were quite worn out and dying at the end of 

 seven or eight years. (5) Heavier dressings of manure produced 

 no effect on the crops but increased the growth of the bushes 

 especially in the case of dung. 



Currants, Red and White, — (1) Moderate dressings of dung 

 and artificials increased the crop by about 28 per cent. The 

 dung had least effect at first, owing to its increasing the growth, 



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