69 



Applying Present Data to Individual Orchards. 



In the three experiments discussed separately above, it was 

 noted that the materials found most valuable in the first two were 

 practical failures in the third, and vice versa. In still others we 

 might show cases where no form of fertilization has yet shown a 

 profit. These and other cases prove conclusively the local nature 

 of the problem. Hence not even the experiments of others can 

 offer more than general advice on fertilization of a particular 

 orchard. 



This advice can doubtless be made more exact after a personal 

 examination of the orchard concerned, by one who is familiar with 

 orchard fertilization work, or it may be done with a greater cer- 

 tainty if the owner will give attention to some of the more impor- 

 tant characteristics of orchards needing fertilization. These are 

 best observed in late summer and fall. 



In general the characteristics of the orchard that is certainly 

 in need of a fertilizer are those of starvation. They are usually 

 sufficiently familiar to need no extended description. They are 

 found most commonly in the older orchards that have once borne 

 well but no longer are doing so, tho still fairly free from important 

 diseases or improper drainage. The foliage is sparse and pale 

 in such orchards, and the annual growth stops early and averages 

 short, — often no more than half an inch, — and from this it may 

 range up to two or three inches. In such cases, one can usually 

 apply fertilizers fairly liberally with practical confidence of profits, 

 providing the varieties and other handling are right. Even in such 

 an orchard, however, it is advisable to leave a small typical por- 

 tion unfertilized to really determine the value of the treatment. 



Under opposite conditions, such as obtain in most young 

 orchards, or in any orchard that is still growing and fruiting well, 

 and retaining its foliage until late in the season, fertilization is much 

 less likely to show a profit. Even in such cases, however, there 

 is often enough probability of benefit, to warrant some trial of 

 fertilization, but only over a relatively small area, and with most of 

 the orchard left unfertilized as a check. 



These trials are especially necessary in the intermediate or- 

 chards, — those on the zone lying between the two extreme types 

 just described. Occasionally this intermediate type of orchard will 

 respond very strongly to fertilization, without necessarily showing 

 the characteristic marks, as is essentially illustrated in the Johnston 

 orchard. 



A General Fertilizer Recommendation for Apples. 



For preliminary use in such cases, and for permanent use on 

 the part of those who are unable to carry out such a local test as 

 is shown later, we are now recommending the general fertilizer 

 indicated in Table VI. The fertilizers are stated in amounts per 



