436 MANAGING ORCHARD SOILS AND FERTILIZING TREES 



4. Applying the Fertilizer. When a quickly available 

 nitrogen fertilizer is used in the spring, it is generally applied 

 by hand. Before the fertilizer is taken to the orchard it is re- 

 moved from the sacks, ground or pounded and screened if 

 necessary, and loaded into a tight wagon box. The wagon is 

 hauled along between two tree rows, and from two to four men 

 apply the fertilizer. 



In general, spread the fertilizer about each tree in an area 

 extending from about 3 feet inside of the branches to about 

 3 feet beyond the spread. Use a cup or small pail previously 

 weighed and marked with the proper amount of fertilizer to 

 apply per tree, to measure the material, refilling the buckets 

 with fertilizer at the wagon as often as necessary. AValk in 

 a circle about each tree when applying the fertilizer. In old 

 orchards (especially sod-mulch orchards), it will usually be 

 best to sow the fertilizer either by hand or with a fertilizer 

 distributor evenly over all the area between the trees. 



5. Determining Cost of Applying Fertilizers. The time 

 and cost of applying fertilizer to apple trees varies with such 

 factors as the amount of material applied per tree, the contour 

 of the land (whether steep or not) , and the speed of the men. 



In the Hudson Valley of New York, where the average rate 

 of fertilizer applied is 5 pounds per tree, the cost of fertilizer 

 and applications average $4.07 per acre, of which $3.28 is for 

 fertilizer, 47 cents for labor, and 32 cents for other costs. (See 

 Tables 45 and 46.) 



The average cost per acre for fertilizer and manures ap- 

 plied on 80 orchards in Berrien County, Michigan, in 1935 

 was $3.84. 



For the Shenandoah-Cumberland region the average cost 

 per acre over the 3-year period 1929 to 1931 was $4.18. 



Other Trees 



6. Fertilizing the Peach, Apricot, Cherry and Plum. Prac- 

 tically all fertilizer experiments in this country have shown 

 that peach trees are benefited by applications of nitrate of 



