VOL. LY.— No. 3,050. 



SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 1912 



THE 



GARDENERS 



MAGAZINE 



NOTE OF THE WEEK. ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^y whoUy different, for, in 



the one case, the details are 



iecl out in 



Fertility of Fruit Trees. 



Although there are many thousands of 

 fruit trees in the gardens and orchards of 

 this country, that have passed through 

 their lives without having received assist- 



sti ict accordance with the knowledge pre- 

 viously obtained, while in the other they are 

 conducted for the purpose of obtaining de- 

 finite information upon doubtful points. 

 To state the case in the fewest words, the 

 scientific method of manuring fruit tret^s 

 is the enrichment of the soil with such con- 



ance from the direct application of manu- stituents of plant food as will assist them 



rial matter to the soil in which they are to produce heavy crops of fruit of higli sistance to enable them to bring it to per- 



the previous season, and yet wanting in 

 vigour. In cases well nigh innumerable 

 there are trees that are sufficiently vigo- 

 rous to suggest that unless they bear 

 a full crop they will make so luxuriant a 

 growth as to fail to produce well-developed 

 fruit buds in the (H)urse of tlie stimmer, 

 and a crop in the following year. Should, 

 however, these trees set a good crop of 

 fruit, tlu^v will require some manurial as- 



growing, there is no occasion 

 to refer in these pages to the 

 fact that in the production 

 of hardy and other fruits the 

 judicious use of fertilisers is 

 not less essential to sxiccess 

 than in the cultivation of the 

 various kinds of vegetables 

 that have a place in the crop- 

 ping of the kitchen garden. 

 It is not necessary to do so 

 because we, and our contribu- 

 tors, have 



minded our 



constantly re- 

 readers that 



while 

 t r ee 



an 

 will 



apple 



or a 



plum 



yield more or less 

 fruit when wholly left to it- 

 self, the crops Avill be far 

 inferior both in quantity and 

 quality to what they would 

 have been had the cultivator 

 enriched the soil with suit- 

 able fertilisers in accordance 

 with the reqviirements of the 

 tree. Taking a still broader 

 view of this question, there 

 is not, ill the present state of 

 knowledge, so much a neces- 

 sity for urging the import- 

 ance of manuring as an 

 essential factor in the culti- 

 vation of hardy fruits, as of 

 calling attention to the desir- 

 ability of adopting a strictly 

 ^'•:entific method in maintain- 

 ing the fertility of orchards 

 ^ind fruit plantations, such 

 method, in fact, as would find 

 tavour with those who, by 



bave established 

 to be regarded as authorities on fruit cul 

 ture. Lest there may be anv nnsaj^prehen- 

 ^^on upon the point, it may with ailvantage 



stated that a scientific method is not 

 necessardy 



ea?'*?: .^^ tliis being so' in 'this 



It IS characterised by extreme sim- 

 pucity, and may be readily adopted by 

 those who have had some _ 

 |uit production, and usually gfve full con 



S J^*'^ "^^^"^^-^ they have ii. 



sopi.; /^.^i^^^tific method is frequently as- 

 ociated m the popular mind with experi- 

 ^ntal operations, but it need hardly be 



fection, and this it cannot be 

 too widely known, can be 

 readily given when the fruits 

 are beginning to swell freely, 

 and a proper estimate made 

 of the extent of the crop. By 

 adopting this method all ele- 

 ment of chance is eliminated, 

 and the trees are supplied 

 with food in accordance with 

 their requirementfi, and the 

 growth most favourable to 

 fruit production ensured. 

 With regard to the manures 

 nu)st suitable for fruit trees, 

 it cannot be too distinctlv un- 

 derstood that elaborate mix- 



tures 



are wholly unneces- 

 It is quite true that 

 calcium, cldorine^ iron, mag- 

 nesia . nitrogen, phosphorus, 

 ])otassium, and sulphur 

 ent{'r into the composi- 

 tion of fruit trees, as of many 

 other forms of vegetation. 

 But it does not follow, as 

 some writers would have us 

 believe, that we should apply 

 them all to the soil when the 

 trees are in need of addi- 

 tional supplies of plant food, 

 because the soil usually, with 

 the exception of nitrogen, 

 phosphoric acid, and potash, 

 contains them all in sufficient 



the require- 

 trecs. Those 



sarv. 



MR. W. STRUGNELL. 



their work 



th 



quantities for 

 ments of the 



who have an arnpK^ su|)])ly 

 of stable or farmyard manure 



eir claims quality, and to apply them at tlu^ most at their command will, in its use, add all 



one that is involved in 



corn- 



suitable times, aiul in such quantities as 

 may appear desirable. The time of appli- 

 cation is an important factor in the use 

 of fertilisers in tlie fruit plantation and 

 orchard, and while, in many instaiu'cs, it 



be a(h isable to 



in a 



geneial 



\y a V 



experience ni be applied at 



may, 



dress the gronnd late in autumn or dur- 

 ing the winter, manure may, in many cases. 



other seasons with still 



■ seasons 



greater advantage. Should the trees have 

 borne a good crop in the season prev ious, 

 and are only moderately vigorous, a win- 

 ter dressing will be beneficial, a--, indct^l. 

 would be the <-ase if they wvrc uufnuttul 



the constituents of plant food to the soil, 

 but the three last-nanunl may not be in 

 sufficient proportions, thus rendering it 

 necessary to increase the percentage of 

 those deficient as indicated by the growth 

 of the trees. The only substances with 

 which fruit growers need concern them- 

 selves with are the nitrogenous, phosphatic, 

 aiul ])otassic manures, and lime in its 

 various forms, and witli tlicse they should 

 become well acquainti'd. with a view to 

 using them to the best advantage. Nitro- 

 gen is of much importance f^>r tlie aid it 

 renders in the development of the won<l nnd 



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